There is something real empowering the first time you do something … something good, personally, that you will eventually master or end up liking in some way for the the rest of your life. Think of seeing a youngster tying a shoe for the first time and that amazement/pride in their eye or riding that bike without being held the first time. Maybe it’s getting your very first 100% on an assignment sometime early in school. Maybe it’s soon after you get your license and someone lets you go for your first drive in the car alone … alone and legally driving! Makes me take a deep breath … oh the pride we have all felt!!

So, lately, my daughters in college have been sending me pictures of their food creations that they tackle all on their own. How cool! And I know they are proud of it – And I couldn’t be happier as a dad. They have come along way further than me at that point in my life for sure. I was impressed with myself when I figured out I could mix an egg with ramen noodles in a cooking kettle. Yep… I did that and it was gourmet. I also tried canned pork & beans with ramen, canned crushed tomatoes with ramen, canned corn with ramen.

My secret was … I had a buddy at the grocery store who would make sure the prime dented cans in the discount bin were set aside for me. Mix anything in a can with ramen, and you are gourmet (I told myself).

Back to my daughters … I’m so happy they are better at cooking then I was at their age – I’m going to share their recipes with you right here:

First: Spaghetti squash with turkey meat.

So… It looks like the picture above is your Ingredients list:

• –Boiled spaghetti noodles … Just boil the noodles until they just short of being squishy or soft all the way through. Bendable completely, but still a noticeable firmness in the center of the noodle. This is called ‘Al dente’ .. and good starting point to decide if you like it firmer or softer in the future.
• -Your favorite red sauce … if you are in college, buy the bottles of it that go on sale where you get 3 or 4 bottles for $3-5. That’s a good deal.
• –Browned and drained ground Turkey meat with some of your favorite Italian spices (oregano, thyme, garlic … maybe a little salt) … To brown it, just keep moving with a spatula or wooden spoon type thing as it cooks in a skillet, browning as it cooks. Once it is all cooked and no longer pink, drain the fluid off, add your spices and cook just a little more to get the spices cooked into the meat.
• –Baked squash … Depending on the squash, you cut in half, clean out the seeds, add a little salt and pepper and bake in the oven until the orange part is soft with a fork. Take it out and remove the skin. You can also cut the skin off before you bake it … you decide which you like
• Some shredded Mozzarella cheese … and then do this with it all:

Squash on the bottom of a little baking dish (Coat the dish in olive oil first). Top with the spaghetti and red sauce (with the turkey mixed into it) and sprinkle cheese on top or mix in with the noodles and red sauce – you choose.

Done. Well almost done … bake it. Bake it at 350 until it looks all bubbly or delicious. In fact, at this point, all ingredients are cooked and ready to eat even if you don’t bake it. The baking will melt the cheese into your creation – so that’s why you decide if you mix it into the red sauce or sprinkle on top. That kind of decision is what makes it gourmet food – and how ‘done’ based on how it looks.

Gourmet cooks are the most empowered. Things you make are never wrong … if you don’t like how it tastes – then you learned what NOT TO DO for something better next time. ~ Dom

Having something you would be proud to take a picture of and send to your dad (or serve to someone else): ... There’s nothin’ like it! That’s cool.

GO DO IT! ~ Dom

But there is more!! … HERE IS ANOTHER ONE:

SECOND … Avocado Eggs Florentine (ranchero?). Yes. that’s what it is called (by me … based on the picture).

Breakfast is a good thing … I recommend them … with coffee. This one looks quite good:

• Cooked eggs any way you like them.
• New baby spinach cooked down … either on their own cooked with a little oil and then add an egg to mix them in. You choose.
• Avocado (and a little salt and pepper) … cut the avocado in half, spoon the meat of the avocado out of the peel and smash it right on the tortilla
• Tortilla
• Cheese – you choose which kind (use a shredded cheese)

Ok … Look at the picture above and do it. a) Put the tortilla on a plate, b) smash the avocado right into it, c) layer on some eggs and spinach d) top with cheese and use a fork … or not. You can roll this up if you like.

Third … Classic … here is what she texted me:

And I think you can figure that one out … again, college food on a dime never looked this good to me!

Fourth … Quac. I think I will keep the numbering system going for any future blogs on the topic. But this is one of the first offerings from my youngest daughter:

I told her to add garlic. She added the little heart 🙂

Pass along your love for something to someone you love – see where it goes. ~ Dom

There is something of a side benefit too. When you prepare something that you are feeling good enough to share with someone: They will thank you. They will compliment it and you will get the opportunity to show grace and humility in saying ‘thank you’ … and meaning it … meaning they took the time to offer you the gift of gratitude, and you get to recognize that. That’s important stuff in life and the younger you are learning it, the more practice in life you will have to work on it.  Who knew making Quac or frying an egg could be so important??!!