It’s been 17 years since my dad died but every June, I try to honor his memory by eating his favorite foods and doing something he would have enjoyed. This Father’s Day I plan on grilling a steak and watching baseball. He was a baseball fan and in every city that we lived in, we went to games. I have been to games at the stadiums of major league teams including the L.A. Dodgers, Anaheim Angels, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and the Minnesota Twins. We went to minor league games as well; Toledo Mudhens, St. Paul Saints, Arkansas Travelers, Myrtle Beach Pelicans and of course the Salem teams. He always had a hat to match the team.
When we moved to Virginia the team was named the Salem Redbirds, then they became the Salem Avalanche. He died just after they were renamed the Salem Red Sox. I often wonder what he would think of the new name, the Salem Ridge Yaks. I do know he would have a new hat. When the opportunity came up he and my mom bought a house in a neighborhood that is behind the Salem ballfield just so he could walk to games.
The celebration of this day can look different for everyone. Some people may only celebrate their father or use the day to bring the family together in his honor. Others may include their stepfather, spouse, father-in-law, uncles, brothers, and role models in their festivities.
Here’s a little Father’s Day history.
In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, was inspired by Anna Jarvis and the idea of Mother’s Day. Her father, William Jackson Smart, a farmer and Civil War veteran, was also a single parent who raised Sonora and her five brothers by himself, after his wife, Ellen, died giving birth to their youngest child in 1898. While attending a Mother’s Day church service in 1909, Sonora, then 27 years old, came up with the idea.
Within a few months, Sonora had convinced the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA to set aside a Sunday in June to celebrate fathers. She proposed June 5, her father’s birthday, but the ministers chose the third Sunday in June so that they would have more time after Mother’s Day (the second Sunday in May) to prepare their sermons. So, on June 19, 1910, Sonora delivered presents to handicapped fathers, boys from the YMCA decorated their lapels with fresh-cut roses (red for living fathers, white for the deceased), and the city’s ministers devoted their homilies to fatherhood.
The widely publicized events in Spokane reached all the way to Washington, D.C., and Sonora’s celebration put the idea on the path to becoming a national holiday.
The first Father’s Day bill was introduced in Congress in 1913, but in spite of encouragement from President Woodrow Wilson, it did not pass. Eight years later, President Calvin Coolidge signed a resolution in favor of Father’s Day. Then, in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation establishing the third Sunday in June to honor fathers. In 1972 President Richard Nixon signed a law making it a national holiday. Holiday founder Sonora Dodd died in 1978, at the age of 96.
In many Catholic countries, such as Spain and Italy, fathers have traditionally been honored on March 19, the Feast of Saint Joseph, a tradition dating back to the 1500s. The Taiwanese celebrate Father’s Day on August 8—the eighth day of the eighth month—because the Mandarin Chinese word for eight sounds like the word for “Papa.” In Thailand, Father’s Day is celebrated on former King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday, December 5.
Here are two of my dad’s favorite recipes.
Smoked Sausage Hash
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
3-4 potatoes, cubed
1 (14 oz.) package smoked sausage, sliced
2 peppers, diced (red, green, or orange)
1 med. onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet or cast iron. Add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until desired crispiness about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside using a slotted spoon. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the smoked sausage for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Add the onions and peppers and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and translucent and the peppers are tender. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the potatoes back in and continue cooking for another minute or two. Add more salt and pepper if needed or other seasonings as desired.
Crustless Pineapple Pie (2 versions)
Ingredients
2 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup biscuit/pancake mix (Bisquick)
¼ cup melted butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2- 8oz cans crushed pineapple, well drained
Whipped topping for serving
Lighter version ingredient list
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup reduced-calorie biscuit/pancake mix
1/4 cup light margarine, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cans (8-ounce each) crushed pineapple in juice, drained and squeezed dry
fat-free whipped topping for serving
Directions for both versions
In a blender, combine milk, sugar, biscuit mix, butter eggs, and vanilla, cover and blend until smooth. Sprinkle the pineapple into a greased deep dish 9-inch pie plate. Pour batter over pineapple. Bake at 350degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped topping if desired.
