A Father's Day Dinner fit for the Fathers!!

I know, it's not Father's Day yet, but we celebrated today, along with my Father-in-law's birthday, because our two oldest children will be at camp on Father's Day. I think my husband considers that to be enough of a gift!! So this morning I got up early and finished the preparations for the big feast. I boxed everything up and off we went!

We grilled London Broil at my In-laws home. I have to admit I didn't know what London Broil was until just last week. While checking out a new "favorite" blog, How to Cook Like Your Grandmother, I got a whole tutorial. Here in Columbus, Ohio we have a grocery store chain called Giant Eagle that gives weekly buy-on-get-one-free specials. I suspect they aren't that great of a deal, since when I leave the store I've way overspent, but they were running a special on top round for London Broil. I decided we'd give it a whirl, and I'm so glad we did. While our London Broil was not quite as juicy as Drew's on How to Cook Like Your Grandmother, I think it was up there as "excellent". We are in the process of switching out our grill and getting a charcoal grill (which we had when we were poor!!), and I think the charcoal flavor and cooking would have made this an absolute "10". Check out Drew's site and his tutorial for fixing London Broil - you won't be disappointed!!

So, to go along with our London Broil, I fixed Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes. Not only were these delicious, but the colors were beautiful!! I found the recipe on Recipezaar.com (I love, love, love this site!!), and only modified it slightly by adding a tablespoon of Penzey's Spices Epazote. If you have a Penzey's Spices store in your area and you've never gone - you need to go soon!! No, I'm not a family member, but I swear by their spices!! You can get a small jar of a spice and try it for next to nothing!! Honestly, the grocery store spices are way overpriced and not nearly as good. If you don't have a Penzey's in your area, then you can order online. But finish reading my blog first!! :) Ok, back to the beans. These were a hit and everyone loved them. The colors were beautiful, too (bright green, red, brown of the bacon - major yum!!). The only thing is, these beans are ONLY for special occasions because you saute them in BACON GREASE! Yep, you read that right. These guys will kill you if you eat them regularly - really!! So maybe I'll make them again at Christmas after everyone submits a doctor's cholesterol screening!!

Finally, I added in Aunt Gert's Macaroni Salad from RealMomKitchen (from Paula Deen). We had this over Memorial Day weekend and it was wonderful. I wish I had a photo of the entire meal on a plate, but we were too busy eating!! All I can say is that the flavors were wonderful. My husband wanted everyone to tell them which part of the meal was their favorite - but we all said the whole thing combined was what was so good.

So now comes the moment of truth. My Father-in-law asked for cherry pie for his birthday. I tried to make a cherry pie back in the 1980's, but it was a total failure (like the filling never set and ran all over the plate). I never tried again. Too much stress. Makes me nervous. Also, my Father-in-law said he couldn't get a good cherry pie when he went out to eat, and wanted a GOOD cherry pie. Yep, not just ANY cherry pie - it had to be GOOD. Yikes!! My nerves were shot!!

After some "googling" (we use to call that "research") I discovered a "good" cherry pie was tart, and usually made with Michigan cherries. I placed an order and got my cherries in a couple of days. A little more "googling", and actually reading the back of the cherry can (same exact recipe) I discovered the best cherry pie recipe. Now this is a "sour" cherry pie - not a "sweet" cherry pie. I didn't know there was a difference, but after I tried this pie, I sure know now. It's great, but it pulls a pucker!! I want to try this again around July 4th with a combination of sour and sweet cherries, just to see how that tastes.

So, this was a really good birthday/Father's Day for the guys (and the gals!) - hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Aunt Gert's Macaroni Salad

Oh, my - this isn't your regular potluck macaroni salad!! It's sweet, it's tangy - it's really filling!! You can easily just make 1/2 of the recipe and have plenty!! But oh my, it is SO GOOD!! My photo doesn't do this recipe justice. I was in a hurry and didn't set the picture up well. You're just going to have to trust me on this one - it's a keeper!! :)

I was hanging out last week over at Real Mom Kitchen salivating over her recipes. I love her site - it's so pretty and the recipes are great. Well, she posted a few of her Memorial Day links, and I just happened to stumble on this one. Wow, she made my day!! Of course, it's a Paula recipe, so you know it's going to be good!

I'm normally not a macaroni salad person. I prefer a pasta salad, and one without mayo. But I wanted to make this one because the noodles were so pretty! Ha, how's that for a reason? I'm so glad I did. I made the full recipe, and ended up sharing a lot with neighbors. One called last night and asked for the recipe. That's when you know it's good! I'd trade one cousin Steve and one brother Tony for Paula's Aunt Gert!!

Aunt Gert's Macaroni Salad

2 (8 oz) jars mayonnaise

1 medium onion

1 cup diced celery

1 cup sugar

1 cup cold water

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (16 oz) box radiatore pasta, cooked and drained (can substitute rotini pasta)Optional garnishes: chopped hard boiled egg, chopped fresh parsley (or dried)

**Note** Unless you are cooking for a family reunion, it's fine to halve the recipe. The original makes A LOT!

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, onion, celery, sugar, water, vinegar, and garlic. Add pasta, stirring to combine well. The mixture is really soupy, but thickens as it chills. Cover and chill overnight. I made this in the morning and chilled all day. I stirred the mixture every 2-3 hours to keep the pasta on top from drying out and mix in all the ingredients. Garnish with hard boiled egg and parsley, if desired.