i call it love

i have never been to ireland. in fact, i have never been anywhere besides all 50 states, mexico and canada. driving around for a month every summer was a high light of my childhood. we spent countless hours watching quality films like grease and pretty women. we made our own dried meat (aka beef jerky) and sprawled out all over the motor home floor. sometimes there would be 8 or 9 of us in there, driving across the U.S., rocking out to some oldies since that and kost 103.5 was the only thing my mom listened to. the best part about traveling in the rv (read: massive tour bus), was spending quality time with family and friends. we drove to alaska and that was before people even realized that it was not really an island. just imagine how much fun we had. actually, you cant imagine it. its unimaginable. honestly, i dont even believe the stories when i tell them or when we all retell them at family events. it was the glory years, although the mackprangs werent always so fond of it because they lacked the amenities that we had... like air conditioning. i imagine that being brutal but thaddeus pulled through with homemade ice cream and his mom always sent her homemade cookies. plus, terry would guide us through the day with little history blurbs on his walkie talkie thingie. the best part though, besides the endless quality time together, was the food. deep fried turkey, thad cream, rabbit, spaghetti, gorelosh, clamming for homemade clam chowder and endless amounts of butter. i could, and probably will, write an entire post dedicated to butter. my dad loves it, my uncle loves and my mom loves it. lets not be fooled though. they love the real stuff, none of that margarine around here. my uncle jaime came over once and saw me cooking with margarine. he took it and threw it away and told me that if he put that tub in the garage and came back a year later it would look exactly the same. my uncle jamie is not a man you disagree with so i smiled and cooked with butter and havent looked back. my dad however is the man in the kitchen. he is simply brilliant but he doesnt do fufu stuff. he does quality home cookin. i mean the man is a legend in the kitchen. he could whip up easter brunch for 30 people in under an hour... who does that?! some people call it blue collar food, i call it love. tonight i had shepherds pie. it reminded me of my dad. just a bunch of great stuff all piled into one pan and topped with some PHENOMENAL mashed potatoes. i mean, it was heaven in a bowl, or thats how i imagine heaven. but what really made it special was i couldn't stop thinking of my dad and all his brilliance. granted i am the princess of ham so i grew up on great food but my dad has a way in the kitchen. he can make cat food taste good. in fact, in my 2 year stint as a vegetarian he used to pour beef broth in my vegetables and all over my fake meat. if thats not love, i dont know what is.

where to find me: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/ : Mission Viejo, CA.