Today is Father’s Day – for us definitely a day worth celebrating. When I scrolled through LinkedIn this morning a special post by the former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, popped up in my feed.
“Fathers and father figures not only set the tone for what we expect of men, but also what we expect of ourselves.”
In our family, we have been incredibly lucky to have fathers and father figures who have excelled at taking on this great responsibility. My dad has always been a role model for me – a kind-hearted man who is always willing to help. He has been actively involved my whole life and I would definitely fit the “Daddy’s Girl” description. As Indra Nooyi points out in her post, especially girls need a father who believes in them and gives them the confidence to succeed and be happy in life. Although my dad was strict I always felt that he believed in my capabilities. He supported me through my educational journey and always showed his love and support no matter where life took me. In 1993, just three years after the Wall came down, I wanted to spend a gap year in the US. Everybody thought this is a crazy thing to do with no international experience under my belt. But my mom and my dad supported my adventure even though they were sad to not see me for a whole year (and there was no Zoom or Skype back in the days, in fact, not even email). A few years later when I wanted to work in Japan, again, my dad believed in me and supported my endeavor. When I quit my job in the financial industry after only 2 years to pursue a PhD, my dad was my biggest supporter. I could go on with examples. One thing is for sure: I would have never been able to pursue this journey if my dad had not given me belief in myself and the wings needed to take on my own adventures.
That leads me to the next father that deserves a huge thank you for everything he is doing, my husband. When I moved across the ocean to Canada with my young son I had no idea how things would work out. But I had the strong belief that we could make things work despite having to blend families with different pasts and cultural backgrounds together. I knew my husband was a great father to his biological children. Similar to my own father, he always made sure the kids know he believes in them. This is especially important to girls as it builds their confidence to believe that they can achieve anything. My husband also became a wonderful stepfather for my son which I will be forever grateful for. The two love spending time together. They have seemingly endless discussions about movies, they share the same humor and the love for good food. I am convinced my son hugely benefited from having my husband in his life. Today we celebrated the fathers in our lives with chocolate lava cakes – one of my husband’s favorites.
Here is to all the fathers who believe in us, who build our confidence, and who give us their unconditional love and guidance! You all deserve your special day and so much more!
Recipe
Ingredients:
300g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
300g butter
6 eggs
150g sugar
1 pack vanilla sugar (or some vanilla aroma)
1 pinch salt
60g flour
Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (375 degrees in a convection oven). Grease ramekins or a muffin tin and slightly coat with cocoa.
2) Melt the butter and the chocolate in a metal bowl over boiling water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl so that it does not become too hot. Stir in the flour with a whisk. Leave to cool.
3) Beat the eggs using an electric whisk on a low setting and slowly incorporate the sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt. Then turn the electric whisk to high and beat the egg mixture for 4 minutes.
4) Slowly incorporate the chocolate butter mixture on a low setting.
5) Fill the ramekins or the muffin tin to about ¾.
6) Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Do not open the oven while baking. When you take them out the chocolate lave cakes should be baked on the top but show a somewhat wobbly consistency.
Enjoy the cake-like outside and the gooey inside of these beauties! They taste great with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and berries.
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