One of my favorite memories of my dad was, believe it or not, running errands with him. He was always so busy and productive, always happy, whistling, and running around town in our big van. (It was the seventies, of course we had a van!) I’d sit next to him in a brown upholstered bucket seat, and often we’d take detours on our errand runs, driving down the alleys in search of garbage pick treasures. Garbage picking was unbelievably awesome back then, because real antiques weren’t as valued, and were often pitched in an effort to become more “modern.” Come to think of it, it’s probably this alley trips that instilled in me a real love of all things old…

My dad was a whiz at refinishing and repairing the old furniture and pieces we found in those alleys. Sometimes all anything needed was a bit of lock-tight in the joints to make a chair stop squeaking, or maybe a fresh coat of paint. I still have a few of them today, as do my brothers and sister. He outfitted all of us with stuff for our adult lives when we moved out of the house.

One of my favorite dad errands was to go get bagels for breakfast. My dad loved all things salmon, so this was often a weekend staple. The guy behind the counter would load up a paper bag of salt, garlic, and poppyseed bagels, fill up a container of chive cream cheese, and carefully arrange thin slices of Nova lox on waxed paper for us to take home.

For me, special weekend breakfasts are made complete with a bit of smoked salmon on bread, especially flatbread! The chive cheese can be made with finely minced chives or scallions blended into unflavored cream cheese. Spread on a flatbread, topped with salmon, radishes, capers, thin slices of onion-nothing’s better. And, it’s a good reminder of my sweet dad, and morning errands in the van!

-Amy at Flatout