Liquid Smoke
or, Dad’s favorite foods to make and eat
slicing apples with a knife on the couch
spiraling the peel
tuna rice
turkey burgers on the grill
pickled garlic cloves right from the jar
halibut and chips out the road
at that tiny diner behind the auto shop
that nobody knows is there
jojo potatoes and chimichangas at foodland’s deli
popcorn and the veggie lover’s supreme pizza at bullwinkle’s
all you can eat chinese buffets,
especially the spring rolls and general tso’s chicken
grandma joan’s zucchini bread
his signature lemon bars
coffee with irish cream
mike’s hard lemonade
chocolate cake
the gluten-free dairy-free kind
and the glutenous dairy-full kind
baked brie with crackers
baked halibut with yogurt dill sauce
cheese and refried bean dip
clam chowder, especially ivar’s in seattle
lead balloon soup
a carrot/potato/onion kitchen soup kind of thing
that he says ‘goes over like a lead balloon’
nathan’s hot dogs in new york city
on his ‘must do’ list the one time he visited me
his signature chili
with liquid smoke as the secret ingredient
on family dinner sunday
