He really is a restaurant chef..and shows it in his style of cooking for us. 2 days ago we had asparagus with red wine and orange jus, venison and chicken sausages on side, a rustic fruit tarte made with soft light buttery crust he made from scratch and filled with mango, apple, pear and cantaloupe garnished with fresh thyme. (This is more French, though canataloupe didn't do much).

Tonight he's making from scratch: olive bread, garlic bread, seafood boullabaise, a savoury apple tarte and I'm not sure what else. He's into a French cuisine kick these days. He got excited about the books I gave away from my book collection: a book about a guy learning craft of bread making in France, goat cheese farm explorations and an American woman who opens up a cooking school in France.

I'm trying to prepare myself...am recovering from 24-hr. flu.

His son made the plane trip to see his Oma (grandmother) who has become quite frail. In a way, it was a gesture of recognition where the inspiration of chefdom came from...his grandmother's fine German cooking and baking.