The Single Male Parents Cookbook and Short Stories

The Single Male Parents’ Cookbook combines recipes with humorous anecdotes of things that did and didn’t work in the kitchen (and in my life!). Joe includes lots of fun cooking ideas along with some that were not so good, and even a few you don’t ever want to try at home! Everything from his Friday Night Special to his Motel Doggy (the electric hotdog). And let’s not forget the ROC (Roaches on Chocolate). Each recipe is followed by a short story about his childhood antics or raising his children. Not everything always ran smoothly. There was that time his boiled eggs blew up all over the ceiling. Oh, and that grease fire. Don’t ever pour water on a grease fire! But they say experience is the best teacher, and they are right. It wasn’t always easy in those years, but he managed to retain his sense of humor.
Joe said he once heard George Carlin say that although he’s over sixty, he never stopped being ten. That describes the author perfectly. In fact, he said, “I’ve been ten six times over, and my life is as fun as ever.” His final comments were, “Are you curious about my recipes for rattlesnake, rabbit, squirrel, and armadillo? (I think you’d enjoy the rattlesnake.) Can you picture me cooking the Roaches on Chocolate (ROC) on Rachel Ray’s show?”
Don’t let the cookbook confuse you. Joe is just a normal type of guy. Well, maybe except for the time he got married at midnight in a jail in Mexico. But that has nothing to do with cooking. Neither does the time he almost got kidnapped in the mountains of Colombia when he met my second wife. He’s just a wild and crazy guy from Texas.

The recipes you are about to read in "A Single Male Parents Cookbook," range from wild, to crazy, to good. The fact I was single for 22 years while also raising and feeding my two children qualifies me in the various culinary arts. In fact I think of cooking as more of an art as you throw in various colors and tend to blend them together. I might add that my children are still alive and at no time while I raised them did they go to the hospital for ptomaine poisoning. Again another stellar mark in my ability to cook. I found it amusing to experiment and watch their facial expressions when they ate. Experimenting was easy for me since there is nothing I won't try. I've eaten snake, rabbit, raccoon and frogs. I won't mention deer because I assume everybody has tried it. If something is cooked properly it will taste good. I've eaten strange dishes from India, Pakistan and Egypt. And delightful dishes from the Philippines, Mexico and Latin America. I still haven't found anything I totally dislike. Some of my close family don't like what I cook because it is too spicy. If the food is not hot, or spicy, or flavored, or marinated then I believe it is of no interest. It simply is not fun to eat! As you read you will find that two of my most favorite things to eat are chocolate and peanut butter. If candy is addicting then I am a chocoholic.
Before condemning me for the way I cook I want to add that my son and daughter also ate; fruits, salads and plenty of vegetables, but those things would not make a fun cookbook. Would they? Of all the recipes you are about to strum through, I think my kids really liked the "Friday Night Special." I know I did because they never ate all of theirs so I got to finish that off too. I believe in cooking quick and easy. Food should be good and quick and not have a big production made. Yet of all the recipes you will read in this booklet, my favorites are the "Chicken Chasco" and the "Steak Supreme," and they are productions. So read ahead through the wild and the sublime.