Serve up some tasty choices

Does every dad in America golf? Maybe they all need shirts or ties, or tools, or slippers or …

I must be the only dad who doesn’t need or want a new golf gadget or a fishing reel. I don’t really know what I would like but I have a few ideas.

First off, breakfast served without a foam cup or from a heat lamp. A meal from fresh ingredients, prepared with love and respect. Maybe a movie that I get to choose which has no animation or blue people or animals that talk or wizards or … Well you get the idea.

But if I have to choose some other more easily accessible gifts I saw these great new things at the National Hardware Show held recently in Las Vegas. Kind of an early Father’s Day present to myself.

Since I like to grill and cook outside I am always looking for new cooking gadgets. The best ones I saw were called FireWires and these things look like an old-fashioned fish stringer with a loop on one end and the other end threads through the food. Leave the “threader” end hanging off the grill and it doesn’t get too hot to handle.

If you want a really cool way to cook, try CharBroil’s new Big Easy infrared grill and cooker/smoker that runs on gas and can cook your food in about half the time a normal grill would take. It is about the size of a beer keg and about as versatile.

Another great toy for those of us who cook is the new Emeril’s Smoker Bag from Camerons Products. You can smoke your ribs, chops or anything else right in the oven or on your grill simply by putting the food in these great little foil bags and then just stick it in the oven and wait. They come in mesquite, hickory and alder.

One of the funniest, make me laugh, products I saw is the RC Cooler. It holds as many as 12 cans of beverages and can be called over to serve you or a friend by remote control. It travels slow enough to be usable by a slightly impaired person and is a unique party toy. To see the great commercial for it go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZC2qxkL_yk. You will at least have a great laugh.

Lots of the things available make me wonder why I didn’t think of them. The ingenuity of the modern family man is amazing when it comes to being creative. Time saving, energy saving and ease of use are all of the things I look for when I am searching for new tools.

I have been fortunate enough to find some amazing gadgets this year.

I found a combination level and wall marker from Under the Roof Decorating called the Hang & Level that will hold your picture, mark the spot for the nail and then tell you if the picture is level and straight. My wife will still want to move it 6 inches to the right.

For the fathers of teenagers who really have a hard time waking up in the morning — I won’t name any names — there are digital light switch timers by Swylite that come on at a certain time and then shut off at another. You could also use them to help keep your home safe when you finally get that much-awaited vacation.

The guys at Honeywell make a great plug-in so we can run electronics from our cars and even systems that can run a whole house from a car battery with a simple inverter. There are generators for the backyard that make hardly any noise and solar-powered outdoor lights to help us stretch the days out for a few extra hours.

If we have any time to rest, the Bass Pro Shops has a camouflaged recliner and we can also pick up some waders and dried buffalo meat while we are at it.

There are exercise equipment and ideas for weight loss so numerous they can’t be counted. Or there are recipes to put the weight right back on.

The thing all guys need, but won’t admit, is a hand lotion that will smooth our hands and still be manly enough to fit in the tool box. If you haven’t tried On The Job from Wharton Products I strongly suggest you get some. It also contains a first aid antiseptic, which comes out a dual-action pump to kill germs, prevent infections and speed the healing process. My hands are really smooth and clean after a hard day of pulling wire.

Tape Invent AS has CornerTape, a new caulking tape that fits over the seam you want to fill; when you pull off the tape, the caulked area is perfectly straight and there’s no clean up.

The best part of the whole show was Gladiator GarageWorks’ booth. I suppose you could say I liked it because of all of the cabinets and workbenches from sustainable products. But the truth be known, what I really loved was the gorgeous motorcycle from Orange County Choppers which Paul Teutel Sr. was just delivering. What an incredible looking bike with the trademark diamond plate finish that runs through Gladiator’s products. Paul took the time to spend a couple of minutes talking with me about motorcycles and even shared a photo with me.

I could ramble on for days about all of the neat stuff at the show but, like all dads, right now I just want a gift that someone cared about enough to pick out for me.

I already have my dried buffalo meat and now if I can just figure out where I put my camouflaged recliner, I will be fine.