First up, an Electric BBQ Grill Cleaner:

Guys love their grills and cooking up a storm. Some guys baby their grills and spend hours buffing and shining it. Others, meh..not so much. All the fun time is spent grilling and then the yucky grill mess sits afterwards. Remember how I said this gift may be for you as well? By making his BBQ cleaning job easier, he will grumble less when you ask him to go clean the grill! Make his day easier by reducing scrub time. This PureDome Electric Scrubber comes with three different stainless steel brush attachments. It also comes with it’s own rechargeable battery. When I plugged in mine overnight, it had nice solid power the next day when I tested out the attachments. Watch my video here:

This PureDome Electric Scrubber with Stainless Steel brushes is available on Amazon, and if you have Prime – Free Shipping!

Powerbank

If you have kids that constantly borrow Dad’s phone to play a game or take a selfie, why not help the poor guy out with his own power boost. This cool little power bank by Oh-Box also comes with a cell phone holder and LED flashlight.

This unit is compact, portable and has a sleek simple design. This is also perfect for long plane flights and road trips . Remember how I said that these gift ideas benefit Moms an itty bit too? After he juices up his low cell phone battery, there is enough left over for you to top your cell phone off as well. Cheers to that!

Available on Amazon 

Expandable Hose

You’ve probably seen these on T.V., and I myself have been a little skeptical about using an expandable hose. However, after playing with this for awhile now I can tell you that all my heavy lunky hoses are being donated and I’m switching to these! These lightweight hoses are easy to carry, store, fold-up, etc. However, when you turn the water on they expand (usually to twice their deflated size) and are so easy and nice to use! Guess what — Dad hates lugging around the big heavy hose as well! My husband loves ours and agrees that this is quite possibly one of the best recent inventions out there. This set comes with a hose holder and a nice multi-spray setting nozzle. Bring harmony to your home with this easy-to-use hose and best of all, easy to put away so no more excuses of why the heavy trip hazard hose has been left out!

This Hose expands up to 25 feet.

Available on Amazon 

Father of the Freakin’ Century Award

Ok, enough tools and techie toys! This mug is awesome! Dad does a lot for you and this is a fun way to remind him how awesome he is!

These creative cups are way better than the boring “#1 Best Dad” mugs. Forget the snoozefest and get him this hip and cool instead — afterall, he’s the Father of the Freakin’ Century!!   Available on Amazon 

I received all of the products listed in this review at a discount or for free in exchange for an honest review, which I have provided. The opinions expressed in this blog are that of my own. 

These recipes are indeed from famous old restaurants, so they are also historically accurate. I haven’t researched how many of these establishments are still open, but that tidbit in itself would be fun to delve into.

As far as I can tell, everyone in the 60’s living the fancy life must have had a martini in their hand, as almost every recipe has less than five ingredients. They were simply too busy to fuss with complicated things like food or taste. Oh, and they preferred prepared ingredients. Fresh? Well, heck. I just bought this can of soup at the market. That’s fresh enough, right?

Most recipes include a highly salted canned item, butter, butter and hey, a kick of champagne.

Who will love this book? 60’s & 70’s children who have pangs of nostalgia for their parents cooking will find eternal comfort in these simple concoctions.  80’s kids will think it’s weird and cool, and sort of naughty because we were the first to be tortured with ‘health food’. We also had to suffer through carob.

90’s and Millennials will flip out for this and think it’s hipster fun. The twenty-somethings will want to prepare some of these oddball foods at their next Mid Century party. The people who originally made these foods are most likely dead by now from all the butter, salt, processed weirdness and champagne.

Some examples of fine cuisine from the book:

• Bongo-Bongo Soup – it has oysters and a can of cream of spinach in it. Yeah, baby.
• Essence of Tomato Soup with Avocado Pearls – Wow! Sounds fab and complicated, but it only has three ingredients in it. You get a prize if you can guess all three.
• Camembert Cheese Mold – Cheese and mold are not words I like to see together, but yet..here it is.
• Marsala Wine Soup – Now you’re talking.
• Lillie’s Creme Pouf – Sounds like a personal problem, but I can reassure you that there is lots of sugar and butter, and is therefore delish!

As stated, this is an out of print book. It’s also very hard to come by. Do a search on Amazon, e-Bay, etc. and you’ll see this book really does not exist. However, I offer you this ONE copy. Get it before it’s gone.

$30 – Used condition. Smells old & has a random loose blank page in the front with a hand-written recipe for banana bread. I dare not take it out.

{{SOLD }}

If it’s sold, you will see a ‘sold’ notice.

I receive a Vegetable and Fruit CSA delivery every other week and often the produce is damp. Between trial and error and some research, I have found the proper way to store common vegetables and fruits to get the max lifespan out of them.

Fragile Produce

Lettuces often bite the dust first. Too much moisture and they get soggy and gooey. Too dry and they wilt. I will keep lettuce in the plastic bag (you may use a storage container as well) and then gently wrap it with a dry paper towel if the produce is wet. If the produce is bone dry, then include a damp paper towel.

I also wrap Chard, Spinach & Collard Greens in the same way. They are a little bit heartier, but also need some moisture monitoring.

Tomatoes – Just like in the grocery store, keep them out. Try to use them within 3 days. If they need some more ripening, but in a paper bag.

Strawberries are tough. I recommend eating them within 24 hours. To prolong their little red lives, put in the refridgerator but they will lose their sheen and start to wrinkle. An alternative is to take all the berries that you haven’t eaten within 24 hours, and clean, chop & freeze.

Herbs
Store Tender Herbs by snipping off the bases of the stems and removing any discolored or wilted leaves. Transfer them to a large mason jar with an inch of water in the bottom.
Store Hardy Herbs by arranging them lengthwise in a single layer on a slightly damp paper towel, rolling them up like a jelly roll, then transfer the bundle to a plastic zipper lock bag or wrap it in plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator.
If you have Basil or any fragile herb with roots, go ahead and store in water outside the fridge just like cut flowers.

Needs Ripening or the Paper Bag Treatment

Bananas – Never ever in the fridge unless you like brown bananas! Ripen bananas in a closed paper bag. You can do double duty and ripen an avocado faster by pairing it with the banana in the bag.

Mushrooms -Although they are often sold loose or in a container, it’s best to store them in a paper bag. The paper will help keep them dry and absorb extra moisture. Lunch sack sized bags are perfect for this!

Avocados – To ripen, keep at room temperature in a paper bag until soft.

Mangoes – To ripen, keep at room temperature in a paper bag until soft.

Hardy Produce

Cucumbers, Zucchini & Carrots can last quite some time in the refridgerator, but make sure they stay dry and aren’t touching ‘wet’ or juicy produce.

Onions, Potatoes & Yams – may stay out of the fridge, but make sure they stay dry and have air circulating around them. Do not shut them up in a dark closed cabinet or bad things will happen! (Or, they’ll sprout).

Corn – If you are buying corn on the cobb, do NOT peel and discard the husks in the stores! That husk will protect your corn in the refridgerator for up to a week. Peel and clean when ready to  prepare.

Radishes – Trim the greens and store the radishes in the refridgerator much like the Carrots. The greens start to wilt quickly, so consider stir frying them up in a little olive oil! They are delicious!

Citrus – Keep out if you plan on eating within a week, otherwise lemons, limes and oranges will do fine in the fridge. They are also nice chilled, so why not!

Apples – It’s almost impossible to kill an apple! Park these in the fridge to make them last, but put the date on the bag so you know how old they are.