Happy Father's Day and Bon Appetit!

I was blessed to spend the week before Father's Day with my dad and stepmom, who were visiting from Florida. During that time, my dad (with my stepmom and youngest daughter, the patient co-chefs) insisted upon making dinner every night. My dad is an amazing cook who enjoys preparing meals for our family. Even before he packs to come up here, it's on his mind. My dad once hauled a 10-pound hunk of prime rib in his luggage.

Eating a nice meal is important to him, perhaps because he grew up with the poverty and rations of World War II Aberdeen. He views food as a necessity for which you should always be grateful.

Voilà! Garlic chicken.

When visiting us, my dad goes with the flow during the day, but when mid-afternoon approaches, it's time to get down to business. Around 2 or 3 p.m., he will begin to show a little antsiness in his manner and assume a look of focused intensity. He will begin opening cabinet doors in the kitchen, and peeking in the refrigerator. If I haven't picked up on what's going on, if I have missed the signs, he will ask me directly, "O.k., NOW--what are we going to have for dinner?" Because I am usually a last-minute, fling something together type of cook, I usually have no idea. I usually haven't given it the first thought.

Ah, amateurs. He comes up with a plan for dinner and, before long, he is pulling out pots and pans and organizing any necessary runs to the grocery store. A couple of hours later, things are really happening around the kitchen. Ingredients are being mixed, steam is rising, butter and garlic are crackling from the frying pan. My stepmother darts around the kitchen, moving boiling things. My dad, his face now sweating, takes a brief sip from a glass of wine before deftly chopping some herbs. The door swings open, and who is there standing before him but his adult child.

"Need any help?"

*****

Father's Day was fast approaching and we were running out of time. My girls wanted to find something special for their dad, who they both love so dearly. Though he works such long hours, he still finds time for swim meets and basketball, teacher conferences and just hanging out with his family. One of the things he enjoys doing most is making spectacular meals for us.

Thinking about that gave my youngest daughter an idea. "He's been looking everywhere for a crepe pan," she said.

A challenge! We went to the mall and, after looking around a bit, struck gold at Crate and Barrel. The next morning, we gave my husband breakfast in bed and showered him with an array of small gifts. Among them, the little round pan that had so eluded him.

He had not much time to lounge about aimlessly when our youngest asked if he could show her how to make crepes. Soon, he was in the kitchen, stirring batter and then warming it up in his new pan.

I watched as, with a spatula, he expertly folded the thin pancake over some strawberries. "You're not supposed to be doing all this work on Father's Day," I said.

"This is how I wanted to spend it," he said.

Within a couple of hours, he had to head to the office again--though we all knew he'd much rather be at home with his girls, flipping crepes.

*****

Happy Father's Day to our family's two special chefs!