Food gift ideas for Fathers Day

Here are a few father’s day consumables for the dad who has everything and wants nothing left on the shelf, or on the plate. Get him something to eat!

1. Cookies from Sweet Sally’s Bakeshop (www.Sweetsallys.com). Owner Sally Minier makes homebaked cookies and sends them anywhere in the world. These are just like homemade or church bake sale, made with butter and sugar and apparently a flood of memories. We especially liked the Wellesley cookie, kind of like a 7-Layer bar in cookie form, made of coconut and chocolate (but minus the nuts, sadly). These won’t keep forever, but will likely be gone before they go bad.

2. New York Times Wine Club (www.nytwineclub.com)– Personally, I don’t know why I persist in trying to magically find wine based on label graphics at my weekly grocery store. It never tastes as good as the wine recommended to me in a restaurant, or the wine served by a friend who actually knows what he is doing. So why not a wine merchant who actually needs to make sure you are satisfied each time with the choices or you won’t come back again? Now God only knows what the NYT is doing in this business, but I guess they have to pay for those far-flung correspondents somehow. Maybe the reporters are doubling as wine testers and buyers when things are slow on the international beat. For Father’s Day 2011, use promo code FATHER for an extra gift.

3. La Cense Beef (www.lacensebeef.com)- I’ve cut down my meat consumption just so I can feel okay about eating a steak every few weeks. And since I’m eating salads all the time, when I eat meat, I want good meat, not just anything red. La Cense is a specialized meat packer that is miles above the leader in the mail order meat category (you know who I’m talking about, Omaha!). Their cows not only are grass fed, they are “grass-finished” which means they are fed naturally even during their last trip to the slaughterhouse, when most cows are fed corn and poorly treated. The meat has more flavor and it also has more Omega-3s. Perhaps not enough to prevent a heart attack, but used in moderation, beef is not a bad thing. You’ll pay more, but you can get any cut including roasts and hot dogs and dad is sure to appreciate the thought.

4. Bake Me A Wish cakes by mail. Did you know you can even send a cake to someone, including someone in the military. Cakes are usually for birthdays, but who says you can’t send one for Father’s Day, especially if dad is a long ways off, and you know he LOVES cake. We tried a chocolate cake from Bake Me A Wish and it was very good. Expect a cake similar in quality to one you would find freshly baked at Whole Foods, with all-natural ingredients and plenty of frosting. The cake was very very moist, perhaps because it had to travel. My wife found it too “wet,” but I enjoyed it. Bake Me a Wish cakes come in 20 plus flavors and can be shipped overnight to any place in the United States, including military addresses. Bake Me a Wish also gives 5% off all proceeds to send birthday cakes to soldiers overseas.

5. Spoonful of Comfort offers Chicken Soup by mail. For the dad who has everything, except a way to satiate his craving for real and simple homemade chicken soup, this is a special gift. At $34 plus a minimum of $13.95 shipping for 4-6 servings, it’s not a cheap half gallon of soup, but we were impressed by the simple ingredient list, the hearty stock and lots of real chicken and fresh noodles. The soup arrives mostly frozen with 2-3 day delivery, ready to heat up and eat. A special fathers day pack also includes 6 homemade chocolate chip cookies, 6 Parker House rolls, and a bright red “Kiss the Cook” apron for $50.

GreatDad.com Review Policy: Bake Me a Wish, La Cense, Spoonful of Comfort and Sweet Sally’s provided samples for the sole purpose of product testing. We do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. We only review products that we have personally tested and used in our own homes, and all opinions expressed are our own.