Happy Father's Day!

     Today was a special day to honor our fathers, and for our children to honor their fathers.  I served cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs for breakfast.  We attended church together as a family, and then came home for a simple lunch I threw together:  cheesy quesadillas, homemade pico de gallo and fresh tortilla chips, plus some delicious fresh cherries and milk.

     After lunch and a couple of cups of coffee, Elmer and the girls went off to go disc golfing.  Being that it is free except for the gas to drive to the disc golf course, it is a great summer activity.  I wasn't invited to come, mainly because I needed to prepare a few things for our Father's Day dinner this evening, but also because I am TERRIBLE at disc golf or any other sport or activity that requires a person to throw something accurately. 

     I attribute this to not having glasses when I was younger...and I really DID need them back then.  We just didn't know it!

     While the cats were away, the mice did play.  I made a healthy version of Rice-A-Roni using brown rice, whole wheat spaghetti noodles, pine nuts, and butter. 

     I also made a yummy green bean skillet dish using toasted pecans coated with a small amount of maple syrup and some basic spices and a few other ingredients...nothing too difficult. 

     My next feat was nothing short of amazing.  Yeah, right.  Don't believe that!  Actually, all I needed to do next was to get everything packed up to take over to Grandma and Grandpa's house...ten minutes away from us.

     My mom had already cooked a turkey, made gravy, and prepared some fresh snow peas from her garden, along with some carrot sticks. 

     The girls had planned to serve brownie cupcakes for dessert - decorated in a way that made them look like round BBQ grills - so cute! 

     Okay, so we went from a very healthy dinner, to a very unhealthy dessert, but we all had fun with it.

    

While Elmer and the girls were away on Saturday evening at the local auto races (for Father's Day it cost them only $4 altogether for all of them to get in!), I grocery shopped for the "junk food" that the girls would need for their BBQ Grill Brownies.  I came home and baked the brownies, knowing they would arrive back home too late from the races to bake the brownies and let them cool completely.

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Kelsi, age 12

    The girls frosted the brownie cupcakes with homemade chocolate frosting.  Hey, if you're gonna be bad, you might as well be really bad.

     Then, they began making tiny "food" out of candy.  Kelsi is working on a miniature pork chop or grilled chicken.

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Brittany, age 10

   










    Brittany is making tiny, cute candy shishkabobs that look realistic! 

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     Aren't these so cute? !!!  See the pork chops, shishkabobs, and the hot dogs grilling on the BBQ?  I just love it! 

     But there was one disadvantage to eating these treats...besides the calories...

My dad, Gary, showing how mature he is!

                  BLACK!!! 

            (or Blech?!!!)

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Kelsi, showing us her beautiful smile (gasp!)

Yuck. 

Looks like meth mouth. 

Double yuck.

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    This clever trio is a tasty way to honor the King of the Grill on Father's Day (from www.FamilyFun.com):


Ingredients

• Brownie batter

• Black food coloring
• White frosting
• Orange sugar
• Caramel creams (try to find the soft caramels - the only ones we could find in the store were a sugar-free version.  Most of us didn't eat them anyway; we used them only for decoration.  What we REALLY wanted was the brownie - LOL!)
  
• Red, yellow, and green candy fruit slices
• Hot Tamales candies

Instructions

1. To make a batch of 12, place liners in a muffin pan, oil them, and fill them two thirds full of your favorite brownie batter, then bake according to the recipe directions. Let the brownies cool. (If you choose to use large-sized muffin tins, then your children won't have quite so many brownie muffins to decorate...we just made six, since there were only six of us today.)
   
   
2. In a small bowl, mix one or two drops of black food coloring with 1/4 cup white or chocolate frosting. Transfer the frosting to a ziplock bag and snip a small section from the corner. Or, use an icing decorating bag with icing tip to pipe grate lines onto each brownie.  Let them set for 20 minutes. Add embers with a sprinkle of orange sugar.  (To make orange sugar, put 1-2 Tbsp. sugar into a small cup; add 1-3 drops of orange food coloring and stir well for a couple of minutes with a spoon.  We prefer Wilton cream food coloring to liquid drops, but use what you prefer.)
   
   
3. Prepare the grill food as instructed below and press it in place atop each brownie.
   
   
   

Kebabs =
A caramel cream
and red, yellow, and green candy fruit slices, cut into small pieces
+ toothpick skewers

Pork chop =
two thirds of a caramel cream, molded with fingers
+ black food coloring, applied with a toothpick

Hot dogs =
Hot Tamales candies
+ black food coloring, applied with a toothpick

Have you ever done some wild and wacky food like this before?  What was it?

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