Father's Day

Father’s Day was a great success! Although it had its twists and turns…

This was the first year Kevin has been able to spend the entire father’s day with Maddie due to his work schedule. Because it was such a rarity I was determined to make it the BEST FATHER”S DAY EVER!

The day went as such…

1) BREAKFAST Homemade Pancakes (from scratch!). But not just any old pancakes – Banana Filled Graham Cracker Pancakes (delicious!). In fact they were so good I feel that I must share the recipe (see below).

Ingredients:
4 oz. graham crackers, broken into pieces
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
5 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 bananas, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 cup heavy cream
Maple syrup for serving

Directions:
Put the graham crackers in a blender and blend on high until fine and powdery. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, 3 Tbs. of the sugar and the salt and pulse to combine. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and buttermilk. Whisk the flour mixture into the yolk mixture; the batter will be lumpy. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the whites into the batter in 2 additions.
For Topping: In a measuring cup, combine the cream and the remaining 2 Tbs. sugar. Whip it up with your mixer! Serve the pancakes warm with whipped cream and maple syrup.

2) COFFEE A nice walk to the corner coffee house where Maddie enjoyed hot chocolate (mostly whip cream really) and Kevin sipped his tea. I enjoyed a delicious Americano which gave me just the energy boost I was looking for. Sundays are game day at the coffee house so we played a friendly game of GO FISH followed by SORRY.

3) SERVICE I was so excited to be able to bring Kevin to service with me at the Center For Spiritual Living. This was Kevin’s first visit, and although the morning’s music selection was not what I had hoped for his first service, the visit was enjoyable. It was a good introduction for him in to my current interest in Religious Science.

4) TIME FOR HIKING!
A) Denny Creak Slipper Slab (or so we hoped) – After a beautiful drive to the trail head we found ourselves surrounded by snow…. Suffice to say there were many disappointed Dad’s trudging back to their cars. I knew it had snowed at 2500 feet elevation a few weeks prior but I honestly thought that the 2200 feet elevation would be cleared off. Guess I should have checked the trail reports.
B) On to Tiger Mountain! We knew there would be no snow there. It was a beautiful day in which Maddie’s energy, drive, and curiosity with nature supplied many smiles and laughs. That kid loves the woods! The trail we took had us out for about two hours and we truly enjoyed ourselves.

5) DINNER Nothing fancy – a trip to Taco Del Mar. Cheap and good.

All in all Kevin’s “first” Father’s day was a huge success and a wonderful family day.