Father's Day Feast

Today is the day my husband has eagerly awaited for years.  It's his first Father's Day.  It's unofficial, of course, since Sam isn't due to make his appearance for another 4-5 weeks.  But still...he got to stand up at church this morning and was handed a Hershey bar the size of a Volkswagon in honor of Father's Day. 

It should be pointed out that my husband has talked about wanting children since the moment we started dating.  He's basically a big kid himself, and I think he feels the need to surround himself with similar people.  We had been married a little less than a year when I mentioned refilling my birth control prescription and he said "Maybe we should talk about not doing that".  My response was something along the lines of "Maybe we should sleep in separate bedrooms until menopause".  Then, of course, there's the story that most of you are familiar with:  the surprise pregnancy followed closely by a miscarriage followed closely by two more pregnancies and two more miscarriages followed closely by five years of infertility.  I'll freely admit that during those years I seriously contemplated whether or not I wanted children.  It sounded kind of appealing to be "Crazy Aunt Sarah" who wasn't tied down by the need for babysitters, diaper bags, or strollers.  My husband never waivered.  Not for a moment.  He just quietly let me deal with the emotions of the situation in his patient, passive manner.  When it comes to emotions he's the steady one.  I wallow.  I overthink.  I rationalize.  He rolls with the punches.  He hurts; he deals; he moves on.  He also cries at cheesy commercials, but that's another issue entirely.

Anyway, the point of this post is the Father's Day Feast that is currently starting to take shape in my kitchen.  He picked several recipes and we are currently in the process of destroying the kitchen.  It's one of our favorite pastimes.  Today's feast includes grilled chicken, pineapple, BBQ sauce, beans, bacon, cookie dough, brownie mix, and marshmallow creme.  Links to the recipes he chose are below.  But before I get to the food I'd just like to say Happy Unofficial First Father's Day to the guy that contributed his genetic material to the little rugrat currently pulverizing my innards.  I like you!  35 days and counting...

Bacon-Wrapped Jalepeno Thingies - by Pioneer Woman

Grilled Malibu Chicken - by Patio Daddio BBQ

The Best Baked Beans Ever - by Pam Anderson (via Pioneer Woman)

Baked Mojo Fries - by Patio Daddio BBQ

Cookie Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting - by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
I feel it necessary to point out that this recipe does not use the entire roll of cookie dough nor the entire batch of brownie mix.  Therefore, I had to tell my husband he was most definitely NOT allowed to use the remaining roll of cookie dough to scoop out the brownie batter and gnaw on the whole thing like a giant sausage.  Remember that genetic material I referred to earlier?  I'm afraid.  I'm very very afraid.