Father's Day Stuff for the Farmers Market

I think that Father's Day gets the short end of the stick.  Mother's Day is the big blowout and Father's Day is kind of an afterthought, like, oh, yeah, Dad, I love you, too.  And I don't know about you, but my dad was always really hard to buy for (sorry about the dangling preposition -- it's the sort of thing up with which I dislike putting, but expediency is the issue this afternoon -- I need to get this posted!).  It didn't help that he had a habit of buying himself whatever he wanted so that we were left puzzling over what to give him come gift-giving time.

Okay, so blah blah blah -- I'll get on with it.

I've got some items made up for Father's Day gifts for the Farmers Market tomorrow morning.  None of those "World's Greatest Dad" mugs or stupid ties here!

Dads around here work in their yards and their fields and they play golf and they fish and since I just heard on the afternoon weather report that it's been above 90 degrees every day for the past three weeks, it's a good bet they've been getting hot and sweaty doing these things.  This is big gimme cap country:  hair gets all sweaty, slap a gimme cap on it (or wear the cap all day long and let the hair get all sweaty underneath it).  To the sweaty hair rescue:  Suds beer shampoo.

Yes, there is beer in it (Miller High Life, to be precise, but the alcohol's been cooked out of it so I won't be checking your children's IDs when I sell it) -- and beer is a terrific conditioner.  Suds doesn't smell like beer, either, and that's a good thing -- who wants beer-smelling hair?  So how about that for a fun Father's Day gift?

There's something about men and pancakes.  Specifically, men like to make pancakes.  Mostly they like to flip them.  And eat them.  And make them for their kids on weekend mornings.  But most men don't like to make pancakes from scratch; they go with a mix (it's easier).  However, pancake mixes taste like mixes, and they've got all kinds of preservatives and who knows what-all in them.  They're not healthy.  My pancake mix, however, is healthy.  I know everything in it -- oatmeal, whole wheat flour; just good stuff.  And it has no preservatives but will last for weeks in the fridge.  So I've made up jars of it for Father's Day gifts, with a brief note of preparation instructions attached.

And check these out: 

 Aren't they neat?  Little tiny succulents!  Cacti!  Not much bigger than a quarter!  Well, actually, that's not quite accurate but I had a quarter handy when I was making these shots and wanted to show them to scale.  The pots are about the size of a business card.  The plants are, every one of them, thriving, and it's hard to kill a cactus, even for most dads.  Regardless, I'll have care instructions included.

Remember the zucchini bread in the previous post?  Good dad stuff.  And there will be zucchini muffins tomorrow, too.

Cookie samplers:  I'm making up little trays of an assortment of cookies, four to six different kinds (I'm not sure yet, so no photos).  Good dad stuff.

Last week I baked some fresh apple cakes for Farmers Market and they were a hit.  I plan to bring a few of those tomorrow as well.

I love this grilling apron as a Father's Day gift.  And see how the dishcloths match?

So tomorrow morning, come shop the Kennett Community Farmers Market (I think that's what it's called) for different gifts for Dad, all under $10 (and most in the $2 - $5 range).  You won't find any of these anywhere else.

Oh -- and we've moved to the west side of the Courthouse so we're in the morning shade now, which is great!