I'm [Sob] So Proud

11 years ago

[Dabs eyes, sniffles]

As you may remember, dear daughter spent the summer working in the kitchen at a camp up near Yosemite National Park. Working eight hours a day, six days a week, often in 100 F temperatures, sleeping in bare plywood huts, 20 miles from the nearest town. For a 16 year-old, it was the best summer ever. She made lots of new friends. Went to her first rowdy party. Tasted her first beer. Got an award as the best kitchen staffer. Was asked to apply for a supervisor's position next summer. And learned, to some degree, her way around a commercial kitchen. Her previous cooking skill was the painstaking frying of perfect cubes of tofu for our family's Chinese meals. This summer she was grilling burgers for 200. Oh, and all the work made her lose ten pounds.

Now she is home, and, besides the tan and the uncontrollable desire to bleach all the kitchen counters, there is another change in DD.

She has made herself dinner and photographed it.

I'm so proud. [weeps a little]

Herewith, a WFD image by DD, she calls it . . . "Ratatouille".

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Comments (21)

annie1992
11 years ago
John, you SHOULD be proud. I'm a little weepy myself, I think she did a lot of "growing up" this summer.

The ratatouille looks delicious, BTW. Cheers for your DD!

Annie
centralcacyclist
11 years ago
It's a beautiful thing.

Eileen
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mustangs81
11 years ago
There's every reason for daddy to be proud!!! Those are some amazing accomplishments for a 16yo, but then she is Johnliu's daughter.
ynnej
11 years ago
It's gorgeous, but I think I'm even more impressed that she's able to fry perfect cubes of tofu. And a little jealous, too :)
teresa_nc7
11 years ago
You ALL should be very proud - both parents and young lady! I don't know too many sweet sixteen young people that would work that hard in those conditions and succeed as she has done. A big "atta girl" to your DD!
wizardnm
11 years ago
She sounds like an awesome young lady!

Nancy
lindac
11 years ago
She had fun and learned to cook and presumably earned a dollar or two.Oh yeah and learned to party and drink a beer!
Way to go DD! awesome dinner!!
breezygirl
11 years ago
She sounds like a very mature teenager. Good for her! What goodness will she cook next? :)
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
What a fantastic girl! Her summer sounds good and that plate of food looks delicious!
User
11 years ago
John, you should be proud, for many reasons.

Your daughter knows how to plate. Well done.

~Ann
sally2_gw
11 years ago
Woo-hoo, I'm proud of her too! John, you and SWAMBO have such awesome kids!

Sally
dedtired
11 years ago
Oh, to be 16 again. Sigh. I want to go to a rowdy party and drink beer. I want the whole world and all its opportunities to lie before me. Sigh again.

Beautiful photo. Nice work by the young chef. No wonder you're bustin' your buttons.
foodonastump
11 years ago
Sounds like a great summer! The ratatouille looks great; I'm impressed with her choice of meals to prepare. I'm sure that's not first on many teenagers' lists.

How quickly they grow up, huh? I just put my daughter on the bus for her first day of Kindergarten [sobbing with you] and I'm sure it'll seem like no time at all that she's off doing her own thing for the summer break.

I hope she keeps cooking and snapping pictures, and that you keep posting them. If she really gets into cooking it'll be fun to watch the progression.
bcskye
11 years ago
Wow! What an amazing young lady in this age of girls mainly interested in how many parties they can attend, how much makeup they can wear, what daring fashion statements they can attempt and experimenting with as many various nail polishes as possible. You've got very good reason to be proud of her and she needs to be very proud of her accomplishments. Your young lady should go far in this world!
lbpod
11 years ago
Obviously she has learned from you, and SWMBO
probably helped also. But you, my man, are the
true 'Chef'.
I have always been of the mindset that EVERYONE
should know how to prepare food for themselves,
so as not to starve. And you have taken it several
steps beyond that.

The congratulations go to you, Johnliu.
And maybe Dcarch should take some of the accolades,
because of the rectangular plate that she used,
(shhhhh, don't tell Ritaweeda).
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
After you have talked to your children about the bird and the bees, the next important lesson is about the pots and pans.

The "Ratatouille" looks very professional.

dcarch
triciae
11 years ago
John, you should be a proud Dad. Your little girl is growing up. Both fun and a little sad.

Like FOAS, I'm surprised at her choice for WFD - she's off to a good start.

/tricia
lsr2002
11 years ago
Her Ratatouille looks delicious and nicely plated and photographed. I was the most impressed that after her poor blistered feet she got back in the game as soon as she could and now she can add expanded cooking to her accomplishments. I hope we see and hear more about her adventures.

Yes, definitely growing up.

Kudos to all of you.

Lee
ruthanna_gw
11 years ago
It's wonderful to see the fruits of your daughter's summer experiences.

She should be as proud of herself as you and SWMBO are. Enjoy these years before they slip away.
gemini40
11 years ago
Oh that is just an amazing story...You have every reason to be proud. Your daughter is following in her Daddys footsteps. That can only mean this cooking forum will benefit by having 2 very accomplished contributors , from the same family to this forum. Congratulations.

June
gemini40
11 years ago
Oh that is just an amazing story...You have every reason to be proud. Your daughter is following in her Daddys footsteps. That can only mean this cooking forum will benefit by having 2 very accomplished contributors , from the same family to this forum. Congratulations.

June

I'm [Sob] So Proud

Comments (21)

annie1992

centralcacyclist

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