It's the third Sunday of June, and that means it's a day to honor our dads for all that they do in our lives. Father's Day is a little bit bittersweet for me, now that my dad is gone, but I try to think about the good times and all of the things I learned from him. And one of the things I learned from him is what a good dad does, and I think it really helped me to find my husband and know that he was the man for me. There's that old saying about how women marry their fathers, and to some extent, I think it's kind of true. My husband has the same even temperament that my father did, even when I'm driving him crazy. He's an optimist, a comedian, but more important than all of that, he's a wonderful father. He always says that I'm teaching our son all that he knows, but he really deserves just as much of the credit, if not more.



In my little family, we like to spoil my husband on Father's Day. The last few Father's Days have been especially challenging, because one of the ways I like to spoil him is with food. When he was found to have a dairy allergy a few years ago, that really put a dent in my baking plans, but I've gotten better at non-dairy baking and I think this year I might have knocked it out of the park...



Oh yes, those are cookie dough cheesecake bars. Non-dairy ones even! And compared to most baked goods, they're fairly healthful. Best of all, they taste good. That's my main complaint with lots of the non-dairy stuff, but these are darned tasty. They need to set a bit longer, as the filling looks a bit soft, but I'm sure they'll be perfect by the time we have them after dinner.

We're also cooking up some french toast this morning, adapting a recipe from Mother's Bistro in Portland. Remember how I loved their French toast when I was in Portland? My munchkin and I are making that this morning, just with various non-dairy milks in lieu of the whipping cream and half-and-half called for in the recipe. If you need a go-to French toast recipe, you need the Mother's Bistro cookbook, called Mother's Best: Comfort Food That Takes You Home Again. And there's way more than just French toast in there! It's a beautiful cookbook, lots of great, mouthwatering photographs and really authentic recipes. Thumbs up!

I hope you've got a great day planned, and that your dad or husband is going to have a wonderful day today. Happy Father's Day everyone!