A Day to Celebrate Dad

How do you celebrate Father’s Day?  It’s such a gift to have a day to celebrate Dad…and all of the men in our lives.  One of the benefits of being a blogger is that we usually celebrate every holiday twice. We celebrate early so that I can blog about it before the event and then we have a celebration on the actual holiday.So what do we serve on Father’s Day? Luckily our local Whole Foods is offering such enticing specials on everything the Fathers in our family love.There is nothing our guys love more than steak!  The thick Ribeye Steaks that Steve covets are on sale – Whoo-Hoo!

Even though this is Steve’s day, he insists on cooking for everyone.  This is a true gift to him as he enjoys cooking for the family. Before everyone arrived, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Steve has a special way of preparing steak. It’s a backwards method, but it is so good! He starts with a thick cut steak – 1 ½ – 2” thick, they are seasoned with salt (lot’s of salt) and pepper, then placed in a 275-degree oven. He uses an oven probe to monitor the temperature and removes them at 125 degrees for a medium-rare steak (135 for medium and 145 for well done). When the steak comes to the desired temperature cover with foil and let is rest (the temperature will rise about 10 degrees while resting). This can be done up to an hour before searing the steak in a cast iron skillet, browning a steak to get that delicious crust. The steak comes out juicy, tender and perfectly cooked all the way through.My contribution to the meal was a bruschetta topped with Whole Foods House Made Mozzarella and a few tomatoes from the garden. I grilled some local asparagus and topped the bruschetta with it – was it good! I’m so excited that my local Whole Foods is now baking bread in house with an amazing baker. They make their own starter, and the bread is fabulous. Our French Girlfriend, Laure, joined us and was pleasantly surprised. The Sourdough Bread tastes very European. This is our bread from now on!!!!Steve rounds out the meal with his favorite things. His special mushrooms, French fries, a salad made with local lettuces and grilled asparagus.Another cause for celebration is that summer is upon us, the outdoor kitchen is ready to go for the summer, and the children have graduated from Kindergarten and Pre-K – and that’s a big one. We toasted with the Whole Foods Fruit Flavored Italian Sodas in huge plastic wine glasses!What is a celebration without dessert? Luckily bread isn’t the only reason to frequent Whole Foods Bakery. The fruit are featured with a special sale that you won’t find in the sales flyer, and Cherry happens to be the favorite in our family. The Chocolate Crème Pie is another favorite – what guy doesn’t love chocolate?This was such a lovely Sunday afternoon. We have much to celebrate, health, happiness and all of the Fathers we love to pieces.