Dad's Day Playlist

If there’s one day out of the year when I let my Dad get away with a little extra dad-splaining, it’s Father’s Day. Sure, it’s a little bit less of the mimosa-kabal of last month’s Mother’s Day, but if you’re lucky enough to have a father-figure as active as mine, celebrating his mere existence feels like the kind of mini-fete my mundane week needs.

By: Kourtney Paranteau

1. If there’s one cliche of dad-ness my household knew to be true, it is the ever-presence of sports on the big screen. While I failed to soak up any of the enthusiasm for any of the athletics gracing the television, I was aware enough to realize the chunks of cheese we ate on top of crackers was lightly related to college athletics. Washington State’s famous Cougar Gold is their crown jewel of a cheese line, and it comes in containers so classically cool they’d fit in amongst the hippest pantry items of today (I’m looking at you, Fishwife, Fly by Jing and Omsom). 

The three food arenas the dads in my life have a stronger grip on than I do are the grill, fishing for dinner, and pizza. Here are my level-ups for these “dad food groups”:

2. Help dad get the fire started without even one frustrated dad-sigh with these Fire Starters, that boast non-toxic materials and can still easily catch flame in all types of weather.

3. I don’t know if shucking oysters officially counts as “fishing,” but the indisposable skill of gently prying the ocean’s little salt-bombs open is the kind of party trick the best dads know how to pull off. But, don’t let dad get overly confident, so protect his hands with these Oyster Shucking Gloves by our neighbors to the north, Taylor Shellfish Co.

4. And finally, divide and conquer your family's pizza with precision using these fool-proof Pizza Scissors that save the table from the crust-destroying pizza cutter and deliver more uniform slices for the family who might want to IG-brag about their cutty meal.

5. Two from our pantry:

a. For the dad who already has everything, try sneaking in our salty collaboration with Napa’s Loveski Deli. This super-savory Everything Bagel Seasoning can effortlessly double as many things, including avocado toast toppings and seared salmon sprinkles.

b. At first we were fangirls of the hottest (pun intended) pantry staple on the shelves, and now we’re proud to call Fly By Jing our collaborator with the latest addition to our infused salt lineup, Tingly Sichuan Salt. Both tingly and warming, a few pinches of this will turn everything from freshly sliced cucumbers to noodle salads into dimensional dishes dads of all ilks will get on board with.

6. To pay him back for all of the (sometimes even unwarranted) confidence in your capabilities, get dad this incredibly encouraging cookbook by Andy Baraghani that strives to hone a personal relationship with its reader and plays on individual strengths, all while stretching general kitchen skills at the same time.

7. A chocolatier and father from our own backyard, Sebastian Cisneros is the creator behind the gorgeously-wrapped Cloudforest Chocolate. The bars are the perfect treat-drawer emergency, but his Magic Spread is what’s living on my kitchen counter lately. Yes, it’s an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast (like in our banana toast), but it’s also the sundae ingredient every cool-dad needs to make movie night sing.

8. Is workwear the yoga pants of the masculine-identifying set? Like fancy workout wear, you don’t have to be in the middle of a sweat session, or in this case a home repair project, to look seriously cool. These Work Cargos from Grease Point Workwear, made from selvedged piqué, just might be that item you end up "borrowing" from dad's closet.

9. I’m pretty sure this collaboration between Old Bay and Goldfish Cracker is making everyone happy around the household. I’ll be eating these crunchy snacks as croutons, soup soaker-uppers and straight from the bag but I’m also confident that if you can get them into your dad’s hands before he knows the heavenly hybrid exists, you’ll score a couple cool points.

10. And to wrap up all these thoughtful baubles? Try the visually effervescent wrapping paper from the most dad-brand ever, Rainier Beer.