What To Eat is informative and fun reading.

Now, the experts on healthy eating from Cooking Light magazine have published an equally important guide, What To Eat: A Real World Guide To Making Smart Choices.

While Eat This, Not That focused on restaurant choices, What To Eat is the “complete grocery shopping companion.” But it’s much more than a guide to consult while walking down the aisles of the supermarket. It’s an enjoyable education about the foods we eat every day.

Sure, you’ll learn where to find the hidden sugar and salt and how to avoid them and which produce has the most pesticides (consider buying the organic versions).

But if you’re buying nuts—for snacking or for recipes—did you know that each of the choices provides a different benefit? Walnuts have the highest level of omega-3s, pecans have the most antioxidants, peanuts have the most protein and cashews and almonds have 4-5 times the amount of vitamin E as other nuts.

With 1,000 tips enlivened by more than 650 color photos and illustrations, this is a peach of a book for anyone who wants to learn more about food—from kids to parents to people who want to eat better and people who need to eat better.

Buy several copies—they make great gifts. You can find Cooking Light What To Eat at bookstores and at Amazon.

If Dad is bacon-centric, check out our list of bacon gifts.

Sure, there’s a pricey bacon-of-the-month club, but you can put together a basket of affordable favorites like Baconnaise bacon-flavored mayonnaise and bacon chocolate.

If Dad isn’t into bacon, check out our other Father’s Day gift ideas.

And check out our original recipe for bacon jam.

Tangy and smoky with a touch of sweet balsamic vinegar, it’s a cause for celebration on any day, but a memorable treat for Father’s Day.

How Well Do You Know Your Pork Products?

Check out our delicious Pork Glossary.

The new bacon and eggs: chocolate eggs
filled with bacon caramel. Photo courtesy
Vosges Haut Chocolat.

Drinkable vegetable soups are a healthy
snack option. Photo by Daniela Cuevas |
THE NIBBLE.

But what if you don’t have the time to bring fresh fruit, carrot sticks, hard-cooked eggs and other healthy snacks to the workplace? How can you avoid the chips, candy and other temptations?

Donate some space in your locker or office for a stash of tasty, healthy foods that require no refrigeration. They’ll be there when you have the munchies; and healthier munchies give you more energy.

Check out our article on healthy snacks and plan for healthier snacking at work.

In his honor, two baconeers from Atlanta are making Sir Francis Bacon Peanut Brittle.

The brittle is produced in small batches in copper kettles. Buttery, salty, smoky and crunchy, this all-natural confection will find fans among everyone who likes bacon.

The sweetness is kept at a sensible level, so there’s no “cloy factor.” The chocolate bacon brittle is a kind of yummy bacon buttercrunch.

The packaging looks like it could come from the 17th century—except for the pig snout mask that Sir Francis sports.

What wine to serve with bacon brittle? Champagne!

Send Sir Francis Bacon Brittle to dads, grads and bacon lovers everywhere.

• Read the full review.

• Find more of our favorite candy in our Gourmet Candy Section.

Recipients will squeal after their first bite of
bacon brittle. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

One of our favorite single malts is Bowmore,
but not everyone likes the peaty Islay
style. Photo courtesy Laphroaig.

No matter how much you think you know, you can use a consultation with a single malt expert. Michael Jackson’s Complete Guide To Single Malt Scotch covers some 800 single malts (by the way, pairing the book with a bottle is a great idea). So were do you begin?

We begin by asking someone who’s had almost as many single malts as Michael Jackson. Park Avenue’s proprietor Jonathan Goldstein, a single malt expert and a Keeper of the Quaich,* offers this advice:

1. Like? First, does Dad even like Scotch? Have you seen him drink it before? You would be surprised how many people come in, notes Goldstein, and ask for a single malt because their father drinks Wild Turkey—which is a Bourbon! Ignorance is no reason for embarrassment, but it is a reason to consult a professional who wants to help you make the right choice.

*Quaich is pronounced kwaych with a gutteral “ch,” as in the Scottish loch or German ach and ich. The traditional shallow-bowl drinking vessel of Scotland, which has two or three handles, dates to the Druids. At parties and clan gatherings, large quaichs filled with whiskey were passed from person to person.

3. Budget? How much are you willing to spend and how many bottles do you want for your money. Do you want one super bottle? Do you want a variety of bottles so Dad has a “collection” to compare and contrast? Your expert should be able to find excellent choices in all price ranges, and knows about special new releases.

4. Collector? Is Dad a serious collector of single malts? Many distilleries create investment-worthy bottles (a recent bottling of The Macallan, a 57-year-old single malt Scotch in Lalique Crystal, retails for $19,100). An alternative for collectors are “exclusive” bottlings, handled by a few specialist shops. Park Avenue’s exclusives start at $67.

• For single malt help, call Park Avenue Liquor Shop at 1.212.685.2442.

• To learn how whiskeys differ (Bourbon, Canadian, Irish, Scotch, Tennessee, etc.) and beef up your whiskey terminology, see our Whiskey Glossary.