Last year at this time, I was the proud father of a 3-month-old boy, and all I coveted in the world in the way of a Father's Day present was a good, long snuggle session with him in the big, comfy chair in the living room.

Well, a year has passed, and that little bundle of joy is now running around the house and yard, chasing the dogs, mowing the yard with his little plastic lawnmower, learning the wonders of playing in the sprinkler and generally saying, "Hello, world! I'm in charge, here."

And now, the best present is the one I get every day, when I pick him up at day care and I hear "DADDY!" and he toddles across the playground on a beeline for my legs.

That's not to say I haven't had my eye peeled for nifty Father's Day loot, though, if only for you less altruistic dads who actually want something other than your child's unbridled affection. Not that I, myself, would ever consider asking for something.

However, honey, if you happen to be reading this, and you're just absolutely determined to get me something, I wouldn't mind a selection from this bunch.

Gourmet Goodies

I've come across a lot of "gourmet to go" services in the last few years, and I've yet to find one that didn't at some point cross the line between gourmet grub and vaguely high-class takeout chow. Either the sauces didn't hold up or the meat was overcooked or one of the sides hadn't been properly made to be reheated.

However, gourmet takeout is a great idea for Father's Day for one simple reason: time. Most dads would much rather have time with the family than have Mom and the kids spend hours in the kitchen putting something together. I'm not for a moment suggesting that cooking for Dad (or Mom) is a bad thing, but sometimes the time spent cooking gets in the way of spending quality time together.

The folks at Gourmet Station have gotten the whole thing right. Great recipes combined with genius-level packaging and shipment techniques produce a meal that, with your microwave or conventional oven for heating assistance, beats most fine restaurant food I've had lately.

I sampled the Chicken Cordon Bleu, not because it's my favorite dish but because it's something that pretty much every gourmet takeout or delivery service makes. It's delivery-friendly, since it's a fairly self-contained dish. However, it's also something that frequently ends up tasting like a buffet-table reject. Either the chicken is dry, or the breading is heavy (or soggy), or the filling is poorly constructed.

None of that was present here. This was CCB as it's meant to be. The breading was light and slightly crispy, the chicken was tender and the filling was flavorful and in perfect proportion to the surrounding meat. The accompanying Creamy Spinach with Artichokes was, as my dining partner described, creamed spinach taken to levels unknown. It complemented the chicken beautifully, and really could have stood on its own as an entree.

And then ... dessert! In this case, that was "bake your own" Amaretto cookies, with semi-sweet chocolate chunks, almonds and Amaretto liqueur. I'm very glad these are not available at my local store, as my weight-loss plan would be in serious danger.

For Father's Day, Gourmet Station has put together a Father's Day Feast anchored by Beef Wellington. Hey, it's MEAT, just what any dad would want!

For The Grillers

If your father is the grilling type, if he is happiest with a pair of tongs in his hand, wreathed in a cloud of fragrant charcoal smoke, then GrillJunkie.com is where you need to be. Their online store offers a full array of apparel and accoutrements for manly meat-searing guys.

My favorites are the T-shirts, adorned with slogans like "Grill Free Or Die" and "Got Charcoal?" Heck, you can even get their catchy slogans on things like dog shirts, coffee mugs and even ladies' shirts, for the ever-burgeoning cadre of Ladies of the Grill.

On the site, you'll also find a wealth of recipes and grilling info, with more coming all the time. The site's run by some true grilling aficionados, and their love for their cooking shows.

For Father's Day, they've got a free shipping special, too!

To all my fellow dads out there, a very happy Father's Day. Enjoy! You can always mow the yard Monday.

Got a question? Comment? Topic you'd like to see covered? Drop me a line, anytime!