Celebrating Father's Day

Start celebrating Fathers Day by giving him the day off! Today is his day to be honored for being a wonderful father.

I also take this day to reflect on other men in my life that have been a father figure.

Being the youngest of seven kids, my older brothers have always been there for me.

I cherish the memories of my father. Growing up I always thought my dad was ten feet tall!

Even though he wasn't actually that tall, he always has been in my eyes for being such a great father.

Start celebrating Father's Day and give dad the day off. Make his day special in your own way!

Celebrating Fathers Day - Things Kids Can Do

Breakfast in Bed

Start celebrating Fathers Day by serving dad breakfast in bed! Let him sleep in while you make breakfast. It's a very special treat for Dad to have a nice breakfast in bed with a newspaper or his favorite magazine.

Breakfast Recipes

Apple Omelets
   - 3 apples - peel, core and dice them
   - 1/4 cup of butter
   - 6 eggs lightly whipped
   - 1/4 cup heavy cream
   - 1 teaspoon sugar
   - Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and sauté until tender only.

Then in another skillet, heat a small amount of oil over medium heat. Use a whisk to mix the eggs, salt, cream, sugar and pepper together. Pour that mixture into the skillet; when the omelet has started to set up, pour half the apples on top of the eggs.

Once the bottom of the omelet is cooked, fold it over and cover until it's cooked through.

Serve the omelet with the leftover apples either on top of the omelet or on the side.

Tasty Pancakes
   - 1 teaspoon sugar
   - 2 eggs separated
   - 2 teaspoons baking powder
   - 1/2 teaspoon salt
   - 1/4 cup oil
   - 1 1/8 cup of milk
   - 1 teaspoon vanilla
   - 1 1/3 cup flour

Whisk the egg whites until they're stiff.

Whip the egg yolks, add the salt and sugar, beat well; and then add the baking powder and mix in well.

Add the milk, oil and flour. Whip until smooth and then add the vanilla. Fold the egg whites into the mixture and let the batter sit for 20 minutes.

Fry up the pancakes and serve with Dad's favorite drink.

Cinnamon French Toast
   - 3 eggs
   - 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
   - 1/4 cup milk
   - 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
   - Pinch of nutmeg
   - 8 diagonally sliced pieces of French bread

Whisk the eggs in a shallow bowl, then whisk in the vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and milk.

In a skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Dip the bread into the egg mixture and put it in the skillet, cook about 3 minutes on each side or until browned.

Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture on top and serve with syrup.

Skillet Breakfast
   - 2 medium potatoes, cooked and cubed
   - 5 strips of bacon, chopped up
   - 1 tablespoon onion, chopped fine
   - 6 eggs beaten
   - 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp and then drain on a paper towel. Cook the potatoes and onions in the skillet until browned; and then pour the eggs into the skillet. Cook until the eggs are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the bacon and shredded cheese on top.

Serve up with toast and Dad's favorite drink.

Celebrating Fathers Day - Make Dad a Baseball Hat

You'll need:
   - Baseball hat
   - Fabric paints or permanent markers
   - Pick dad's favorite sport and decorate with that (If he likes fishing, use a fishing lure; use a sports ticket if he likes sports, or a golf tee for the golfer).

Decorate the hat anyway you like. You can put #1 Dad on it, attach decorations, paint a ribbon on it, or even put a picture of yourself on it. It'll be a great surprise for Dad!

Celebrating Fathers Day with Coupons

Give dad a coupon card or an IOU for something you'll do. It can be good for one car wash, taking the trash out, mowing the lawn, raking leaves, or weeding the garden/flower beds. You can pick whatever you want.

Celebrating Fathers Day - Make Dad a T-shirt

You'll need a light colored or white t-shirt, fabric paints, a piece of cardboard and a sheet of construction paper.

Put the cardboard inside the t-shirt and smooth the material over the cardboard. Tape or pin the construction paper on the outside of the material, in the center of the shirt, over the cardboard.

If you want to do handprints or foot prints, use several colors of fabric paint. Pressing the child's hand or foot into the paint and make a hand print on the shirt, and then do it again in another color, and do as many as you like.

Once the paint has dried, remove the paper. They can then write their name on the t-shirt, or whatever they would like to write. Remove the cardboard when finished and allow the t-shirt to dry for 48 hours.

Celebrating Fathers Day With a Day Out

Grillmasters Festival
Fire up your Father's Day Weekend at the North Market's Grillmasters Festival. Get in the BBQ Sauce contest and see some awesome Grilling demonstrations. Enjoy the live music and entertainment!
Date: Saturday - June 13, 2009
Location: North Market, 59 Spruce Street, Columbus, Ohio
(just west of N. High St. between Vine and Spruce just steps away from the Columbus Convention Center and Nationwide Arena.)

Take Dad to the Clippers Game - June 21 at 2PM!

Take Dad to the Topiary Gardens and watch the life imitating art. James Mason, a sculptor, created a cat, a monkey, three dogs, eight boats and fifty-four people from the garden. Most were created from yew trees. Admission is free and the park is open from sunrise to sunset daily, year round.

Then take Dad to Schmidt's Restaurant und Sausage Haus for a nice dinner. You can finish the evening with a nice stroll through German Village and Schiller park.