Hi. I’m the “dad” of Dad’s Simple Recipes. I grew up among people who were passionate about food and family. My mom and dad were like Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Mom was of German descent from the Midwest and Dad was Puerto Rican born and raised in Manhattan. They both were great cooks. Whenever our family got together , my Dad’s mother (the matriarch of the family) cooked the most amazing Puerto Rican dishes. I remember eating well past full to the point that my stomach hurt. As a young boy I would watch Grandma cook and kinda learned the “secret recipes”. My Mom was a pretty amazing cook herself, but she mostly liked to cook the Julia Child style of cooking, though she herself mastered the Puerto Rican family recipes, and she also taught me how to cook.
My first job out of high school, I took a summer job as a dish washer in a restaurant on Fire Island in NY. Before I knew it the Sous Chef quit and I got a promotion from dish washer to line cook. It was trial by fire, but out of desperation the Chef poured as much knowledge into me as I could. In just a few weeks, I had achieved enough competence to be on my own, while the Chef hung out at the bar and drank. There were many times I was the only cook on duty.
The following summer I went back to Fire Island and got a job at another restaurant on Fire Island. I became a broiler cook at a fancy schmancy joint. Again, the Sous Chef’s failure launched my culinary career. This guy was a major drunk and after enduring a couple of weeks picking up his slack due to no shows, or his wrath from his hangover induced sour attitude….he was fired. The Chef, a wonderful women named Grace Andres, promoted me from broiler cook to Sous Chef because it was too late in the season to hire a new one and I guess I demonstrated enough promise. We had a ball that summer! Grace taught me so much and she really honed my culinary skills.
Fast forward, I just celebrated 30 years of marriage to my beautiful and lovely wife, and we have two twenty something daughters. I have enjoyed cooking for them and our extended family over the years and I think they have enjoyed eating my cooking. The problem is, neither of my daughters have learned to cook as I have, and I don’t want them to starve nor the family recipes to die out. It’s not only that they can’t cook, they are…Let’s just say they don’t know a colander from a can opener.
Which brings us to this website. Both of my precious daughters are now out on their own. I decided that I needed to create a place where I can post the family recipes and other delicious dishes that they could make with my simple instructions. And hopefully I can help their friends in the process.
I hope my girls will master these recipes because preparing and eating delicious food is a great way to spend time with family and friends and to enjoy a special blessing from God. It is my sincere desire that you too will experience these things.