it was 1979.

 a young man, working his way through college, was a cook at one of the well known cafes in Champaign. little did this young man know that the culinary skills he would learn at Greater Downtown Champaign Food and Beverage Company would be added to his repertoire of talents. this young man is my dad. my dad is a man of many talents. it was at the Greater Downtown Champaign Food and Beverage Co that he mastered the art of omelet making, (if you have ever tried making an omelet before, you will know it is an acquired art). i have many fond memories of watching my dad, in his iconic black sweats, on late weekend mornings make my siblings and i omelets. they quickly became a family favorite. whenever a sauder member of our household makes his or her way back home, omelet's are one of the desired requests. i give to you my dad's instructions of proper omelet making. below is short clip to view exactly how the omelet is to be made.


Omelet

Crack two eggs and whip them up. A lot of people put milk in their omelets, but what you want to do to get a fluffy omelet is to beat air into them and a little bit of cold water. Salt and pepper to taste. Heat and grease a small skillet. You have got to get your pan hot (medium-high heat). If you don't get it hot, you've got problems. You know when it's hot when you drop water on the skillet it and it sizzles. Keep in mind that second omelette will always turns out better than the first, kind of like pancakes. Pour your beaten eggs into the hot skillet. Swirl the egg so it goes up on to the sides of the pan and cooks on the sides of the pan. You want to build up ridges. By cooking the eggs on the sides of the pan you will be able to pull the sides back and then move the uncooked egg to the bottom. Pull the sides down with a spoon to create thicker edge. Lift up the bottom and let the egg run underneath to cook all of the egg. As soon as the new egg is cooked on the bottom, flip the egg. Add your chosen ingredients to half of the omelette. Flip the omelet over in half and add some garnishes to the top. Viola, you have a omelet.

Another iconic element of my dad's famous omelets is that he always lines up all of our plates and garnishes them with fruit.