A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Father’s Day is just around the corner, so I’ve put together a few fun baskets in this gift guide. Sure you can go with grill tools and hot sauces, but I thought I’d give a different spin on things. For Mother’s Day, everyone talks about breakfast in bed. Me personally, I don’t want to eat in my bed, but I like the breakfast theme.

This first basket has bagels from the place of your choosing – these happen to be Bruegger’s but there are so many great places to get bagels in the city: Bagelsaurus, Davis Square Donuts and Bagels, and Pavement Coffeehouse to name a few. Oh, and don’t forget the cream cheese!

Cold brew coffee is big these days – why not treat dad to a fun sampling. I picked these up at Brother’s Marketplace in Weston, but you can find them in your local market or even at Target. Our favorites are Stumptown and La Colombe – but even Starbucks and Dunkin’ make a grab a go cold brew option.

I love a good breakfast sandwich – my go to spot when I am not making them at home is Cafe Fresh Bagel (not only are they enormous, they are made fresh to order). My friend Leah introduced me to Mulay’s sausage, which would make a tasty addition to any home made sandwich.

I’m totally obsessed with the Trader Joe’s “everything but the bagel sesame seasoning blend” – I put it on popcorn, used it when I roasted pumpkin seeds, and sprinkle it generously on bagels and cream cheese at home.

I’ve been big into maple syrup these days – testing them out – I had a whole post in the works, and missed maple season this year so I will have to shelve it until next year. “Fancy” syrup can make a good addition to this breakfast basket – bonus points if you make waffles or pancakes on Father’s Day. Runamok Maple makes syrup in flavors like smoked with pecan wood, bourbon barrel aged, cinnamon and vanilla infused and even a ginger root infused flavor.

And when the food is all gone, I always like to have something to remember the day with – so I threw in this cute sriracha pin from Pintrill.

Father’s Day and grilling just seem to go hand in hand, but what about a fun picnic? Pack up some sweet and salty treats and take your dad out to the Boston Common (or the beach) for a day of fun and relaxation.

Salt and pepper peanuts are the way to my heart – but I’m sure my dad would love them too! We picked these up from Formaggio Kitchen.

This Maine Made rope beer bottle opener is the gift that keeps on giving – throw it on a six pack of dad’s favorite beer this year and he’ll have it to use for years to come. I picked this one up at Wescott Mercantile in Belmont. I literally want to buy everything in the store!

Other fun snacks include my favorite ‘cookies’, Effie’s oatcakes, a little sweet, but can certainly be savory if you pair them with cheese!

Speaking of savory, EPIC makes a great line of bites that dad is sure to love –  choose from flavors like sweet and savory boston and uncured bacon, hickory smoked uncured bacon and pork, sweet sesame ginger tender chicken bites and maple glazed and smoked tender salmon bites.

Leah introduced me to a new company recently, Waltham Popcorn. Choose from flavors like butter and salt, orange cheddar, caramel, white cheddar and kettle corn.

I love everything that the Happy Chocolatier makes. Their signature Cubze line makes a great gift on its own, but I liked these milk chocolate potato chip cups for this basket – the ultimate sweet and salty combination.

Recently, an old friend introduced me to Patty Mac’s. This fairly new, local company puts out some seriously delicious bread and butter pickles and the pickled jalapeños have a good strong kick to them! Add them to your favorite grilled treat or sandwich this summer – you won’t be sorry. Right now you can find them online – but follow them on social media to see where they might be popping up next!

And finally, for that dad who loves to cook, ‘A Little Taste of Cape Cod” by Annie B. Copps is a beautifully illustrated cookbook that features classic Cape Cod dishes like fried clam rolls, corn pudding, baked stuffed lobsters, Portuguese sweet bread.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. What are you getting your dad this year?