Banana Cream Pie Birthday

My Dad loved sweets. Much like my son Jack, who once told his Grandad that he "loved him more than candy." That was a lot.

So when it came to dessert - my Dad could always be counted on to dig in. And for birthdays, we always had our favourites. My Mom's is Black Forest or red velvet cake, my brother likes white cake with butter cream icing (preferably from Glamorgan bakery in Calgary), mine is chocolate fudge cake, and my Dad's was not cake at all, but banana cream pie.

Banana cream pie - it covers all the food groups doesn't it? Fruit, dairy, protein, cereal - yes, yes, yes, and yes! Not that my Dad really cared - it tasted good and brought back memories of good times.

So especially in the last year, when he was in pain, dealing with chemo, or I just wanted to cheer him up, I'd make him one. Whatever the other effects of the drugs he was on, my Dad kept his appetite for good food.

I haven't made a banana cream pie since he passed away. Maybe it was too soon for me to think of making one that I couldn't share with him. But I think tomorrow, on what would have been his 67th birthday, I might be tempted to make one again. Because I loved him more than dessert - and that's a lot.