Elbert Christopher Woodyatt

      My father was called "Pop" by most of his children and some of his friends. Mother, however, called him "Bert" as did many of his friends.

      His passion was hunting small game, fishing, growing veggies, tending fruit, nut and suger maple trees, bee tending and of course cooking and dining on the results. He, also, brewed a large varity of alcoholic beverages which he was known to consume in excess. He usually rolled his own cigarettes, but sometimes purchased the lowest price tailor-mades he could find which he constantly chain smoked. But he was best known for his colorful cursing, blasphemy and telling of tall stories.

      Pop was by trade a Cook, Baker, Butcher and Banquet Chef. His culinary skill was known far and wide, in all the relms as the best there ever was or ever will be. He first learned the trade by driving a chuck wagon on cattle trail drives across the western plains.

      My mother and Pop ran a very successfull pie baking business for quite awhile but pop wanted to own his own resturant. So they bought a small cafe at the Steriling Airport. That did not work out well. He refused to have the table set with any spices such as salt and pepper or any sauces such as catsup. He declared that if a meal was properly prepared that these things were not required on the table. A patron that would made the mistake of asking for his steak well-done with catchup would be met with a tirade.

     Everyone in the resturant could hear Pop yell out. "Polly! some damn fool out here wants me to ruin a perfectly good piece of meat. Burn for him, as you do so well, one of those steaks we buy for the dogs. Don't you dare even think about using one of the good steaks!

      Later, he became known far and wide as the best banquet chef in the area by working at the Sterling Moose and Elks clubs which he did for years.

      When he died, everyone wanted his recipe file. It was a joke. For example, one neatly printed card read "RECIPE FOR HOG-ROTTEN POTATOES" (That's how he said Au gratin ). Skin, boil, slice potatoes. Place in shallow baking disk. Cover with bread crumbs and grated cheese. Bake. He had quite a few other colorfull names for food.

      His secrets were not in his recipes, but in his techniques. They had to be learned. I will share one with you. When preparing aged prime steak you should only scrape off eighty percent of the green mold. Orginally the mold should be over a half inch thick. If you encounter red or black mold, throw the meat away. ( If you feed it to the dog, the dog will die.) Filet mignon should be wrapped in thick bacon. Lightly dusted with salt, to bring out the flavor and pepper to give it a little zing. Broil on a covered grill above 800 degrees, for 3 minutes or less on each side depending on thickness flipping it only once. ( 1200 to 1800 degrees is better.) Remove from grill and brush with aged butter. Give the bacon to the dog but serve the steak immediately on a thick heated plate while it's still hot.

      He was, also, renowned for his Yorkshire pudding. People came from all over the relm to sample this delight. I will not share his techniqe for this with you but it makes a great side dish for the above mentioned steak.

      Technique encludes knowing how to select the correct cut of meat. Beef should be USDA prime from a corn-fed Black Angus steer. The marbling can only be demonstrated so I will skip trying to explain that. Next it needs to be aged for several days on a specially made oaken rack in a temperure controlled enviroment until the steaks are covered with about one inch of green mold. Do not disturb the meat until you are ready to cook them.

      Many family members have personal favorates of Pop's creations such as his suger cookies or cinamon rolls which is my personal favorate. Sometimes, he prepared for himself his own personal favorates which were not well liked by anyone else such as pig-hocks and home-made sauerkraut, chicken and dumplings. In my opinion he did not do casseroles very well.

      One thing that he did extremely well though was prepare small game such as quail, rabbit and squirrel. He told me once, that the best way to cook possum was to get a very large pot and fill it with water. Then throw in the possum and a big rock. Bring the water to a boil adding water as necessary to keep the level constant. When the rock floats to the top, the possum is good to eat.

      Enought with the cooking, At this point I want to mention that one of the genes Pop passed on to his children was what he referred to as the "CURSE OF THE IRISH". The cords in his hands that pull the fingers closed began to twist not unlike what you could do by twisting a piece of rubber band. A knot will form at some point of band, thus shortening the length of the band or cord. These knots formed on the cords in Pop's palms. When that happened, he was unable to streighten out his fingers. It is not painful, just inconvient as hell.

      Pop distrusted all doctors and hospital and usually refused to utilize any. He believed he could cure anything better and faster with his homemade remedies.

      Pop was married twice. His first wife was Eva ? Bryant [ Woodyatt ] mother of Lyle and Leroy. When Eva died he Married my mother Lulu Mae Archer [ Woodyatt ] who raised the two boy as her own. She and Pop also had seven more children.