? of the Week- June 19, 2011

A happy day to all the Tenor Eleven Miles Away fathers out there.

Today was a study in variety, our "? of the Week."

The day began with Mass followed by a meeting of the Young Families Group.  During the fall and winter and spring, families with kids too young for Sunday School meet immediately following Mass in a play area.  Our kids play and we do a potluck or someone brings some treats.  There is plenty of coffee for the groggy parents and the kids can burn off the rest of their energy before nap time.

Over the summer we meet once or twice a month.  Today our fearless leader/organizer, Murph, got the brilliant idea to do steaks for Father's Day.  Keep in mind, that Mass starts at 9:30 a.m.  We would be eating at 10: 30 a.m.

To prep, my girls and I took our Saturday morning trip to the city yesterday.  We went to the Village to Fiacco's Pork Store where I picked out a pinwheel steak to throw on the grill.  I also introduced my older daughter to the joys of a rice ball and cookies from Pasticceria Rocco.

And so, after Mass, we all fired up the grill.  My pinwheels were the daintiest steaks of the bunch.  Murph shocked us with a porterhouse ripped from an episode of the Flintstones.  There were plenty of great side dishes and one couple brought bottles of wine.  "We debated it for awhile and then thought, why postpone the inevitable?"

This group has become an institution for us.  As my wife said later this afternoon, "Some day we will look back on these times and realize that we are coming to an end of an era, but right now, we are living it!"

This evening we decided to go with a counterpoint to the mornings festivities.  Our family hopped in the car and drove down to Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  There we got a couple of sandwiches to share at Foodswings, one of the best places for quick and cheap vegan food.  We shared a Buffalo Burger and the Vegetarian Heart Attack Burger.  The former was ok, but not something to repeat.  The latter was a new favorite.  Our older daughter had her first vegan drumstick.  Foodswings will definitely become a favorite when we don't feel like cooking.

If you are a dad, drop a line with your celebration in the comments below.  If you took care of a dad, why don't you do so also?  After all, variety is the spice of life.