Father’s Day weekend was a nice and low key around here.
…but first, a quick shout out to all those amazing dads I am so fortunate to have in my life (looking at you David, dad, my dad-in-law, bro and bro-in-law). I feel pretty special to have so many family-focused, hard working men in my life and applaud them for being such great, dedicated dads. I love you all!
We started the weekend off with having our friends Dan and Sarah over for dinner Friday night.
The best kind of friends are those you can go a long time without seeing, then pick off right where you left off.
I tried Rose wine after hearing it being hyped everywhere. Not bad, but I wouldn’t consider myself a convert.
We chowed down on burgers, of which I’m really digging the collard green wrap for lately. It really lets the burger and toppings shine. Especially THIS which I can’t stop eating by the forkful.
Saturday morning started with a leisurely breakfast.
Terrible picture, I apologize. Clearly the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet.
We hit up Josh’s for 35 pounds of pickling cucumbers, walmart for jars and Jimmy Johns for fuel…
Then we hit it hard and canned 32 jars of homemade pickles. By the end of the day we were over being in the kitchen so we hit up the neighborhood pool for an evening swim and grabbed a Papa Murphy’s pizza on the way home.
Sunday morning we showered David with love, coffee and a few presents before he let us know what he wanted most for Father’s Day… a chance to clean out the garage.
Whatever floats your boat, babe.
It ended up being a really productive day. David tackled the garage while I cleaned, laundered and handled the meals.
I will be eating these cucumber, tomato, onion, olive, oregano and balsamic salads all week. Let’s just say we over-estimated our cucumber need when pickle making.
PB&J. Mixed. Always.
By late afternoon the house was in pretty great shape so we decided some R&R was in order.
The girls were psyched.
Bahaha!
Despite Kaitlyn’s face, she is warming up to the life jacket. We somehow found an empty beach and wore the girls out with swimming and clam shell searching. It was a great afternoon!
Once the girls crashed into bed, we celebrated the day with filets, sous vide style.
Melt in your mouth goodness.
Then followed it up with a little Tres Leches I picked up from La Patisserie.
Pizza and steak in the same weekend pretty much solidifies it as a winner.
What is your dessert of choice for special occasions?
I know David prefers Key Lime Pie or Tres Leches- I’m a big fan of Creme Brulee or a simple brownie with ice cream!
Heather@hungryforbalance says
You gotta love productive weekends! My hubby wanted to spend Father’s Day taking our daughter to the zoo.
My favorite desserts usually involve chocolate of some variety: cheesecake, brownies, cake, etc.
Lee says
I’m with David – key lime pie and tres leches cake are delicious. I’m also a big fan of a gooey brownie with ice cream on top.
Christine says
All the food you had this weekend looks so good! I need to find that Kraut next time I venture to Whole Foods!! Which flavor do you like the most? I’m intrigued by the jalapeno flavor!
Our homemade dessert choice is peanut butter pie – it’s easy and yummy! I made one this weekend and it’s constantly calling my name from the fridge! Our purchase dessert would be a few things – Cupcakes from wholefoods because I’m obsessed! A whipped cream and strawberry cake from a local Italian bakery, or anything chocolate if we are out at a restaurant!
Brittany Dixon says
The kraut is SO good. I usually go with the garlic dill pickle because it’s amazing, but I read your comment on the way into the grocery store this morning and bought the jalapeno version to try out so I could report back ๐
Christine says
Oh! I can’t wait to hear your review! Its funny, the wholefoods closest to me does not sell it (according to the online locator) but other locations do so it will be a drive for me to pick some up when I get around to it.
John J. says
Y’all had a fun and productive Father’s Day! Your life and your blog make me one proud Father!!
Brynn says
your weekend looks fun and delicious! My husband loves dessert, especially banana cake and apple pie. I’m happy with a scoop of ice cream. Though an ice cream cake would be better!
Brittany Dixon says
I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of banana cake, but if it’s anything like banana bread, I’m sure I’d love it!
Brynn says
It is very similar and has a decadent chocolate frosting!
Jess M says
Planning to dive into pickle making this year myself, hoping the garden yields enough for that.
Any tips? Or a specific recipe you’ve had success with?
We’ve got fresh dill growing too!
Brittany Dixon says
We used dill from our back yard too- love it! I’m working on perfecting my Nannie’s recipe, but don’t feel like I have it down yet. I would advise to start with only a few jars, as making as many as we did takes forever. I make sure a head of garlic and dill is a staple in each jar, then we just played with it a lot this time, adding hot peppers to some, bay leaves and mustard seeds. Good luck- it’s easier than you’d think! ๐
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul says
So much yummy food! It sounds like you had an amazing weekend! Kaitlyn is such a cutie!
Brittany says
I love homemade pickles! A post on your method would be great ๐
Brittany Dixon says
I have definitely not perfected my method yet but maybe next year I can perfect it enough to share ๐
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
Haha rose is definitely trendy these days! I had some over the weekend and I really liked it but I’m not sure it would be my go-to pick. Sounds like you had a fun weekend!
Christina says
Your post made me laugh so hard — my husband spent several hours of his Father’s Day cleaning out our garage as well!!! Whatever works for them, right? ๐
We are headed your way on Wednesday – we are going to stop in Huntersville for the night (coming from the DC area), en route to Highlands, NC for a camping trip with friends. We’re taking our daughter to Discovery Place Kids Thursday morning, then stopping at Josh’s Farm Market to load up on fruit and veggies before we head out of town. Any lunch suggestions near DPK?
Brittany Dixon says
Glad I don’t have the only husband who’d prefer to work on a project on his special day- ha! That’s hilarious!
I love that you will be up this way- so cool! DPK is an awesome choice- H asks to go there every day. There aren’t a lot of lunch spots right near DPK, but if you go up one exit (DPK is at 23, so if you go north to 25) there are a TON of options. There is Whole Foods, Which Wich, Zoe’s Kitchen, Jason’s Deli, Chipotle, a juice bar and so much more (depends on what you are after). Let me know if I can help direct you anywhere else- what a fun weekend you have coming up!
Courtney @ Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life says
All of that FOOD! I’m jealous…looks amazing! Glad you guys had what sounds like an awesome weekend!
Tracy says
Homemade pickles?! I’m comin over!!!
My husband had the same plans for Father’s Day! He cleaned/worked all day until dinner time ๐
Dani @ DaniCaliforniaCooks says
Hahhahah that picture of your daughter in a life jacket! That still happens to me when I put one on..
Maria says
Ha! Poor K, she looks so…disgruntled ๐
I recently discovered that our city has a Papa Murphy’s. Looking forward to trying it on those nights when I plan a meal and really am not feeling what I planned. I think it’ll bake up nicely in our new convection oven that I want to marry.
Niki @ Life With Niki says
All of that food looked divine, especially the salad and filet! I would have to stick with ice cream as my go to treat, too much goodness to handle ;).
Danica @ It's Progression says
LOVE all of this food!
It’s really hard for me to pick a favorite dessert. My husband always easily chooses cheesecake, but I’ll typically go with either fruit pizza, homemade brownies, apple crisp (my grandmother’s recipe is the best), or from-scratch chocolate chip cookies. (can you tell I love dessert a little bit?)
Ashley says
That Father’s Day dinner looks like what my Blue Apron meals sent for me to cook tonight! Hope it was tasty! Also, amen to the commenter who said Banana Cake. It’s devilishly good. I’m a big Creme Brรปlรฉe fan too. Or cheesecake.
Brittany Dixon says
It is Blue Apron! But I actually bought filets to cook for it instead of the steaks they sent. It was Father’s Day and the steaks they mailed were SO small. I just couldn’t do it. Super tasty though ๐
Johanna says
Sounds like a great weekend! The food looks amazing. My favorite dessert is always anything chocolate. So on Saturday my friend was of charge of bringing the cake to my sister’s 30th Birthday party and I was a little bummed when I heard it was pound cake. It turned out to be lemon pound cake with Raspberry frosting and it was amazing!!!i am converted lol