THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506150046
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAT DOOLEY, FLAVOR EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 126 lines
STILL STRUGGLING to find the right Father's Day gift?
You could scour the stores for the perennial shirt and tie, bottle of cologne or soft-soled slippers.
Or, you could listen up.
We know what Dad wants this Sunday. We asked him.
Dads across Hampton Roads - and a few other family members, as well - responded to Flavor's recent query: ``What is your idea of the perfect Father's Day meal?''
Participants were asked to call our special Infoline telephone number, or to write or fax us.
So get out your grocery lists, and let the menu assembly begin.
Some dads envisioned elaborate breakfasts of bacon, eggs, biscuits, pancakes, hash browns, grits, juice and freshly brewed coffee.
Others designed a day's worth of noshing, and then some.
``Smothered with butter'' was a common refrain - complementing the oft-requested homemade rolls, corn bread or biscuits; mashed or baked potatoes; and corn-on-the-cob.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, asparagus and other garden-fresh vegetables and salads were popular sides.
Desserts were high on our dads' lists.
Pies - especially good ol' American apple - were most popular.
Other favorite varieties: French apple with a little ice cream. Key lime. Sweet potato. Lemon meringue. Strawberry.
``A great strawberry pie or strawberry ice cream with real good strawberries in it,'' said Jim Holman of Chesapeake.
``A cheesecake topped with gobs of blueberries,'' said Alene Schmidt of Virginia Beach, calling for husband Ronald.
Also given the thumbs-up: chocolate cake, baklava, lemon sorbet, vanilla or fruit-flavored ice creams and bread pudding.
Dinner entrees covered the gamut, from the gourmet to the everyday: boiled, broiled or steamed shrimp; broiled scallops, lasagna, burgers, hot dogs and chicken prepared every which way.
``All the good things you can sit back and lick your fingers with,'' said one anonymous caller.
``My wife's meatloaf; baked potatoes smothered with butter, salt and pepper; and mixed vegetables,'' said Patrick Lehman of Virginia Beach.
Alfred Morgan of Portsmouth wants to dine on ``roast beef with carrots, homemade potatoes with melted butter, peas, snap beans, homemade biscuits and lots of homemade gravy running all over everything.''
Schmidt said her husband's favorites include ``shrimp cocktail, Ceasar salad, rare filet mignon with baked potato with butter, sour cream and chives and a stalk of broccoli.''
Another woman caller said her husband yearns for Southern-fried chicken, collard greens, smoked turkey wings, mashed potatoes and gravy, hot biscuits, corn bread and sweet-potato pie with whipped cream.''
``John'' of Norfolk faxed us a day-long menu, including English muffin; omelet; oysters on the half-shell; a thick New York strip steak cooked medium-rare and topped with crab meat; asparagus dripping with hollandaise - and ``lots of hugs and kisses from your loved one.''
Alexander Graham Bell Jr. of Portsmouth did the same, building his special day of dining around recipes from his wife, mother-in-law, late mother and two aunts.
``For Father's Day, I would like to have my favorite meal: my wife's corned beef cabbage,'' wrote Terry Owens of Norfolk.
Don Brydge, who faxed us from D.B. Brydge Contractors in Chesapeake, requested linguine, shrimp and mussels in a white sauce, a hunk of Italian bread for dipping, cannoli for dessert and, ``finally, a nice chair to nap in!''
Happy memories
Not surprisingly, our Father's Day query stirred memories of family, and of meals shared.
``I remember my father, twin brother and I sharing our favorite breakfast as I was growing up,'' said Sam Berry of Chesapeake, in a fax. ``It was my mother's hot, fresh-baked biscuits, topped with sweet cream, which her cousin Gertie in North Carolina had scooped from the top of the whole milk given by her one-and-only cow.
``. . . My wife has tried unsuccessfully through the years to find a farmer from whom she could purchase this freshly scooped cream; therefore, every Father's Day morning she whips up a container of store-bought whipping cream, just enough to thicken it, and presents it to me with freshly baked biscuits.
``My fondest childhood memories return as I ladle this thick, cool, creamy goo onto the biscuits. Even though my father is no longer with me to share in the feast, he's there in thought and I feel like a child again for just a little while.''
Patrick J. Mullin of Norfolk recalls picking crabs with his then-teenage son who surprised him with the treat one Father's Day: ``We picked and talked and laughed on that lazy summer afternoon. Throughout the years, it has become somewhat of a tradition.''
R.D. Sanger of Norfolk relied on memories from his 20 years in the military to comprise a written menu around escargot, smoked Pacific salmon, garlic soup, roast leg of lamb, new potatoes, asparagus spears, Yorkshire pudding and black forest cake.
Sanger, whose stations included Spain and the Pacific Northwest, was a chef for 11 of his 20 years. ``This is definitely not for the faint-hearted,'' he said of his menu. ``But it's our day, let's not count the calories, cholesterol or fat content. Let's just remember those days gone by and enjoy them one more time.''
For Richard H. Johnson Jr. of Virginia Beach, breakfast is the meal of choice. His written request included biscuits and sausage gravy; corned beef on toast or quail on toast; orange juice; homemade cinnamon rolls; and decaffeinated coffee.
``For Father's Day this year,'' wrote Johnson, ``it would be nice to return to that little house in Illinois, just across the river from St. Louis, Mo. There, would be Mom standing next to the coal-and-wood fired range. A cake is in the oven and it's coming out soon.
``There are seven of us children and Dad. I'm sure we're all in the way. Finally, the cake is out and cooled. Mom ices it. Nine slices later and almost gone, everyone agrees it was great. . . . Only in memory can i do that.''
And in Chesapeake, one youngster is busy creating what are sure to become some of Dad's best memories.
In her letter to Flavor, she outlined the ``Ideal of a Meal.''
``My dad's idea of a meal is for breakfast a nice plate of scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacons.''
``For lunch he would like a huge plate with a big baby back rib, a side order of macaroni and broccilli. For desert he would like a whole apple pie with vanilla ice cream on top.
``For dinner he would like a whole turkey marinaded with herbs and spices with stuffing and lemon marang pie with a chocolate sundae.
``Sincerely, his loving daughter.'' ILLUSTRATION: JANET SHAUGHNESSY/Staff
by CNB