That's right. Jaybird loved being in the kitchen. In fact, I think it was the main reason Dawn learned to cook. I never had the patience to stay with it. Jay was a 'cook book' guy. I never liked to use one myself. Just stick with the standard stuff. I hate baking cookies. Jay loved to bake. In fact, he would spend time in the kitchen baking or making candy. He was great at both. Oh, and fruitcakes. He loved Fruitcake!
When I retired he would have dinner on the table waiting when I got home. Not just meat and potatoes. No, he would have a beautiful salad before the main course. He wasn't much for cassaroles. He would eat them, but they were not his favorites. I could put a 'pull together' meal and he would not say anything until after it was over. If he liked it he would say: 'ya it wasn't bad'. If he didn't care for it he would simple say:
'don't make that again'. Of course I never did.
I believe he started working with Dawn when she was around 5 or 6. They would spend hours in the kitchen working on one thing or another. Well, they would work together on about any project when it comes down to it. But I believe the one thing that Jay enjoyed most was having the kitchen to himself to just work at something that the whole family would enjoy. One Christmas I remember we were attending a cooking class weekly at one of the appliance stores, or was it a night school, heck, I don't remember. Anyway he got it in his head to make fancy liquere. We spent weeks looking for special decanters to put the stuff in. For not being a drinker, it was quite a project. He got all the ingredients and then had the recipes to put it together. He was still working at the time, and this was for gift giving to some of the other 'Bandits' and of course his 'Broker' who got work for him. Anyway, he worked for weeks on that project. I will have to admit it was more than he had expected it would be, but I believe he enjoyed it very much.
The Decanters looked beautiful, and it was even more appreciated knowing that he had especially made it for the receivers. He was always ready to take another class, and we did have some neat experiences. I was never the one to get excited about fancy cooking, but Jay loved learning all there was to know about herbs and various types of cooking skills.
You know looking back on it, Jay was more exposed to cooking from his Dad who cooked for the Sheep Herders when he was young. His folks were raised in the Utah area until they were much older, so had lived with gleaning from the fields and doing their canning and processing of the things they would hunt and fish. Maybe that was the nucleus of his envolvement. As for me, I was raised by two parents who were raised more in city areas and had very little to keep their families going. I don't know that they didn't can, etc. but it was never that big of a thing that I recall. Mom was a good cook, but it was very plain, probably because the family she came from wasn't use to any exciting menus. I know Mom had to learn how to cook some of the English dishes that Dad liked from his own home enviornment. Nothing fancy, just different. She was great at making Christmas Steamed puddings. She made Steak and Kidney pie. I couldn't stand the smell of it. I don't remember anyone but Dad eating it either, but then the boys may have been more adventurous than I was. Mom made her own Mince Meat at Christmas time, I believe that was English inspired. Of course she made her English Tarts, that Dawn and her girls have picked up on those. Personally I could never make a pie crust you could cut. Mine you couldn't move from the pan even with an axe. No, Jay didn't do pies either as I recall. He was a cake man. That and Cookies.
I have always been greatful that he was so happy in the kitchen. Not that I didn't cook, but knowing that when he had to it was never a problem for him. He would usually try something different that he had liked from some place else. Or, possibly some recipe that he had seen and was interested in trying. What ever, he was a good cook, and was the main inspiration for Dawn in the kitchen. I am happy that Paul was able to get some training along that line as well. Not from me, but when he was young and worked at one of the Resturants in the area where the cook took him under his wing and worked with him when they were short handed. He learned enough through those experiences that he was able to keep afloat while serving his Mission in England. He was strapped with their lack of grocery items over there, but his Dad would make up packages with useful things from home that would help him put some tasty meal together for himself and his companions.
The Rosenbergs Cooked - and that's the truth!
Written this 16th day of August
by: Eileen Rosenberg
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