My Perfect Meal

    Since I was young, I have always looked up to my father.  From his wide knowledge of trivia to his tastes in music to his love of golf, I have always latched onto his interests and taken to them myself.  But one trait my father possesses that I have never been able to grasp is his cooking.  No matter the season or occasion, it seemed as if cooking meals was a breeze to him.  Many of my fondest childhood memories revolve around my father’s cooking with my family.  Among these, summer dinners on the back porch of the family cottage in Bay View, Michigan stick out most in my mind.  While I knew my father could cook much more complex dishes, the warm feelings evoked by thoughts of those simple dinners of hamburgers, corn, watermelon, cherries, and lemonade helped me to realize exactly what my version of the “perfect meal” would be.
    As I began to draw up the menu for the meal, I realized that many of the summer delicacies that I craved for would be extremely expensive or impossible to obtain during a cold Michigan winter.  On the forefront of these cravings was sweet cherries.  These dark red cherries are a huge crop in northern Michigan and are a staple of almost all of my summer meals.  I remember 30 minute drives along the Lake Michigan shore with my grandmother to pick up pounds and pounds of the sweet treats.  For my meal, I envisioned making cherry barbecue sauce, cherry pie, and cherries to eat on the side as well.  I soon realized that even if I did find sweet cherries, they would be extremely expensive, so the idea was scrapped.  I decided that my best option was to go to Meijer and look until I found something that was right.  
    From the very beginning, shopping at Meijer was a confusing and hectic experience Having not shopped at a supermarket since this past summer, the busy crowd of a Saturday afternoon was quite overwhelming, especially when I was unsure of what to purchase.  After putting my head down and trudging through the store, I left with my idea of what a good summer meal would include: asparagus, watermelon, leaf lettuce, onions, and Kaiser buns.  Heading to my parents house, I was eager to begin cooking the meal I had been thinking about so much for the past day.
    Enlisting the help of my father, I began with the first order of business: making the barbecue sauce.  Following the directions of Food Network recipe, I was adding ingredient after ingredient: ketchup, sugar, brown sugar, onion powder, apple cider vinegar, and more.  Once all the ingredients were thoroughly mixed, I was surprised to find that the tomato-based sauce resulted in a sweet taste with thick consistency; just what I was aiming for.  After letting the sauce simmer in the microwave on low power for a few minutes, I went to work on the asparagus. 
    I have never a big fan of all the work that is involved in eating an ear of corn (and I have conflicted opinions on corn after watching Food Inc.), so I thought that asparagus could be a new addition to the meal.  I decided to roast the asparagus in the oven, then covering it with tuscan herb olive oil, fresh ground pepper and parmesan cheese.  Feeling confident in the two concoctions I had just made, I moved onto the now defrosted burgers.
    Burgers were the only dish that I felt very comfortable making, as they were the only dish on the menu I had a decent amount of past experience with.  About two summers ago, a few friends and I decided to begin grilling in a small grassy circle surrounded by streets near my cottage.  We call it “island grilling”, and it has become the only real place where I have been able to experiment with cooking.  One creation that I decided to bring from island grilling to my perfect meal was worcestershire infused burgers, mixing the sauce into the beef as the patties are being made.  After I learned that the outdoor grill was not working, I grudgingly got out the George Foreman and grilled the burgers two at a time.  I was disappointed that I would miss out on one of the best parts of making burgers, but I went on with the rest of preparation.
    Slicing the watermelon, peeling the lettuce and cutting the onions all at the same time distracted me from the burgers, but my trusty sous-chef (my father) was there to save the day and take them off the grill when they were just at medium temperature.  I found myself bouncing around making sure every dish was getting prepared in time, which made me realize how much work it is just to pull off a simple meal.  Right then, I gained a lot of perspective from my father’s job as the family cook and a lot of respect for all the years that he spent toiling in the kitchen.
    Once the final touches were made, it was finally time eat!  I had totally forgotten that we were going to be eating the food as I was so intent on finishing each item that needed to be prepared.  When I was able to sit down, I was surprised to see all of the food that I had just prepared.  As my father, brother, and host brother began to eat, I was reminded of warm summer evenings on the back porch of the cottage.  “I wish we could eat this on the porch,” said my father.  I was absolutely content, responding: “I’m fine just where we are.” 
    As we ate, I missed the back porch, but I felt completely gratified.  I had just cooked my first full meal, and I was able to share it with my family.  I learned that no matter how simple the meal, the hard work and being able to share it with the people I care with most is the perfect version to me. As we were clearing the table, my father smiled and complimented me on the meal.  After all these years, I was finally able to cook a meal for my father, and that was the best feeling of all.