Father’s Day is just around the corner on June 19th. I've partnered with Whole Foods Market to bring you a little Father's Day camp grilling and beer tasting inspiration for all you dads out there--new dads, single dads, grandads, animal dads and every other rad dad out there.
We invited our good friends Brad and Nancy and their son Ben, along with Eric and Susana and their boys Nico and Mateo, over for some urban camp grilling (think foil-wrapped camp food cooked on a backyard grill). We also roasted s'mores over a portable fire pit, set up an outdoor movie screen for the kids, and had a blind beer tasting for the dads. Oh, and we can't forget the Warriors playoff game that happened to be playing that night. Go Dubs!
Take a look at our drool-worthy dinner menu:
- Two Kinds of Cool Kebabs: Grapes/Cheddar and Caprese (recipe from Sunset Magazine's new Camp Sunset cookbook)
- Candied Rosemary Hazelnuts (from Camp Sunset)
- Crackers/Olives/Cheese plate
- Grilled Wild Alaskan Salmon Foil Packets (recipe from the Whole Foods Blog)
- Simple Grilled Asparagus
- Hot Dogs from Fork in the Road (made with sustainable pasture-raised beef)
- Cabbage Crunch Salad from Whole Foods
- Pull-Apart Garlic Bread (from Camp Sunset)
- Peach Crisps in Foil Packets with Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream (from Camp Sunset)
- Classic S'mores
For the beer tasting, I wanted two IPAs and two Stouts, I wanted them to be from local or California breweries, and of course, the label had to be cute--Rachel from Whole Foods Gilman was amazing at helping me select a few craft brews for me to choose from. Here were my final selections:
Almanac IPA (San Francisco, CA)
With intense aromas of grapefruit and tangerine peel, melon, pineapple and pine trees. The finish has a clean bitterness and light saltine cracker note.
Iron Springs Casey Jones Imperial IPA (Fairfax, CA)
This double IPA has twice the hops and grains as its counterpart. Significant floral, citrus, and peppery notes on the nose, yet even with the enormous hop profile, the huge grain bill results in a very well balanced brew.
Modern Times Beer Mega Black House Imperial Stout - Special Release (San Diego, CA)
An imperialized version of Black House loaded with their house-roasted coffee. Thick, chewy, and bursting with coffee aroma & flavor.
Bike Dog Brewing Company Milk Stout (West Sacramento, CA)
A sweet stout with chocolate notes and a hint of coffee and milk.
I hand painted a rough buffalo plaid pattern onto kraft butcher paper to line the tables. I designed some cute beer tasting cards for the dads to rate each beer.
Um, luckily I printed out four cards! And please note that Theo did not actually taste test any of those beers. ;)
Three rad beer-loving dads with their winning selections from the beer tasting--so fun that they each had a different favorite! They had a lot of fun discovering these new beers and were pleasantly surprised that Whole Foods had such a great selection of craft brews.
Delicious olives and cheeses including ones from Kite Hill (made with almond milk and so good!), Mitica Cana de Oveja Mitica and Fromi Brebirousse D'Argental.
These Candied Hazelnuts from the new Camp Sunset cookbook were so easy to make and highly addictive. You could also find the recipe here.
These Cool Kebabs from the Camp Sunset cookbook were super easy and quick to make. Even Theo helped out--he made the one with all grapes and one cheese cube ;)
And can we talk about these delicious little goodies? A Whole Foods Market exclusive, they're from Fork in the Road, a company that acts responsibly, humanely and compassionately and are made with sustainable, pasture-raised uncured beef without any antibiotics or added hormones.
I used this recipe for Grilled Salmon in Foil Packets for the main dish using fresh, wild Alaskan salmon from the fish section at Whole Foods, organic cherry tomatoes, lemons, olives, and fresh thyme, oregano and parsley.
For dessert I made these Peach Crisps in Foil Packets with Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream from the Camp Sunset cookbook.
It wouldn't be urban camping without s'mores by the firepit, right? Nick put together our Stahl Firepit in a jiffy. Should have started the fire earlier so it would be perfect for s'mores but the guys were too busy beer tasting!
Now THIS is urban camping! Go Warriors!
Setting out all the ingredients in a pan made it easy for everyone to assemble their s'mores. I used Elyon Natural Vanilla Marshmallows, and 365 Fair Trade Dark Chocolate, and Organic Honey Grahams from Whole Foods.
Let's not forget the amazing Father's Day gifts you could get at Whole Foods. These include a Kleen Kanteen, grilling tools, books, Allegro coffee and mugs, Kikkerland Bike Phone Holder, 3-in-1 Mini Screwdriver, TrueFlask Soft Touch Flask, Herban Cowboy products, and Thrive skin care products.
And my favorite photo of the night...
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Special thanks to Whole Foods Market for sponsoring this post. All content, ideas, and words are my own.
