Father's Day 2012 Recap

Well another Happy Father's Day has come and gone, and I think 2012's celebration will go down in the books as a success.  I let Mr. Devilish Dish pick the menu.  I was going to do BBQ Brisket Sliders and he said, "I'd rather have roast beef."  And of course he chose banana pudding for dessert.  The old fashioned kind with the "cooked" custard.  We had the whole family over, including my in-laws and my best friend and her family.  I kind of threw together the decorations with what I had on hand.  In the last few months we have had some big parties revolving around both football and baseball.  Around here, a sports theme is always welcome, and pretty easy to do when you live and breathe football, baseball and golf.  I kind of wished I would have planned ahead and gone with an OKC Thunder theme.  (But secretly I don't like the color orange, so I didn't want to be stuck with orange plates and napkins.)  I'm already planning Father's Day 2013.  Since the U.S. Open Golf Tournament always falls on Father's Day weekend, the wheels are already turning for what kind of clever golf-themed meal I can come up with.  Meanwhile, I think the guys were pretty happy with what was served.  What more could you ask for?  They got meat, bread, beer and golf on television. 

The dining table "centerpiece"...I used a couple of tall, clear
vases I had on hand and filled them with baseballs.  The tableclothlooked like a football field.  (I used it for Mr. DD's 40th Football Party)
I added a football of course.  And a few boxes of Cracker Jacks.
(Which the Moms all wound up eating.  I kept teasing
them to please not eat the centerpiece.)
Then I used football and baseball napkins that
I had leftover from some previous parties. 
Very economical decor!

For the food table I used my good 'ol reliable OU tablecloth
that makes an appearance at every tailgate and watch party.
I cheated and used paper plates, but I don't think anyone
really minded.  The dishwasher (ME) was happy.

I bought some really fresh dinner rolls at the store,
and pre-sliced them.  We baked two roasts
the night before, let them cool, wrapped them really well
in foil and put them in the fridge overnight,
and sliced them right before the party.
I just served the beef cold.  But you could certainly
serve it warm if you'd like.  The recipe is a delicious main
course roast, perfect with mashed potatoes too.  You can find the
Spicy Herb Rubbed Roast Beef Recipe HERE.

Since roast beef and horseradish are a
traditional combination, I made a little
Horseradish Sauce to spread on the sandwiches.
This would a great accompaniment to the roast beef,
whether for sandwiches or Sunday dinner.
You can find the Horseradish Sauce Recipe HERE.

For those folks that don't like horseradish (Blasphemy!) I made
a Rosemary Garlic Aioli too. 
(Thats a fancy word for mayonnaise.)
You could use any herb you want, but I have an
abundance of rosemary in my garden, and I
also think it goes great with beef.
You can find the Rosemary Garlic Aioli Recipe HERE.

Growing up, my mom always made a tangy cole slaw,
with more of a vinaigrette style dressing.
Mr. Devilish Dish happens to like a creamy cole slaw best,
and since it was his day, I made his favorites.
My favorite recipe for creamy style cole slaw comes from
Christy Jordan's cookbook, The Southern Plate.
You can visit her website HERE. I cannot
believe I forgot to take a pic of the banana pudding.
Probably because I was tired from making
THREE BATCHES.  Because Mr. Devilish
got his own personal bowl.  I used the recipe
for Homemade Banana Pudding from
Southern Plate as well.  I just love Christy,
and of all her recipes. 

No summertime celebration would be complete without
Deviled Eggs.  I don't really have a recipe.
I put the eggs (as many as you want) in a pot, covered with
water, with a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.
(Makes them easier to peel!)
Then I bring the water to a rapid boil.  Put the lid on the pot,
and turn off the heat.  Depending on how done you like them,
I let them sit covered, with the burner off 10-15 minutes.
Then I dump the hot water out, and cool them with
cold ice water.  Usually I peel them the night before,
and the next day I cut them and make the filling.
(Which consists of the egg yolks, Miracle Whip,
yellow mustard, salt and pepper.)
I usually do at least 40 at a time because my deviled egg holders each
hold 20 eggs.  I use a pastry bag to fill them,
Not because it's fancy, but because it's fast.  Like an assembly line.

Sticking with the sports theme, I added some
salted peanuts in the shell and more Cracker Jacks.
This doubled as food, AND the "center piece"
on the other table. I added a scoop and some little
bowls for peanut shells.
Peanuts and Cracker Jacks just seem like very DAD-ish food!

For their gifts, each Dad got a little treat consisting
of all things POP.  Soda POP, POPcorn, POP Tarts,
POP Rocks and Tootsie POPs.
Adorned with their own little
World's Best POP Award.
If you want more details on this,
I blogged about it HERE.

The contents of the gift. 
Incidentally, Mr. Devilish Dish
LOVES unfrosted brown sugar cinnamon Pop Tarts
and Tootsie Pops.  Won't the other Dads be in
for a surprise when they find out those Pop Tarts don't
have any frosting.  (lame) Oh well, my house, my "dad"
I'll choose the flavor in his honor.

I found these sodas a while back.  The flavor is
black cherry.  The brand says,
The Pop Shoppe
I thought that was too cute.  Bought them and put
them away, not knowing what I'd do with them, but
just knowing The Pop Shoppe
was perfect for Father's Day.

Here they are, all finished and lined up for the Dads...

In addition to Mr. Devilish Dish being the
World's Best Pop, I happen to think he's pretty
HOT too...So he got an extra little gift.  I just
filled with with a few spices and seasonings
(because he is the king of making his own
rubs, chile powders, etc...)
Made a little tag, and tied it up.
Complete with a fresh jalapeno pepper I grew myself!

World's Best POP Father's Day Gifts

Aside from fixing all the dads in my life a yummy meal, I wanted to show appreciation for them by having a little gift for each of them to take home.  A while back I saw some black cherry soda with the brand name The Pop Shoppe.  I thought that was too cute and bought a few bottles.  I stashed them away, knowing I would use them for Father's Day, just not knowing how.  Like every woman in the free world, I spend a lot of time on Pinterest.  If you haven't heard of it, it's like an online bulletin board where you can share everything from decorating, crafts, recipes and more.  Basically if you're surfing the web, and see something on a webpage that you like, you can "pin it" and the link is there for you to re-visit and share with your friends.  I've been very flattered to have folks PIN several of my recipes on there, and I've found lots of great ideas to try myself.  Leave it to Pinterest to save the day when it came time to do something crafty with my bottles of pop! 

Here's how my idea turned out.  I originally saw the
idea HERE. I'm so grateful there are such
clever people out there willing to share their ideas.
It saved the day!  One of the things I loved most
about this little treat was the "award" ribbon.
I basically used some scrapbook paper
and extra ribbon I had on hand.  It might
have been cuter if I had really coordinated the
paper and ribbon, but I was trying to be economical
AND use up the five million square feet of craft
supplies taking over my garage.
To make the "award" I took a couple of 1-inch
wide strips of printed paper and hot glued them together
to create one really long strip.  (Hot glue is important because
it sets really fast, and you don't want to fight the
accordian-folded paper.)  I just folded it accordian-style,
then twisted it around to create the "rosette".  Hot glue those edges
together, glue it to a scrap of ribbon and drape it over the
top of the treat bag.

Each bag got two bottles of POP,
a package of microwave POPcorn,
a package of POP tarts, a package of POP rocks,
and a few Tootsie POPS.
I just bagged them up using clear, plastic
treat bags.

Here's the close up of the sodas.  Too cute!

Rosemary Garlic Aioli

Most of the time I'm a ketchup girl.  Except hot dogs at the ball park.  Then it's all about the traditional bright yellow mustard.  Mayonnaise?  Can't stand it.  But we sure seem to use a lot of it around here.  That's usually in dips and sauces though.  To go some roast beef sandwich sliders, I wanted to have something a little fancier than the usual jar of mayo on the table (because it not only grosses me out, but it doesn't look fancy.)  In addition to a Horseradish Sauce, I decided to make an aioli, which is really just a fancy word for mayonnaise.  Mr. Devilish Dish suggested an "herbed aioli" and after taking inventory of our garden, I settled on Rosemary.  Not only to I think rosemary is a great companion to something hearty like beef, but I also have two tons of it taking over my backyard.  (Now you know the method to my recipe madness!)  Garlic, of course goes in everything I make with the exception of maybe banana pudding and cheesecake.  (Hmmmm, now there's something to play with.)  You could also do the aioli with any herb of your choice.  Basil, thyme, tarragon.  Or a combination.  Try it!  Your sandwiches will thank you.

Horseradish Sauce

Nothing compliments roast beef better than horseradish sauce.  It's a tradition, and not being one to break from that, I made a sauce to serve with our roast beef sandwiches for Father's Day.  I served up cold roast beef sandwiches as sliders, but the recipe makes a hearty main course served hot with mashed potatoes, and of course Horseradish Sauce.  You can find the recipe for the Spicy Herb Rubbed Roast HERE.  Make sure you try them together, the spicy, fragrant sauce is perfect with the moist, tender roast beef.

A great spread for sandwiches or a superb dipping sauce!

Spicy Herb Rubbed Roast

A while back, we had a friend over for dinner for the first time.  Normally it isn't a problem for me to wow my dinner guests with something fun and different.  But this time I was stumped.  His dad was a butcher.  So no ordinary meatloaf or grilled steak was going to do the trick.  I needed a main course that would even make a butcher's son drool.  And this is what Mr. Devilish Dish and I came up with.  It's like a rare, sliced roast beef, but with a yummy coating that has a little kick to it.  Needless to say, our friend was impressed, I was relieved and I'm pretty sure you'll be impressed too.

The perfect Sunday dinner...

The Line-Up
(Don't worry, it looks like a lot, but
the spices all go in one bowl.)

Place seasonings and herbs
in a bowl.

Add olive oil and mix well.

Let sit at room temperature for
15 minutes to allow spices to "bloom."

Rub mixture over roast.

Cover on all sides.

Place in a foil lined baking dish.

Bake about an hour.  I like to use a
probe style thermometer that stays in
the meat while it cooks.  That way I can
monitor the internal temperature.
(And we like our meat rare, I know what the FDA says
about internal temperatures.  Cook the meat the way
you feel most comfortable serving to your family.)

Let rest 15 minutes.
This will prevent the juices
from running out when you slice it.

Slice against the grain.

Wonderful served with mashed potatoes.

Best Margarita Ever

For Cinco de Mayo this year, Mr. Devilish Dish and I decided to stay home and play it relaxed.  But we still needed to celebrate with a home cooked Mexican meal.  He's not a big margarita fan.  I like them, but I don't like to make up a batch and drink them by myself.  Well I do like to make up a batch and drink them by myself but my head does not.  This recipe is the perfect solution.  The beer takes the edge off the tequila.  And the Sprite takes the edge off the limeade.  Not too sweet, not too strong, not too acidic.  The Best Margarita Ever!

OLE!

Mickey Mouse Mother's Day Mashed Potato Bar

This year's Mother's Day meal was inspired by an early gift from my Little Devil.  Most of you probably know by now that I have an extensive collection of Mickey Mouse Memorabilia.  A lot of it happens to be kitchenware and serving pieces.  My kitchen is decorated in a Mickey Mouse theme.  I just love him.  The bright colors are so festive and you can't help but be happy preparing a meal with Mickey all around you.  Anyway, Little Devil surprised me early with a really cute Mickey Mouse platter with matching bowls that were shaped like Mickey Mouse heads.  They were divided into three serving areas:  A larger one for the head, and two smaller ones for the ears.  Cutest things you ever saw!  I decided then and there we would be using them for Mother's Day, so I needed to come up with meal using food items that could be easily served from Mickey's Ears.  And so the Mashed Potato Bar was born.  I had "Mashtinis" as they're called around here at a wedding last year.  They served your choice of plain or sweet potatoes, mashed, in a martini glass.  Then a variety of toppings were provided such as bacon and cheese.  I don't own that many martini glasses, but I do have a large collection of sundae glasses and they came out perfect.  I just did a huge batch of mashed potatoes (I think I used 16 big Russet potatoes!) and scooped them into the sundae glasses.  The Moms, and other family members were free to add the toppings of their choice.  Rounding out the meal were Mickey Mouse Cupcakes of course.  It was a really happy day!

Our Mother's Day
Mashed Potato Sundaes
turned out so cute!

The table all ready to go.
I even found red polka dot napkins that
reminded me of Minnie's dress.

The toppings all labeled and ready to go!

That's three pounds of fried and crumbled bacon.
(It was the only "meat" provided so I wanted
things to be hearty!)

Who can resist those little cans of
french fried onions???

The cupcakes!  I used the recipe for Death By Oreo Cupcakes
from the Instructables.com Blog.
You can visit the link HERE.
I simply made a frosting using pulverized Oreos, butter,
milk, and powdered sugar.
Topped each cupcake with 1 large Oreo and 2 mini Oreos.
So dang cute.  I just love Mickey.  And the flavor was
to die for.  Baking an Oreo at the bottom of
each cupcake was a fun, added crunch!

Here are the labels I made so everyone would
know what topping was in each "ear."
I was so proud of these little diagrams!