Wish List: A gift for Dad and Mammy, too

Summer’s in the air and it’s time to choose a gift for Dad — as well as picking up something nice for Mammy, too. Esther N McCarthy goes hunting.

The Gianna armchair is a beautiful summer addition, it could be just the thing to perk up a certain room. €300, available from Dunnes Stores.

M&S have this glorious specimen on show, the Portia Chair in Opus Multi, for a grand total of €860. www.marksandspencer.ie

The Orla Kiely kitchen textiles range at the Kilkenny Shop has a range of aprons, oven gloves, tea towels and pot grabs, each carrying Orla’s signature quirky retro design. Prints include Multi flower, Tulip and rusticPear, all ideal for injecting some personality into the kitchen. This gift set costs €25.95 www.kilkennyshop.com

Back2Back artists Anne Browne and Ber Murphy’s first joint exhibition is on show at On The Pig’s Back Cafe, Douglas and runs until the end of June. Prices range from €130 to €445 and prints at €25. Pictured here is Oscar by Ber Murphy.

Judging precisely when a steak is done is a tricky culinary skill to master. But Tefal’s intelligent new OptiGrill claims to have clinched it by automatically measuring the thickness of the meat and adjusting cooking time accordingly. If the LED display light is yellow, the steak is still rare, as it moves into orange the steak is medium, when the light turns red the meat is well done. Nifty. €169.99 available from Power City, DID Electrical and Harvey Norman.

Paperblanks have this glorious Equinoxe Azure journal out at the moment. The cover, featuring a tendril motif, reproduces a 1688 binding from the Düsseldorf Museum Kunstpalast. Fancy or what? Starting at €17.95, see http://paperblanks.com/ie/en/ for stockists.

Love this Dad comic superhero personalised cushion, €32 from www.wowthankyou.co.uk.

This is an unusual one from Jam Art Factory. It’s a map of Cork City centre created by laser cutting at Alljoy Design. It comes unframed, in red or black for €35 and the size is 21cm x 30cm.