Father’s Day is just around the corner, so if you haven’t started shopping for a little token of appreciate for deal ol’ Dad, now is the perfect time to start. Grilling stuff always takes center stage for Father’s Day gift lists, but if you’re dad is anything like mine, he probably already has a whole bunch of grilling stuff he doesn’t use. That is why I’m focusing on non-grilling foodie gifts this year!
- One top pick would be a Chef’s Case, especially for the dad who travels or spends a lot of the time at less-than-gourmet business lunches. This secret agent-style briefcase is stocked with gourmet ingredients, spices and sauces that will make any meal memorable. Plus, it’ll make him look like a secret agent.
- Forget organic beer – did you know that dad can Grow His Own Beer with a kit that lets him grow hops, barley and wheat in a mini greenhouse! I’m not sure that he’ll be able to launch his dream microbrewery on such a small scale, but he will be able to drink his very own brand of beer at least once!
- I already have a Vinturi Wine Aerator and it really does seem to work well, turning ordinary (and inexpensive) wines into fruity, flavorful ones with its unique aeration process. Of course, it can bring out the flavors in pricier wines even more, too. You’ll have fun testing it out with dad, doing side by side comparisons at home!
- For a dad who likes tools and pizza, the Bialetti Pizza Chopper is a great gift. The chopper lets you slice up a pizza in a way that is both manly and efficient. With a slight rocking motion, this pizza cutter will cut through thin and deep dish pizzas in the blink of an eye – without moving any toppings or cheese out of place.
- If you’re looking for something smaller, a bar of Bacon Soap should fit the bill. This bar of soap isn’t made of bacon – it just smells like it. I think that many bacon fans would argue that the smell of bacon is a great one to wake up to in the morning.
Maybe it’s because I ate too many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as a kid, but this Peanut Butter & Jelly Pouch is just too cute to resist. The soft fabric is stamped with a photo-print of a freshly made peanut butter and jelly sandwich that looks just as tempting as the real thing – it even captured the swirls that a butter knife makes in a thick layer of peanut butter! The sandwich opens like a book, and each side of the bread unzips into a roomy pouch. The two halves of the sandwich are held shut with a magnetic clasp – which is much less messy than using real peanut butter – when not in use. It measures just 4.5×5-inches (about the size of a small piece of white sandwich bread) and is a good size to tuck all the odds and ends that usually sink down to the bottom of a purse, including change, lipstick, compacts, etc. Since it’s reminiscent of childhood anyway, it would also function as a cute purse for a kid to tuck into a backpack during the school day.
There is nothing better than a batch of homemade cupcakes, but a dozen or so from a favorite bakery can come in at a close second – and can actually take the first place spot for those who don’t bake. Cupcake shops are still more popular than ever (especially here in LA), but that doesn’t mean that you can find one as easily as you might find a Starbucks. The Wall Street Journal’s Cranky Consumer column, which rates mail-order products, took on the oh-so-difficult task of taste-testing a variety of mail order cupcakes that promise to deliver a gourmet bakery-quality cupcake to your door.
They compared cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake, Dean & Deluca and Godiva, all of which came via overnight shopping with cupcakes frozen for freshness, as well as cupcakes from Crumbs, a bakery which had a nearby NYC location and was able to deliver locally(although they ship overnight, as well). They compared these cakes to a batch of cupcakes made with a cake mix and looked for both flavor and freshness in the finished cake.
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This month, Girl Scouts around the US will kick off their annunal cookie sales. Some councils have already started, and some will be gearing up in the next few days. This is a time of year that most cookie-lovers look forward to because it means we can pick up a few boxes of our seasonal favorites. The Girl Scout Cookies are produced by two different bakeries, Little Brownie Bakers and ABC Smart Cookies, so the distribution of the new cookies flavors varies by region and which bakery supplies cookies in your area. Samoas (Caramel de Lites), Thin Mints, Tagalongs (Peanut Butter Patties), Do-Si-Dos (Peanut Butter Sandwich), Trefoils (Shortbread) are available everywhere. Lemon Chalet Cremes, a lemon-filled cookie, and Lemonades, a lemon iced cookie, are back for another season but are available in different regions. Thanks-a-Lot, a chocolate-dipped shortbread cookie and the 100-calorie pack Daisy-Go-Rounds are also back from the ABC Bakery, while the Dulce De Leche shortbread cookies return from Little Brownie Bakers. One new cookie this year is called Thank U Berry Munch, light and crispy cookies with dried cranberries and puffed rice cereal in them. As much as I like the new cookies, I still think back to some of my favorites from years gone by and hope that some of them – like Lemon Coolers, Golden Yangles, Aloha Chips and Juliettes – will make a return!
While I’ll be on the lookout for Girl Scouts to support (and new cookies to try), I’ll also be baking my own at home as I do every year. Homemade Girl Scout Cookie recipes make it easy to have cookies any time of year and, since they tend to cost less than the boxed cookies, where only a percentage goes to the troops, you can donate the savings directly to your favorite group of Girl Scouts (and maybe encourage them to have their own bake sale) to support them.
There is something of a thrill to getting your holiday shopping done at the last minute. There is a rush of adrenaline, wondering if you’ll find the perfect gift as you rush up and down the aisles of different stores, followed by a huge sigh of relief and sense of accomplishment when you pick up the prize you’ve been searching for.
Last minute gifts can and should be be easy gifts. While the thrill of the hunt is fun, there is a risk that you won’t end up with what you want. If you have a few solid last minute ideas in the back of your mind, you can breeze through the last of you holiday shopping knowing that you’re set if you don’t find that limited edition whatchmacalit.
For bakers and cooks, or those who are reasonably likely to spend some time in the kitchen, a cookbook is a great and easy to find gift idea. The Baking Bites Cookbook (which I would recommend with priority shipping from here on out!) is a great one, as are others I’ve mentioned before. A food-related book, like an Anthony Bourdain book or a Ruth Reichel memoir, is a bit better than a cookbook for someone who would rather eat than work in the kitchen. Julie & Julia on DVD should be easy to find in stores, as well.
Pair any of these gifts with some spatulas, measuring cups, whisks or other common kitchen tools. Cookie cutters, a set of cake decorating tips and a pack of muffin cups are great for a baker. An inexpensive pairing knife, potato peeler or even a jar opener can work well for someone who leans more towards baking than cooking.
One other last minute idea I always recommend is a gift certificate for a cooking class. These are often available at specialty food stores, like Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma, and are well-worth the investment to have some professional coaching on making some great dishes.
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