Father's Day is upon us again. Sunday June 19th is when all Dads should be made a fuss of this year. I find getting a gift for father, father-in-law or husband(on behalf of lazy kids) to be way more difficult than Mothers gifts so I put together a list of possibilities, from simple gifts for the cash strapped to something a bit more extravagant.
Hampers are always a good option. We can make up any kind of hamper in the shop, or you can put together your own. (We have a Jameson 12 yr old Hamper basket for €63). To do your own look out for a suitable container like a basket, box, bucket, and jug, pot... the list is endless. Check out the 2 euro shops, TK Maxx, or even the back of your garage or shed. A ceramic flower pot hand painted by kids or a simple cardboard shoe box covered in bright paper (the funnier the better) work really well. My crew once did one covered with bright pink Barbie paper!
For the cash strapped buy a really bad cheap mug with something silly on it (I saw a Donny Osmond mug the other day) half fill with shredded bright paper (lots of people have those desk-top shredders at home, just use on to those, and shred some shiny magazine pages) and pop in a really nice bar of good chocolate like Valrhona, or one of the Butlers Irish Chocolate bars.
Pick a theme for the hamper - suggestions are barbeque, favourite sports team, fishing, golf, music, gardening, Bear Grylis survival, cooking etc. Then pick some items to put in. A mixture of something from the theme and some food and drink to match really works. A few examples are; Barbeque - set of good cooking thongs, a funny apron, couple of bottles of interesting beers (men do need their beer while barbecuing) and some good barbecue sauce like Cottage Delight Jamaican Jerk or Wild Appetite Smoking Barbeque sauce. Even better buy a plain white apron and some fabric paint and get the kids to paint the apron, or buy t-shirt transfer paper in Easons and design a transfer for the apron on the pc. Or just get our Beers of the World hamper....
Sports team - now that our super Connaught Rugby squad will be in the Heineken Cup next season go with a Connaught rugby baseball hat or scarf or shirt and add some bottles of Heineken, and depending of whether they like sweet or savoury, either some Irish cheese and chutney, or some Skelligs Whiskey Crème truffles, Pandora Bell salted butter caramels or a bag of Butlers Irish Toffee.
Duffys on Mainguard St have loads of fishing tackle; combine with a good bottle of gusty red wine like Tobele Valpolicella Ripasso or Chateau Doyac Haut-Medoc.
Other suggestions - we have lots of good (and different) Irish Whiskeys like Writers Tears pot still whiskey, Knappogue Castle 12 year old, Green Spot Irish Whiskey and Middleton Very Rare, varying in price from €25 to €149. Also lots of Scotches including two with great names (and good flavour) - Pigs Nose and Sheep Dip! There is an amazing Calvados (apple brandy) called Pomme Pisorriere which has a whole apple inside the bottle for €63. Go with Irish cheese, patchwork pate or Parma ham for savoury, or Dittys Shortbread, Mella's Fudge or Kylemore Abbey jams for sweet.
Finally if you are really stuck and you can suffer it for a whole day, set up his comfy chair in the TV room, give him total control of the remote, a comfy cushion, a few of his favourite magazines, a little table beside him for his favourite drink and a bell for him to ring whenever he needs something. But be warned it may lead to gnashing of teeth and unrepeatable language.
