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Christmas presents for the cook and the kitchen


Shel_B

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Let me suggest a couple of incredibly useful, but pricey, kitchen items that are not pots or pans:

- Ultra Pride+ wet grinder from India. Make iddlys, vasa, your own fresh masa for tortillas, or Thai curry pastes with ease.

- Iwatani Millser from Japan. Incredibly useful 3-bowl small blender.

I'll also second the recommendation for a pressure cooker. You don't have to spend a ton of money on that one. It opens vistas with stocks and legumes that I'd never dreamed of.

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The check has arrived. Familial decorum dictates that the check not be deposited until after the 25th. I will also wait just in case my DW passed on the info to some family member asking for gift suggestions. Don't need 2 of them.

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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Toots got me a Breville oven - just the one I wanted. She's such a dear. Her daughter is getting me "something" for the kitchen.

Amongst other things, I got Toots her most favorite alfajores, direct from Argentina. She's been wanting them for a while, and now she'll have them. Can't wait to see her expression when she unwraps the box. I also got her a new skillet. Technically, it's not a Christmas present, just something she needed (my word, not hers) and that I wanted for her place so I can cook for her a little easier and she can have a skillet that'll go into the oven. Oh, and while it's not directly related to kitchens or cooking, I got her a pair of warming boots that heat up in the microwave oven. Her feet sometimes get cold and these might help a bit.

Finally, I got tickets to see Baryshnikov at the Berkeley Rep theater later on. She's going to enjoy the performance, I'm sure.

I'm making lemon curd to give to the family - something like 7 or 8 jars of it. Mmmmmm ...

Ha, I'm an elementary music teacher so 'tis the season to show the little kids The Nutcracker. The one I've been watching over and over is Baryshnikov's version on VHS. Really fantastic and if I didn't know who Baryshnikov was before, I definitely do now.

I'm getting a Waring Xtreme Blender with variable speed control. Cannot. wait. Along with Alleno's 4 seasons at table No. 5, Manresa, Daniel, a cast iron skillet, and a bunch of other stuff. My favorite gift is the ones where I assess what I got and what I need to perfectly complement it all, and buy it myself. I'm thinking a #120 or #200 lab sieve.

iPhone 5s, gold version, too, but that isn't cooking so who cares right?

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The kids wanted "some good knives." I found a three-piece set of Shuns on www.cutleryandmore.com's clearance section. 8-inch nakiri, 6-inch utility, 4-inch parer. I will no longer have to curse the bad knives when I cook in their kitchen.

I'm lusting for a Breville smart oven, but I have a dearth of electrical outlets in the kitchen. What I'd really LOVE to have is a good, easy way to organize and store spices.

Don't ask. Eat it.

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What I WANT is a new microwave, my second-hand one just died last night. My son's sending me something, but I have no clue what!

Hope you get one that you like ... :cool:

 ... Shel


 

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What I'd really LOVE to have is a good, easy way to organize and store spices.

Do you have a door in your kitchen area? Pantry door or similar? I use the Elfa door system which I first saw in Genkinaonna's food blog a couple of years back. I love it and can really store a lot of spices in it. Here's the food blog pic:

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/138915-eg-foodblog-genkinaonna-2011/?p=1816888

It's available through The Container Store and they currrently have 30% off. I bought mine at full price, but it was still worth it. I love how much extra spice storage I get. I can fit about 8 or 9 spice containers on each shelf and I think the door space will allow for up to 10 shelves/racks if you use it for the smaller spice racks only. I have 8 racks on my door, but I have some of the big ones for storing bulkier items.

The best thing I have ever had to store spices!!! Thank you Genkinaonna!

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No gfweb, not a Breville Smart Oven, but a good book, instead: Around my French Table! (It took me a minute to transcribe BSO into Breville Smart Oven, since our "County Mounties" here are also BSO's: Broward Sherriff's Officers...) Love Dorie's stuff! I know what I'll be doing this weekend! What did everybody else get?

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

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I got a deluxe 42-piece decorating tip-set from Ateco, complete with quick-change nozzle adaptor, a small gooseneck spatula, and a smaller version of my very favourite pan ever: a black iron omelette pan (which I use for everything but). I love my parents!

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Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011)My eG Foodblog (2012)

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What is a goose-neck spatula please?

You'd probably know them better as offset spatulas - I find myself translating directly from Spanish more and more for things like this! They're called "cuello de ganso" in most chef supply shops here.

It's a metal spreading spatula, usually for icing, that has a kink in the neck to raise the handle above the spreading plane. I had only very large ones, which made making small desserts kind of a pain in the tush.

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Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011)My eG Foodblog (2012)

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PSA announcement and "What I got for Christmas":

Awesome price on a 7inch Wusthof Santoku if you're in Europe

http://www.edenwebshops.co.uk/en/pt/-wusthof-classic-ikon-japanese-cook-s-knife-7inch.htm

I ordered on the 19th and it came on the 24th. Seriously impressed.

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I got not one, but two roasting pans with racks. :laugh: One is smaller than the other, so I will keep them both and love them to pieces.

Also, a remote radar gun thingy to check temperatures. Loving that. I checked my dogs and my husband several times last night. :biggrin:

Annnnd, a blender.

Annnnd, a really pretty set of dishes.

'Twas a really fun Christmas.

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Over the year, a good friend puts kitchen "thingies" in a box as she comes across them in the stores and gives them to me for Christmas.

The most unusual gift was this Umbra 4-measuring-spoons-in-one (click). Each side of the spoon is a different measurement: tablespoon, teaspoon, 1/2 tsp and 1/4 tsp.

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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The most unusual gift was this Umbra 4-measuring-spoons-in-one (click). Each side of the spoon is a different measurement: tablespoon, teaspoon, 1/2 tsp and 1/4 tsp.

Interesting idea.

I bought these at BB&B (of course using the 20% coupon) using some gift money. I like this shape for getting down into spice jars.

IMAG0322.jpg

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

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