Father’s Day Breakfast in Bed:
An Unexpected Family Tradition

Prior to becoming a mother I fantasized about the food traditions I’d pass on to my kids: apple picking in crisp fall weather, enjoying fresh-baked bread on Friday nights, and savoring my mother’s rich carrot cake each Thanksgiving. I didn’t anticipate that my boys would create traditions of their own, such as Father’s Day breakfast in bed served on a battered old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle bed tray.

At 8 and 10 years old, my boys are ready to move beyond the basic toast, chocolate milk and banana meals of the past, but what to make for this year’s celebration of all things paternal? I gather the boys round the computer monitor and click over to the 3-A-Day recipe finder for inspiration. They’re so excited about our finds they practically drool on my keyboard.

“Mmmm. Let’s make Baked Apples with Cinnamon Yogurt Topping,” suggests my youngest.

“How about the Easy to Please Yogurt Parfait?” offers the other.

The longer we search, the more recipes they want to try. Our breakfast banter heats up. Tempers flare. I head off an argument. We may be for planning Father’s Day, but I’m still the queen bee, “Let’s make the Berry Blast Smoothie. Berries are in season, so we can substitute fresh, ripe ones for some of the frozen. Dad loves berries.”
 
On the big day, the boys will measure, I’ll blend and they’ll garnish. One cannot underestimate the importance of garnishing. Three little blueberries impaled on a brightly colored toothpick delicately positioned on the rim of the glass catapults an ordinary breakfast smoothie to a sophisticated new level. Sophisticated, that is, after I stop the boys’ inevitable tiny toothpick swordfight.

We’ll complement the smoothie with homemade bread and jam, and end the light breakfast with Berry Dip and Roll, a treat sweet enough to pass off as “breakfast dessert,” which, of course, will make the morning meal in bed seem all the more decadent. After rinsing off plump summer strawberries, the boys will dip them in plain low-fat yogurt and roll them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Simple enough for a toddler, tasty enough for a father. 

With a little planning we’ve created a simple, fresh and healthy way to start dad’s special day. Like many families, we often fall back on processed convenience foods because, well, they’re so convenient. But we’re trying to get back to the basics, avoiding food with ingredients you can’t pronounce and need a chemistry degree to understand.

We want “real food” that our great-great-grandfathers would recognize. You know, foods like apples, bananas, grapes, carrots, cheese and a gallon of milk.

Whether you’re celebrating Father’s Day or the start of summer, June is a great time to shop, eat and live healthy. You can grow your own herbs in a kitchen garden, visit a local farmers’ market to buy fresh produce or spend time with family to create a satisfying home cooked meal. Either way, you’re sure to benefit from the experience. You may discover wonderful new food traditions and you’re sure to create family memories even if you don’t garnish your meal with fancy toothpicks.


Kim Moldofsky is a freelance writer, professional blogger and amateur chauffeur. She blogs about life at Hormone-colored Days and food at Scrambled CAKE. She also contributes to the Chicago Moms Blog and BabyCenter.com’s MOMformation.