Eunice loved being a nurse and took great pride in her profession, holding everyone to her standard of excellence. She also was the loving mother of two sons, the younger being Dennis. Chef Dennis Littley is this week's guest on SHLTMM.
Eunice was a confident hard working woman, that loved God, her country and her family. She was proud of her accomplishments and rightfully so.
Chef Dennis is a successful classically trained chef, now retired and a very popular travel and food blogger. He prefers to cook for others rather than cook a meal for himself. His grandmother taught him a lot about food and cooking and she passed down "the joy of cooking." And now Dennis is sharing the 'joy of it' with all of his readers. You can find out more at https://www.askchefdennis.com/
Dennis's maternal grandparents were originally from Mexico and both were highly educated. His grandmother was a teacher and his grandfather a minister. Eunice and her nine siblings were also all educated starting at a young age. All the children were born and raised in Texas and bilingual from an early age. Littley says of his mother's family "they were an all American family-all my uncles served in the Armed Forces and an uncle was at Pearl Harbor."
Because Eunice was always studying and/or working, she never really had too much time to cook. She often worked nights so she could be home to see Dennis before and after school. Chef Dennis says that his mom, who he adored dearly, "influenced him and his love for cooking in an offhanded way." "Her lack of cooking skills and my love of food and her encouragement really helped push me in the right direction. She was the reason I really started cooking and went int this field." says Littley.
Dennis loved to cook for his mom and says "I was never pressured into being a doctor or lawyer, my mother just wanted me to be happy." But he took care of his mom as well. At a young age, he would collect recyclable bottles and cans, ride his bike to the supermarket and buy food with the money he made to cook for his mom because she didn't have time to cook for herself. Dennis agrees that he gave his parents a hard time, a bit rambunctious, but he was named after the 'Dennis the Menace' tv character, after all.
My guest, got his first full time job at 12 years old and became manager of a burger place, flipping burgers at 13 in Atlantic City, New Jersey right on the ocean.
When asked what meal he'd cook for his mom if she were here today, Dennis reminisces about the rice, pepper, onion, bacon and cheddar cheese casserole his mom and he loved to eat till the dish was empty and everyone was happy. Later on in life, once Eunice had retired from nursing, she was able to embrace her time in the kitchen with her friends and found the ‘joy of cooking’.