I love when the laughter is funnier than the joke.

Last week I was listening to NPR while driving in the car and the show was about dad humor. To be more precise, bad dad humor, which might be an oxymoron. Callers would tell stories about bad jokes their dads would tell, a father who was waiting for his kids to go somewhere , would walk into their room with a tape measure extended and ask "How long will you be?" or every time I called to ask my dad to pick me up he would reply "why, have you fallen down again?"

On our drive out to PA this past weekend I was telling Juliette and Lila about the NPR story. They of course found great humor in recounting all of my bad dad jokes, my silly puns and not to mention the classics. I'm hungry, nice to meet you hungry, I'm dad. Or, can you make me a sandwich, yes, poof you're a sandwich.

For us the very classic how much longer question in every car ride has spawned its own running joke. In the beginning before I became wise I would answer honestly. Another hour would be followed by sea of groans and complaints. Then I realized that they don't really have any true concept of time so I began telling them we would be there in 20 minutes. It didn't matter if we were 2 hours away or 20 minutes away. At some point they realized my little joke and now they just ask, how much longer? 20 minutes? with a round of laughter.. This led to questions about my childhood and if grandpa had any funny jokes.

I don't really recall my dad having silly dad jokes that I could share with them. What I did have to share were my fathers Sunday morning breakfasts. My father liked Kix cereal so of course I did too. Quisp cereal was also a childhood favorite and I get giddy with excitement whenever I catch a rare sighting at the supermarket and buy several boxes at a time, often sharing them with my sister and brother-in-law. Salami and eggs, potato blintzes and bagels were a staple. Growing up on Long Island I can't remember a Sunday where there weren't hot fresh bagels sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be devoured after a little league game or a swim meet. Today when I cycle along Riverside Drive on a Saturday or Sunday morning heading to cross the GW Bridge into New Jersey, you pass right over the Fairway Supermarket at 125th Street and the smell of freshly baked bagels in the air triggers incredible childhood memories.

My all time favorite childhood breakfast, which my father made, was Lox, Eggs and Onions. Lox was and still is fairly expensive and every so often we would get some from our neighbor Arnie who was a fish distributor. Lox which is a method of preserving the salmon fillets by either smoking, hot or cold, and salt curing, is derived from the Yiddish word for salmon which is laks, which came from the German lachs. Today there is either Lox, sometimes referred to as belly lox which is wet brined with no additional smoking and Nova, the more popular, which is lightly brined and cold smoked. In NY, places like Zabars, Barney Greengrass, Sables or Russ & Daughters have the most skilled people cutting razor thin slices of Lox.

Happy Fathers Day!!

This was the perfect breakfast to share with my kids on this past fathers day. Cheers to all the bad dad jokes and to all the delicious dad breakfasts.

Lox Eggs and Onions

(serves 4)

8 eggs plus 1 yolk
1/4 lb Lox (Nova preferred) sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon cream cheese
1 cup spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk eggs in medium sized bowl.
Whisk in 1 tablespoon dill, salt and pepper.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium high heat.
Add onions and saute until translucent, soft and lightly caramelized. Approx. 5-8 minutes. Longer depending on how caramelized you like your onions.
Add egg mixture, reduce heat to medium and stir until barely set.
Add cream cheese and continue to stir until melted and lightly set.
Remove to a platter, add lox and garnish with remaining dill. Salt and pepper to taste.