Every kid wants to be a super hero when he grows up. Even I used to wrap tin foil on my wrists and pretend to be Wonder Woman. That was before I realized Hollywood exploited her feminine wiles and made her mash her breasts together to create a veritable human Grand Canyon of cleavage. The Wonder Bra makers surely took a page out of Lynda Carter’s playbook. My brother and I also went through our Shazam and Isis phase. Deal has a red satin cape emblazoned with a lightning bolt and his initial. He went as “Super Deal” for Halloween two years in a row.
Despite reading Marvel comics and watching various iterations of super hero cartoons and movies, Bird and Deal have but one super hero they adore, and he’s doesn’t don a cape or tights. Their daddy. As I see the trend of fatherless families grow, I am reminded how rich my sons are to have a present, loving, responsible, tender, father at home. A father who reads to them, takes time from his work day to have lunch in the school cafeteria with them, goes camping with them, teaches them to ride a bike, throw a spiral, hit a ball, appreciate hot wings and peanuts with the shell on. A father who finely balances fun and firm, giving Bird and Deal an outstanding example of fatherhood. We are a lucky family. Mac Daddy at the helm gives me a first row seat to the kind of complete, joyous family I only had glimpses of growing up.
Today’s cocktail is for Super Hero dads everywhere. This one was inspired by fathers like Mac Daddy and my friend Ron Mattocks, writer, raconteur, father. He writes over at Clark Kent’s Lunchbox, and when I first met Ron he was a beaming proud dad, but in that gruff boastful way. He, like Mac Daddy, is a beacon of warmth and generosity, the kind of dad who holds his sons’ hands and tells them I love you without stammering. It just so happens that Ron wrote a book about his fatherhood journey, and my cocktail today is the eponymous drink to his tale.
Sugar Milk
1-2 ounces Absolut Mandrin
1 ounce cream
1 ounce Cointreau
Froot Loops
Fill a silver cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Add Absolut Mandrin, Cointreau, and cream. Give it a healthy shake. Strain into a martini glass. Sprinkle a few Fruit Loops on top.
And to my dad, who toiled and sacrificed and taught us life lessons we’ll carry on to the next generation, Happy Father’s Day! I love you.
Thank you for the kind words …and the drink recipe. That thing is delicious – been sipping it for Father’s Day (couldn’t wait until this afternoon – had to have for breakfast – seriously!)
Happy Father’s Day to all the superdads out there too!
PS. I need to get those capes in an adult size …for a friend of mine that was asking me about something like that. ehem.