Father's Day is just around the corner — it lands on Sunday, June 16 this year — so you've probably started thinking about gifts. Ties and books and ballgame tickets are fine and all. But chances are, your dad really wants something food and drink related. Like a Himalayan salt block or a plancha for the grill or a nice bottle of Kentucky brown. Here are 20 products we stand behind. And, hell, maybe Dad will even offer you a nip.

As reported on the Food Republic website with slideshow - READ MORE

Culinary accidents tend to veer towards the disastrous. There's the smoke alarm that continually goes off because binge-watching Mad Men takes precedence over remembering a pizza that's in the oven

Sometimes though, with a little bit of luck, a simple mix-up can lead to a dish that's unexpectedly delicious. Sometimes forgetfulness allows the perfect combination of time and flavor to come together into a genius gastronomical invention, like these ubiquitous foods that came into being simply as very happy accidents:

As reported on the FOOD52 website - READ MORE

We tend to think of almonds as nuts, but they aren't really, and they aren't the only spring delicacy that we've mislabeled. (Almonds aren't the only mislabeled nuts; cashews, peanuts, pine nuts, and pistachios aren't true nuts either. Looking for scintillating cocktail party banter? You're welcome.) Almonds are actually the seeds of stone fruits, so they're related to peaches, plums, apricots, and cherries

As reported on the FOOD52 website - READ MORE

Uptown Art Hop, Thornebrook Village, Fri, 6-9 pm. Art, live music, food, and entertainment in boutiques and galleries.

Artist of the Month, High Springs, Fri, 7-9 pm. The High Springs Art Co-Op hosts a reception celebrating new exhibit by Jeanne Van Arsdall. Reception includes wine and cheese.

Little Jake Mitchell & Soul Searchers, Free Friday Concert Series, Bo Diddley Community Plaza, Friday, 8-10pm. Bring your lawn chairs to enjoy the show and get ready to get down in Downtown,

Jongleur Jugglers, Micanopy Branch Library, Sat, 2-2:45 pm. The Jugglers made their appearance recently at the Gainesville's Jest Fest Series.

School's Out Festival, Forage Farm and Prairie Creek Lodge, Sat, 5-11 pm. Live music, arts and crafts, games, nature walks, water fun, garden and food workshops, farm tours, local food vendors, and more. Click for more information.

Gainesville Street Rods Car Show Cruise In, Spring Hill Shopping Center, Sat, 6-9 pm. The second Saturday of every month owners of classic and custom cars gather to display their vehicles with like-minded aficionados.

Author Deb Olin Unferth, Alachua County Public Library Headquarters, Sun, 3 pm. Ms. Unferth will be reading from her work, taking questions, and signing books in the downtown public library.

The Sapphires, Hippodrome Cinema, various days and times. Inspired by a true story, this film follows four vivacious, young and talented Aboriginal girls from a remote Australian mission home as they travel to Vietnam in 1968 to entertain US troops and they learn about love, friendship and war.

Nothin' But the Blues:

> Friday

-- Little Jake & the Soul Searchers, Bo Diddley Plaza from 8-10 pm.

-- The R. Mutt Blues Band, Dos Mamas

-- The Terraplane Trio, comprised of Terraplaners and Big Time Juke & the Jointers, plays Red Onion.

-- Rick Randlett, Blue Moon Café, High Springs.

> Saturday

-- Blues Lightning, Red Onion.

-- Biscuit Miller & The Mix, Downtown Blues Bar & Grille in Palatka.

> Sunday

-- Middleground, Cafe C (424 NW 8th Ave) for 11-3:00 brunch.

Congratulatons to Sallie Schattner for winning this week's Gainesville Lunch Out Blog Hipp/Harry's Seafood Bar & Grille Dinner for two contest.  Sallie will receive two free tickets to this weekend's Performance of Avenue Q at the Hippodrome Theatre and dinner for two at Harry's Seafood Bar & Grille.  Pssst, Sallie, the new Harry's Bacon Jam Burger is REALLY good!

Each week in June GLOBers will have the opportunity to win, and enjoy Harry's Seafood Bar & Grill Dinner for two, and two tickets to the Hippodrome Theatre's 40th Anniversary Season play Avenue Q.   Gainesville Lunch Out Blog readers may particpate by letting the GLOB Master know where do you go to eat lunch.

We will include your name in a drawing Thursday night to determine this week's winner of the GLOB's Hipp/Harry's Free Dinner and a Play contest.

You can send us your answer by adding a GLOB comment below, or to any of the GLOB's blog's pages, by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to the GLOB Master, or by posting your answer on the GLOB's Facebook page. All the responses go into the "GLOB Free Lunch Hat" for a blind raffle.

Friday morning, we will announce the winner by posting his or her name on the GLOB home page and in the Daily GLOB email newsletter.

Contestants can enter more than one comment, BUT each contestant can win a GLOB contest no more than once during the month of June. Inappropriate or offensive comments will not be considered and will be deleted.

Happy lunching and good luck!

Petition Home Depot: Do Right by Farmer Bubba

GLOB Content Editor Lynn Dirk writes Table Scraps, an annual (so far) column, featuring compostable food for thought, scrap mettle for possible salvage, and crisp pieces of rendered thoughts, USUALLY related to restaurants and food.

My family makes fun of me whenever I get all “corporationy,” which I think is a term from South Park and I think it refers to people who rant about the evil of corporations. All I can say is, when it comes to the perfect model of corporations at their worst, think tobacco. Every person in this country--no, make that the world!--should see the movie The Insider.   Also, might I add that British Petroleum (BP) is an excellent example of a corporation that certainly could vie for least socially responsible.

I admit that corporations can do good, however. In fact there is a whole new type of corporation called the B-Corps that uses “the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.”   I am going to be using this website a lot to decide where to shop and/or invest. 

Another example of a corporation doing good is Home Depot, a more typical every day corporation, which did a good thing recently by standing up for social equality.

Unfortunately, I have a little problem with Home Depot right now because the GLOB’s own Farmer Bubba got a serious hit on the head at a Home Depot store recently and has been practically harassed by Home Depot’s insurer Sedgwick.  Ironically, Bubba never even made a complaint himself, he just started getting calls from Sedgewick and the second call was when they told him the accident was his fault. Bubba is 100% sure it is not his fault, so that really bothered him – and it really bothers me. Actually a friend of mine commented that even if he did accidentally brush against a heavy pipe, it should not have been able to fall and hurt anyone. Good point.

Bubba is so hard working and such a good guy that I decided I wanted to try and help him.  His hit on the head has been very difficult for him.  He has had vision, memory, and headache problems that have caused him to lose days of work that he really cannot afford, plus his doctor recently told him he needs a skull Xray and a brain scan. That costs a whole lot more than an un-insured self-employed small farmer has on hand.

SO, there is this really neat website, change.org, that, via petitions signed on the web, enables groups of people to put pressure on large organizations like corporations to make changes. I created a petition that tells Bubba's story.  If enough people sign, maybe Home Depot will make its insurer, first, stop blaming Bubba for the accident and, second, do what insurance companies are supposed to do -- cover some of his health care costs. Check out the petition for Bubba and sign if you can.  At the same time check out change.org and see what a neat website it is. 

I’ve included the petition below so you can read it before you go to the website.  I hope I did a good enough job of telling the story to make you want to sign the petition. If so, go to the Petition for Farmer Bubba on the change.org website to sign the petition.

If you decide to sign, please also share the story and the website with as many friends as you can.  Thanks so much just for reading this far.  Here's the petition:

To: Brad Shaw, Home Depot Vice Pres, Corp Communications& External Affairs

Elizabeth Francy Demaret, Chief Customer Relationship Officer, Sedgwick

RE: Sedgwick’s handling of Claim 20130374664

I just signed a petition calling on Home Depot to review Sedgwick’s Home Depot Claim 20130374664. It appears that this 3rd party insurance manager may be attempting to deny coverage by unfairly accusing a long-time and loyal customer, Bubba Scott, of causing an accident that injured him in the store.

Bubba Scott, a self-employed home improvement professional and small farmer, experienced a serious head injury while at Home Depot on March 5th. He was hit hard on the head by a heavy pipe. At that time, Bubba did not even ask for compensation or complain to the Home Depot staff. Bubba did not see a doctor right away because he did not realize the gravity of a serious head injury or the effects that would occur in the following weeks. 

After the accident Bubba began to have bad headaches and problems with memory, vision, and lost appetite. Bubba then realized he needed to see his doctor. The doctor told him he needs a brain scan to determine if the injury may lead to serious complications, but Bubba cannot afford the $6000.

Bubba later learned that the Home Depot store manager had filed a report. About 3 weeks after the accident, Bubba received a call from Home Depot’s 3rd party insurance management company, Sedgwick in reference to Home Depot claim 20130374664. The Sedgwick representative called to ask Bubba what happened and how he was doing, which Bubba described. Two weeks later, the representative called Bubba again and told him the accident was his fault and offered him a $100 Home Depot gift certificate. Bubba asked to see the claim report but was told he could not see it.

As much as Bubba might needs a brain scan, he is even more concerned by the demeaning and accusatory way the Sedgwick employee informed him that the accident was his fault and then refused to provide evidence of that, even though it is very likely that the accident was captured on a security camera. 

As a home improvement professional who is also a certified electrician, Bubba knows how important it is to be careful around equipment. Also, Bubba has been a loyal customer of Home Depot for many years. In fact, when he was relocating to a new city, staff of the Home Depot in the city he was leaving gave him a Home Depot employee apron with his name on it as a going away present. 

Please tell Home Depot to review Claim 20130374664 to assure Sedgwick is not unfairly blaming Bubba Scott or other customers for accidents without proof and is not making money for themselves or Home Depot at the expense of Home Depot customers.

The Pluses and Minuses of Burgers4u

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Be the first to offer your GLOB comments, lunch photographs and opinions about Burgers4u.  Please identify your opinions with a PLUS SIGN (+) for positive comments, and a MINUS SIGN (-) for your negative comments.  - THANKS!

In warm weather, most people stick to the basics when ordering cocktails: mojitos, margaritas or rickeys. But local creations that capture the flavors of the season make it more than worth it to break out of your summer routine.

As reported in this Washington Post with slideshow - READ MORE

Gainesville strives gold medal biking status

By Ron Cunningham, GLOB Correspondent

EDITOR's NOTE: Ron Cunningham is a Gainesville cyclist, Journalist, and Executive Director of Bike Florida.  The Cycle Chronicler is in search of interesting, chain-link connected stories and today he is sharing local, valuable biker mapping inormation.

So let's say you're new to the Gainesville cycling scene and you want to figure out how to get around town on two-wheels as safely and quickly as possible.

The good news is that Gainesville is a pretty cycle-friendly town; it has long held a silver-level bike-friendly designation awarded by the League of American Bicyclists, and this year city officials and cycling supporters are applying for gold level status.

That said, there are still roads in town that are not especially bike hospitable, and they are not always the obvious ones. Case in point: one might not suspect that SW 13th Street, which more or less functions as the University of Florida's eastern "Main Street," is one of the most cycle hostile stretches of road in town. Conversely, I frequently ride on NW 34th Street. Granted, it's four lanes of fast-moving traffic, but NW 34th has well marked bike lanes that make it a fairly safe and speedy north-south corridor for cyclists.

I'm just saying, there are ways to get around Gainesville and ways better avoided. One good way to tell the difference is to get one of Gainesville's newly issued Bikeway System maps. Part of the City's "Ride and Stride" transportation initiative, the maps contain useful information about where to find bike lanes, off-road greenways, and other cycling amenities.

Did you know, for instance, that Gainesville has 83 miles of on-street bike lanes, and an additional 23 miles of marked shoulders that are not officially bike lanes but pretty much serve that purpose? The map also shows you where to find off-road rail-trails, and how to get out to the 17-mile long Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, Trail image above. If you haven't yet ridden that trail through Paynes Prairie State Preserve and beyond, you're missing a wonderful touring experience.

The map also contains some QR Code scanners (above), that you can scan with your smart phone to get up to date postings about traffic conditions, bus schedules, parks and recreation information and other things.

To get a copy of the map contact the Gainesville Bicycle/Pedestrian Program at 352-334-5070.

Happy riding.