Happy Father's Day

Father's Day tends to be a bit of a consolation prize. We know it is all about Mother's Day (deservedly so). But this year Father's Day was a good one. The only thing I ever want on Father's Day is the ability to take it easy and have no plans, no responsibility. This year, my wish came true.

I was allowed to sleep in. I was greeted with hugs and kisses and cards from my girls. I didn't have to battle for the TV. It was a beautiful day in NYC so after a leisurely morning we went outside and we wandered a bit, running into a lot of friends. The whole family went to see Men In Black 3 which was really, really good (better than expected). We hit Amarino Gelato after the movie (pure heaven). Then I got to run out to Williamsburg for a friend's open studio show while the girls went shopping for dinner. What an excellent day.

Father's Day ended on as good a note as possible. My amazing wife Karen asked me what I wanted for dinner. My choice. Despite the inundation of Father's Day recipes I had been getting all week I was not interested in steak or Manburgers or any of the supposed meals a "dad" wants. I knew what I wanted. I wanted to pretend I was back in Tulum. I wanted it to be summer. I wanted fish tacos.

One of the little blessings of where we live is that we actually have a greenmarket on Sundays. This is made even better by the fact that my favorite fish purveyor, Seatuck Fish, is at this greenmarket. I was thinking clams for an appetizer (a nod to summer on the East End end of Long Island) and fish tacos (tuna instead of the usual white fish). No tuna, no clams. No problem. We went with mussels and scallops instead. Yeah, buddy. Summer is here.

The mussels were sweet and fresh. Karen made them with some white wine, onion, garlic and butter (the secret weapon). I would have been happy if we had stopped there. Fantastic.

I had been in Trader Joe's early in the week and to my surprise and delight I discovered that they carry Narragansett beer and that Narragansett now makes a Summer Ale.

It went beautifully with the mussels.  Narragensett Summer Ale and Long Island mussels. This is summer.


As for the main course, Karen added some fresh shrimp to the scallops:

She made a mango-avocado salsa:

And I made a seafood taco:

Happy Father's Day indeed.