Day Twenty-nine: Cooking All Day

Today my dad came over to cook.  Anyone who knows my dad knows that he doesn't do anything simply.  Everything is detailed, oriented, and thorough.  He can take a recipe that would take my mom 30 minutes to make, and spend the entire afternoon steadily working away.  I knew it was going to be a long day... and I was right.

He came over about 2:30 while Jack was napping.  We started by making some french bread.  Dad loves making bread, and thinks that kneading dough soothes the soul. 

First, we had to mix up the dough.  We started with water, sugar, salt, and yeast.

After that we carefully measured in the flour.  Since there were two of us we were less likely to lose count of the number of cups as we added them, which we both often do when cooking alone.

Then came the kneading.  Ahhh....

And more kneading...

After the dough was nice and springy and we had both had had our turn, we set it in the oven to rise.

We had to wait an hour and a half for the dough to rise.  We planned to whip up some remoulade sauce and prep the shrimp for our po' boys, then have a nice rest.

Whipping up the sauce only took a few seconds, thanks to the food processor.  Preparing all the ingredients to go into the food processor was another story, and we were hard at work when Jack woke up and joined us.

By the time we finished the shrimp and the remoulade, the bread had finished its first rise.  I got to take out some frustration and punch down the dough.

Then we rolled it into loaves and placed it in the buttered loaf pans.

These suckers had to rise again, so we let them sit in the oven once more.  We definitely planned to rest now, just as soon as we finished prepping the recipe for the shrimp. 

The knives got a major workout today.  Chop, chop, chop, all the day long!  Before we ever got around to resting, the bread was ready to bake.

By now, Mom had arrived.  She kept busy playing with Jack while Mike stepped in to help saute the shrimp.

The bread was finally done!

Sauteing the shrimp proved to be the quickest and easiest part of the whole day.  Just a few minutes, and those puppies were done.

Jack sampled the bread while the men were fixing the shrimp.

Now we just had to get the sandwiches put together. 

We collapsed into our chairs to eat our dinner.  It was wonderful.  The shrimp was done just right, and had just the right amount of kick to it.  The bread of course was perfect! 

Unfortunately, there was still plenty of work to do before we got to relax.

Today was a long day of cooking, but I got to spend it with my dad.  We worked side by side: anticipating each others' next moves, talking and quiet, laughing and sighing, creating something delicious together.  Each day I become more and more like my dad.  Days like this remind me that that's a good thing; and I'm thankful.