#1321; My Dad’s Salad

Comic Transcripts

[[SHANDERZ Junior lounges in front of the sitting OBAYNE.]]

SHANDERZ JR.: My dad used to make salad.

SHANDERZ JR.: Usually in the summer. On Sunday afternoons after church, we’d stop by the grocery store. He’d get top sirloin beef for shish kebab, and fresh produce for the salad.

SHANDERZ JR.: I remember watching him with his long, thin…I don’t know what you’d even call it. It might’ve been some kind of sashimi knife? It was long and thin and it was the only knife he ever used.

[[The recipe appears, step by step, over the panels.]]

RECIPE: Peel two cloves of garlic. Place them in a large salad bowl and add a half-teaspoon of salt.

[[In flashback, both SHANDERZ SENIOR and Junior stand at the kitchen counter. The young Shanderz Junior looks up at his father as he prepares the salad. From a child’s point of view, the elder Shanderz’s head isn’t even visible.]]

SHANDERZ SR.: The salt should look like a quarter in your palm.

RECIPE: Using a pestle or the bottom of a jar, crush the garlic and salt into a paste.

SHANDERZ SR.: I have this old wooden masher. God knows where I got this old thing.

RECIPE: Wash and tear up one head of Romaine lettuce.

SHANDERZ SR.: Here, eat the heart! The heart’s good for you. You like the heart! Here, I’ll shave it down for you. Eat it.

RECIPE: Chop two medium tomatoes into 1 inch pieces.

SHANDERZ SR.: I also like to fry a little tomato with breakfast sometimes.

RECIPE: Slice one large cucumber into medallions.

SHANDERZ SR.: Cucumber is good for you! You like cucumber.

YOUNG SHANDERZ JR.: I–I guess

RECIPE: Add the juice of one lemon and about 4 tbsp of olive oil (drizzle for 4-5 seconds).

SHANDERZ SR.: Watch how I flick out the lemon seeds with my knife, see? Get out of there, you seeds!

YOUNG SHANDERZ JR.: Hee hee hee

RECIPE: Toss thoroughly and let settle for a few minutes. Serves 8 to 10. The recipe may also be halved.

[[Back in the present, Shanderz Junior continues.]]

SHANDERZ JR.: It’s simple, and tart, and cold and crunchy on a hot day. Every time we’d go to a family gathering I’d hear “Did your dad make salad? I hope he brought enough salad!”

SHANDERZ JR.: After he passed away it was a while before I thought of making the salad myself. But when I did… It was the smell that caught me first.

SHANDERZ JR.: The tang of the lemon and the garlic. The sharpness of the salt on your hangnails as you toss it. The way your tongue and your salivary glands twinge at the first taste.

SHANDERZ JR.: I don’t always get it perfect. It doesn’t always taste like I remember. But every time I make the attempt, I remember my dad, and those summers. It’s a metaphor for all the things he taught me by example.

SHANDERZ JR.: It’s a way for me to keep his memory alive, and to have something of him to pass on to the kids I’ll have who’ll never meet him.

SHANDERZ JR.: Plus, of course, it’s delicious. The firm, juicy tomatoes…the crunchy lettuce…and the heart of the romaine, which I still always eat first.

[[We now see both Shanderz and Obayne are sitting on a tiny desert island.]]

OBAYNE: You are not making this whole experience any easier

[[header: eat more at WONDERMARK.COM]]

#1321; My Dad’s Salad transcribed by in

[[SHANDERZ Junior lounges in front of the sitting OBAYNE.]]

SHANDERZ JR.: My dad used to make salad.

SHANDERZ JR.: Usually in the summer. On Sunday afternoons after church, we'd stop by the grocery store. He'd get top sirloin beef for shish kebab, and fresh produce for the salad.

SHANDERZ JR.: I remember watching him with his long, thin...I don't know what you'd even call it. It might've been some kind of sashimi knife? It was long and thin and it was the only knife he ever used.

[[The recipe appears, step by step, over the panels.]]

RECIPE: Peel two cloves of garlic. Place them in a large salad bowl and add a half-teaspoon of salt.

[[In flashback, both SHANDERZ SENIOR and Junior stand at the kitchen counter. The young Shanderz Junior looks up at his father as he prepares the salad. From a child's point of view, the elder Shanderz's head isn't even visible.]]

SHANDERZ SR.: The salt should look like a quarter in your palm.

RECIPE: Using a pestle or the bottom of a jar, crush the garlic and salt into a paste.

SHANDERZ SR.: I have this old wooden masher. God knows where I got this old thing.

RECIPE: Wash and tear up one head of Romaine lettuce.

SHANDERZ SR.: Here, eat the heart! The heart's good for you. You like the heart! Here, I'll shave it down for you. Eat it.

RECIPE: Chop two medium tomatoes into 1 inch pieces.

SHANDERZ SR.: I also like to fry a little tomato with breakfast sometimes.

RECIPE: Slice one large cucumber into medallions.

SHANDERZ SR.: Cucumber is good for you! You like cucumber.

YOUNG SHANDERZ JR.: I--I guess

RECIPE: Add the juice of one lemon and about 4 tbsp of olive oil (drizzle for 4-5 seconds).

SHANDERZ SR.: Watch how I flick out the lemon seeds with my knife, see? Get out of there, you seeds!

YOUNG SHANDERZ JR.: Hee hee hee

RECIPE: Toss thoroughly and let settle for a few minutes. Serves 8 to 10. The recipe may also be halved.

[[Back in the present, Shanderz Junior continues.]]

SHANDERZ JR.: It's simple, and tart, and cold and crunchy on a hot day. Every time we'd go to a family gathering I'd hear "Did your dad make salad? I hope he brought enough salad!"

SHANDERZ JR.: After he passed away it was a while before I thought of making the salad myself. But when I did... It was the smell that caught me first.

SHANDERZ JR.: The tang of the lemon and the garlic. The sharpness of the salt on your hangnails as you toss it. The way your tongue and your salivary glands twinge at the first taste.

SHANDERZ JR.: I don't always get it perfect. It doesn't always taste like I remember. But every time I make the attempt, I remember my dad, and those summers. It's a metaphor for all the things he taught me by example.

SHANDERZ JR.: It's a way for me to keep his memory alive, and to have something of him to pass on to the kids I'll have who'll never meet him.

SHANDERZ JR.: Plus, of course, it's delicious. The firm, juicy tomatoes...the crunchy lettuce...and the heart of the romaine, which I still always eat first.

[[We now see both Shanderz and Obayne are sitting on a tiny desert island.]]

OBAYNE: You are not making this whole experience any easier

[[header: eat more at WONDERMARK.COM]]

it's really good, folks

#1321; My Dad’s Salad

— June 19th, 2017

[ Tags: dining, nostalgia ] Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/1321/

Buy a Print

In addition to buying things directly from me, the normal way, my game Bolted! is also now available on Amazon dot com.

On that famous website, you can also get the Creature-Crafting Magnets Set, which is made of the same artwork from the game, but is just a weird little trinket (not a playable game).

My kiddo made the elaborate version below to show off just how many magnets you get in the set (it’s 150 pieces in all — this isn’t even all of them).

Also now on Amazon is my set of Multi-Purpose Greeting Cards — a full dozen cards with envelopes in a fancy, unbranded, foil-stamped box!

Event alert!

I’ll also be showing off Bolted! at Greenwood Games, an event in Seattle this Saturday:

Greenwood Games is a free, all-ages community game event that invites players to spend the afternoon walking Greenwood Avenue from 65th to 80th, collecting clues, cracking puzzles, and discovering games made right here in Washington.

Think of it as Pride Hop, ArtWalk, and the Gumshoe all rolled into one, except the whole thing is built around games and puzzles.

Local game designers will be set up at different places along Greenwood Avenue in Phinney Ridge (near Ballard). My specific spot will be the “Holy Mountain Phinney Ridge Taproom”. All the information about all the different games & venues is on the website!

(If you’re in Seattle generally but not free tomorrow, Bolted! is also stocked at Blue Highway Games in Queen Anne.)

Next week, I’ll be at Gen Con! I personally will be hanging with my buddy Sam Logan at BFE Webcomics, booth #1217… but I have it on good authority that copies of Bolted! will be available at the CRWN Studios booth, #2549.

Visit one booth! Then the other! The order…is up to you.

Comic Transcripts

#1321; My Dad’s Salad

— June 19th, 2017

Event alert!

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