Father's Day Gift Guide

The Culinary Dad

For fathers who fancy themselves the Iron Chef of their kitchen or grill, the selection of Father’s Day gifts is wide.  Brookstone offers the Grill Alert Talking Remote Meat Thermometer, which will assist him in getting that steak medium-rare; bottle openers in tool shapes are made by Nambu Tekki; and Vinturi Wine Aerators help that Cabernet or Pinot Noir to breathe.  

When it comes to actual cooking, you might want to investigate Eva Solo’s Table Grill from the A&R Store or a digital smoker from Bradley Smoker, just the right vessel for preparing smoked salmon, brisket, or ribs.  And for the Dad who prefers chocolate to construction, how about molded chocolate tools from The Chocolate Vault?

The Green-Thumb Dad

Father’s Day coincides with a heavy gardening season in many areas. Fortunately, there are lots and lots of gifts to get your Dad if he likes to obsess over the lawn or the garden. The Shrub Sculptor from Hammacher Schlemmer is a wonderful tool for trimming plants, while Sonnylight’s LED Kitchen Garden is a year-round, energy-efficient system for growing fresh herbs. 

Other great gardening gifts come on the low-tech side – aerator spike shoes from the Grumpy Gardener, for example — or on the high-tech side, such as Black & Decker’s PlantSmart, which will give Dad a road map to growing a healthier garden by enabling him to digitally evaluate soil suitability for more than 6,000 plants.

The Leisure-Minded Dad

After a busy work day, and sometimes at the end of a hectic Father’s Day, Dad may just want to relax or entertain buddies.  Hammocks, for example, are great for taking naps and they come in all shapes and sizes. Rope hammocks are available from yardenvy.com, while stand-mounted versions may be purchased from Texsport.  For the environmentally conscious father, there’s the Ultimate Hammock from Alphamom, made of 100% recycled fiber.

A Father’s Day shopping expedition is not complete without perusing the latest gadgets at Best Buy or other electronics retailers.  Mark Feldstein offers Wireless Floating Speakers for listening to music while lounging in the pool or hot tub. For the audiophile, Bose 251 outdoor speakers could  transform the patio or deck into an open-air music venue.  Then, when the sun goes down, Dad — with his friends, or with his whole family — can enjoy movies on an outdoor movie screen, like the 12-foot Gemmy Widescreen Airblown Deluxe Movie Screen or the higher-priced Open Air Cinema H-12 Projector Screen.  These products can help create your ideal home theater for Dad on his special day.