Annie Here‪!‬ Annie McCaffrey

My brother and I had goldfish. We loved those little pets so you can imagine how sad we were when we found them bloated and floating belly up. What happens next is one of my best childhood memories.

What would you do if the local drug dealer keeps interuptting your prayer meeting?

Friday nights were taco night! That was because taco seasoning is the only spice that can cover the putrid smell of liver and onions, which was my dad’s favorite meal every Friday night. He would tease us and chase us around with a piece of liver. But my mom had a break from cooking on Saturdays and my dad would reach into the fridge and get out the white bread, yellow mustard, and a special sausage and make me a Braunschweiger sandwich. Luckily or unluckily for me, my college roommate spoke German and quickly educated me on this horrific tale.

My parents threatened us with The Dreaded Rutabaga if we didn’t eat our vegetables and “clean our plates”. I never saw one and I thought that maybe my dad was just making it up. Twenty years later, at Culinary School, I came face to face with my dreaded enemy! This time it is an Epic Win!

Warning! This story is graphic. I was working as a banquet director and one of my young staff was constantly asking me to come to see his new house. I finally went to see it and it was basically a dump with little to no furniture. But to this young man, it was his pride and joy; he shared all his plans with me and spoke about every room with such enthusiasm. I told him what a nice house he had bought. Two weeks later, he was carjacked and shot point blank in the face. Only then did I realize how important my opinion and approval of his house was to him.

I threw a surprise birthday dinner for my friend T.H. He had been homeless, had an abusive family, and had just got off drugs. I wanted to make him a special cake but he only likes banana bread. So I winged it and made a banana bread cake. He talked about that cake forever and then one day he told me how that cake saved his life.