Version of my Father

I am very similar to my father in many ways, but one way which I am not that similar is in our choice of spice. This just hit me and I sat down to eat pasta and pesto. Very simple combo. I instantly thought, 'needs pepper'. This is when I realized I'd become my father, but with a twist.

My father is the king of salt. I grew up watching him hold the salt shaker a good foot above his plate and sprinkle it all over his meal. Watching the man prepare a baked potato was mesmerizing. I could always hear from my bedroom upstairs if he used pepper, as he would use the same technique in application, but several lough sneezes would follow. There were times he wouldn't even taste what was brought to him in restaurants, he'd just add the salt.

I'm the same way with pepper now. Which is humorous considering I hated pepper when I was little because I was convinced it was spicy like cayenne pepper. My favorite spice in the kitchen? the un-ground black pepper. It lives next to the garlic cloves, which is my second favorite spice (humorous for the same reason). I find myself adding pepper to everything. Anything, save dairy, seems to get pepper these days. And now, every time I reach for it and crank it more times than most would, I think of my father, holding that shaker high and giving his meal a good coating.