Parental guidance
“See Dad Cook” (Clarkson Potter, $16.95) comes to the aid of guys who can assemble furniture and fix a lawn mower–but feel powerless in a kitchen occupied by hungry children. Author-chef Wayne Harley Brachman keeps the prose clear and breezy (“Quesadillas are perfect for mass feedings,” he aptly notes) and delivers 125 recipes that aren’t so much fast and quick as they are streamlined and instructive.
Scoop-alicious
Three of Haagen-Dazs’ new ice creams earned raves. Super-rich Mayan chocolate gets an added spark from cinnamon. We also liked two in the lower-fat Light line: caramel cone (vanilla ice cream, caramel and ice-cream-cone pieces) and vanilla caramel brownie. A pint is $3.90-$4.30 at Cub Foods, Jewel-Osco, Sunset Foods, Treasure Island and peapod.com.
A silver lining
If you can’t pry Pop from the grill on Father’s Day you can at least make cleanup easier with these disposable aluminum grill liners from CleanBBQ. The 12-by-20-inch sheets are sturdy yet flexible, and especially helpful when you’re mopping or basting on messy sauces. Just be careful with the sharp edges. A pack of 12 costs $10 at Home Depot stores; by mail, a pack of 20 costs $18 at cleanbbq.com.
