~Father's Day Recipes~

Father's Day at our house is always filled with yummy food.  We may not be able to buy Nick the GPS navigator, Ford F150, or 42 inch plasma screen TV that his heart truly desires, but we can let him sleep in an extra hour, give him a few new t-shirts (to replace the oversized ones from high school) and a much needed new bike seat, and feed him lots of delicious food.  

He didn't seem to mind.  

We kicked off the day with a yummy breakfast: Overnight French Toast, Orange juice, and bacon (which to my surprise, the babies happily devoured).

Overnight French Toast

Ingredients:

5 eggs, beaten

3/4 c. milk

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 loaf French bread, cubed

1 pkg. fresh or frozen berries (I used a mix of frozen strawberries/fresh blueberries, but you can use anything)

3/4 c. sugar

cinnamon sugar mix

Mix eggs, milk, vanilla, and baking powder.  Pour oveer bread, and stir to coat well.  Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.  Mix berries and sugar in 9x13 pan.  Top with soaked bread, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake in preheated oven at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.  No need for syrup... the berries on the bottom will sweet the entire dish!

On Sunday's we generally skip lunch around here because of 1-4 pm church.  Next we moved on to dinner: Stuffed Pork Chops, Steamed Asparagus, Mashed Red Potatoes with Garlic and Parmesan, and Mango juice.  Mouth watering!

Stuffed Pork Chops

Nick actually made this one all by his lonesome, per his request.  He got the recipe from the Neely's on the Food Network.  Pork is at a great price right now, and the stuffing wasn't too difficult.  We didn't have tooth picks so Nick carved his own from the remaining rosemary stems.  Cool eh?  I look forward to making this one again for a fancy dinner someday.  

Mashed Red Potatoes with Garlic and Parmesan
Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs. red potatoes, quartered

3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed (0r minced)

3 Tbsp. butter

3-4 to 1 cup milk (not skim milk)

1 tsp. salt

1 dollup sour cream

1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese

Peppercorn Medley (to taste)

Place quartered potatoes and garlic in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, bring down to simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when poked with fork.  Drain water well, and mash potatoes with butter, milk, sour cream and salt. (I use a hand beater).  Mix in parmesan cheese and add pepper to taste.  Serves many...

We cooked up all of our dinner on the grill so it wouldn't heat up the house.  I love it when we can cook outside.  Finishing the night off with homemade strawberry ice cream with friends was the perfect touch.  

With early morning church meetings cancelled, 

lots of time with Nick, 

and lots of yummy food, what a

delightful, delicious Daddy Day!