Hallmark holidays are a great opportunity to get your spouse/significant other gifts you otherwise wouldn't mind getting yourself. I admit I'm guilty of this myself; when my wife and I first started dating, I got her a beard trimmer for Christmas. (And she still married me, so I guess the joke's on her!)
But my wife's always pretty good about getting me stuff she knows I'll like too. Like this morning when I got a Kodak handheld waterproof video camera and a Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler. For the record, there's nothing wrong with getting someone stuff you yourself actually need or want, because if we didn't have good uses for these as a family, I'd be entirely pissed that she spent this much money just on me.
We're taking Biggie Smalls to Jamaica the week of July 4th on a little family getaway before his brother is born in October, so the video camera is pretty self-explanatory. It's a cool gadget and will come in handy, especially since I'll now be able to take short video clips of chili promos or even start putting some cooking demos up on the blog.
And because I like to cook, I'm pretty sure the Griddler was mostly about me. (Any doubts I had were put to rest when I had to cook my own Father's Day breakfast.) Generally I'm not a fan of gimmicky cooking tools like garlic presses or anything from companies like Pampered Chef (except for their wet/dry measuring cup), and that usually extends to things like electric griddles and panini presses, but Cuisinart's Griddler impressed me this morning. It's versatile -- you can use it as a press or open it up as a full grill or griddle, and the grates are reversible and machine washable (a big plus) -- but my two favorite features are its actually-non-stick non-stick surfaces and grease trap that actually catches the grease. And lo and behold, the company actually knows how to use the term "panini" -- it was written in its correct plural form on the box and in the instruction manual. Sorry for all the actuallies, but like I said, I was impressed. Actually.
So Happy Father's Day to all you dads. As I learned a few years ago, it's not about getting cool gifts; it's about the cool gifts that turn you into a father in the first place.
