June 17 : Father's Day

We honored mom back in May with breakfast in bed featuring our delicious Eggs Benedict. So now it is time to pay our respects to dad. For him we needed a dish that was hearty and filling. From our vaults we chose a roasted rack of lamb. (click for recipe) And as an interesting accompaniment, lemon verbena pesto! (see below for recipe)

But first we want to whet your appetite with a little Father's Day trivia.

It is believed that the tradition of Father's Day was started by Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington. She was simply looking for a way to honor her own dad.

Based on the above fact, it isn't difficult to imagine that the first local Father's Day celebration was also in Spokane on June 19, 1910.

President Woodrow Wilson, in 1916, approved the "idea" of observing an annual Father's Day. But it took eight years and President Calvin Coolidge to make Father's Day a national event.

Still our poor dad's never really had a "date" of their own until 1966. In that year President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.

For the card buying public, Father's Day ranks as the fourth most popular card-sending holiday. Have any idea what the others are? Well wonder no more!

The amount is dollars of cards sold.

1. Christmas : 2 billion
2. Valentine's Day : 188 million
3. Mother's Day : 150 million
4. Father's Day : 103 million
5. Easter : 80 million
6. Halloween : 29 million
7. Thanksgiving : 28 million
8. St. Patrick's Day : 10 million

So, here's to you dad. We may not send you as many cards as mom, but we love you just the same.