Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy Father's Day, Papa and Paw Crunk!

Every year on Father's Day, my grandparents and I gather at my parents' house for a celebratory meal honoring the family patriarchs — my daddy and my paw. Here's my paw (my dad's dad) with me and my daddy. As you can see, I didn't get the tall genes:

Anyone who's been following this blog for awhile knows how freakin' awesome my dad is. He's a bad-ass biker dude with a big ole heart, and he often sponsors cookbook and shopping spree giveaways on this blog ... just because he feels like it. He's not vegan, but he gave up fishing and hunting after I went vegan. He has magical powers that give him the ability to fix anything that's broken — from computers to pieces of furniture. He likes skulls, Harleys, and rock 'n' roll, and his favorite TV show is the Squidbillies on Adult Swim. He's always, always there when friends and family need him. He's pretty much the coolest dude in the universe.

My dad's favorite food right now is French Fry Po' Boys, which we first had in New Orleans last fall. We've since reserved making this ridiculously-carby sandwich for special occasions:

Steak fries are topped with Daiya mozzarella (I was out of cheddar or I would have used that instead), tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and ketchup.

Here's my plate — French Fry Po' Boy, sweet potato fries (yes, we had fries with fry sandwiches), Granny's fresh green beans and new potatoes, and Mama's tangy-sweet baked beans:

My mom made a vegan chocolate cake for dessert because my Paw LOVES chocolate cake. Ever since I was a little kid, I can remember my grandpa's sweet tooth. This man could probably eat dessert for every meal ... especially if it's chocolate cake:

And my Granny brought THREE vegan cream pies! Keep in mind that there were only six people at this celebration. That's enough for us to have a half a pie each. She made so many because she was testing variations of a pie that's going in my cookbook. Here's a Pineapple Cream Pie:

Here's the same pie with added coconut:

And here's a mandarin orange version:

I tried a sliver of each, plus a slice of chocolate cake. Needless to say, my sweet tooth was more than satisfied.

Happy Father's Day, Papa and Paw Crunk!

19 comments:

Pam said...

This post is such a lovely tribute to your daddy, not to mention those pies! Thanks for sharing.

Belle said...

Your family sounds amazing, you're really lucky!

Trinity (of haiku tofu) said...

Those pies look amazing. Nice one, Granny! I can't wait to make the pineapple cream.

Sarah (GF vegan) said...

Aw, what a great post and a cool dad! I can sympathise with your Paw's sweet tooth :)

Angie said...

You are so lucky to have such an amazing and supportive family! The carb fest looked super yum!

The Health Sensei said...

looks like an excellent day!

The Voracious Vegan said...

You are SO SO SO SO lucky to have such a wonderful father, and a great relationship with him. I can't even imagine how wonderful that must be. It is good to know there are good dads out there and I'm glad you got one!

Your food (as always!) looks SO delicious! I'd like a big slice of that cake right now, please.

Millie said...

Bianca you look just like your father...such a great resemblence. I love the coconut pie it looks fantastic.

http://nuestracena-vegancuisine.blogspot.com

jess_fildespages said...

Everything looks so delicious! The coconut pineapple cake especially has my mouth watering. So great that you had an awesome Fathers day.

Dianne said...

That is so cool that your whole family cooks vegan even though they're not! Hope you had a great time :-)

Erin said...

Holy cow, I'm coming to TN for father's day next year! The whole meal looks fantastic, and your family sounds awesome.

Dawn said...

That's fantastic that your family is so supportive! We should all be so lucky.

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Daddy Crunk is awesome! Happy Father's Day to him and to your Paw. :)

Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen said...

Great post! You are so lucky to spend time with the men of your life! The pies look delicious! The sandwich too, but I think I would dive into the pies first!

Amey said...

awwww! this post is great. Your dad really is super cool... I always love the PapaCrunk posts. Plus, your Paw!!! So sweet. My two grandpas were SOOOO wonderful and I loved them so much. Just seeing you smiling with your grandpa makes me happy. Also, isn't it a great feeling to share people's favorite treats together with them?

All your grandma's pies... phew! I like the looks of the one with coconut on top. Very nice!

Kelly said...

Your family rocks.

The end.

Sheridan said...

Aw! I love your Dad! There could not be a more apt description of him either! Glad you had a great Father's Day with your folks! I had a great time today with my fam too. The food looks awesome. I want to make a french fry po boy SOON!

Amanda said...

Seriously - how nice to have such a vegan friendly and supportive gramma! Lucky you!!

Vegan In The VI said...

Your family is so cool. Thanks for sharing.