'me time' .. what is your favorite luxury item?

[Gifted Gourmet]

article from The Scotsman

top end of the market is now driven by overworked employees wanting to treat themselves by indulging in a spot of "me time". The new trend has given rise to a plethora of new high-quality products developed by manufacturers now focusing on consumers’ desire for quality over value for money. Chocolate is for many the ultimate stress-buster.... But categories showing the greatest growth are snack nuts, juices and bread. Bread is another area where consumers like to spend more on luxury lines. The market for "artisan" loaves, was worth almost £190 million in 2003, according to the study.  Ice-cream is the third-biggest choice when workers decide to indulge themselves with food or drink

So, what is your favorite food item to be enjoyed when money is no object?

[Chris Amirault]

That's easy (and my answer is very New-England-cliche, I'm afraid): lob-stah!

[Carrot Top]

Caviar and champagne, bien sur.

But there is no Petrossian's in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Surprised?)

And the atmosphere is imperative.

Ah, well.

Guess a pizza with all the toppings will have to do. Wheeeeee!

[Lady T]

Any combination of chocolate and champagne does it for me.

[Marlene]

Steak. Preferably USDA or Canadian Prime. And champagne

[Varmint]

I don't know if this is truly a luxury item, but I always feel a bit more decadent (and a lot happier), when I splurge on top-notch vanilla beans.

[NulloModo]

I spend the extra over Folgers for good coffee, I have been really impressed by the Trader Joes blends.

Cheese would be another one. I haven't yet ordered from any of these super expensive online french or artisan cheese places, but the TJs nice stuff is worth the splurge.

Bourbon is probably me other one. A jug of Rebel Yell will get me where I need to go, but it won't do it as nicely as some Van Winkle reserve or Bookers.

[coffeeroaster]

Well, money is always an object, but:

Port and chocolate

Great cheese from the Zingerman's counter

Cultured butter

A big Zin or Cab

And, at a restaurant, foie gras.

Oh, and great coffee, always

[buttercup]

Truffles!!! Have not dared to try to cook with them on my own, but I did get some truffle butter.

Great dark chocolate with a rich big red wine.

The list could go on.

To assist in indulgence, I actually cook for things like Valentine's Day. I figure out what we would spend in a restaurant and use a roughly equivalent amount to buy all the yummy luxury things. So much better and you do not run into the problems of holiday service at restaurants. Usually, hubby is so happy he takes me out to a nice dinner within the next week.

[intraining]

chocolate truffles

champagne

port

oysters

[andiesenji]

Kobe beef, number one on my list.

Fois gras

truffles

Fois gras with truffles, better than - - - sex? can't say, distant memory for me..

however I have had fois gras with truffle recently.

Iranian golden caviar - had it once, definitely better than just about anything else.

I don't buy much lobster, have a friend who scuba dives up at the Channel Islands, brings back big ones. Spiny lobster, not the big claw type. However if I had to buy it I would.

Edited October 14, 2004 by andiesenji (log)

[sparrowgrass]

Gotta be those danged chickens. I know those eggs cost me a dollar a piece, never mind that I sell the extras for $1 a dozen. Feed, electric fence chargers, an incubator, the chicken house, the shock collar for the dogs , the ducks and geese I bought to feed the owls , blah, blah, blah.

Probably the garden falls into the same category. Veggies are cheap: buying plants and seeds and roots and trellises and fencing and the "Hummer" model of tillers is expensive.

Because the grocery store scene is so sad in this area, I am seldom tempted by 'spensive stuff like truffles and caviar.

[buttercup]

Iranian caviar

Chocolate (truffles?) and port

Mushroom truffles

foie gras

everyone is making me very hungry.

What if everything was served to have the shape of a chocolate truffle.

I need to find a reason to do this for a nice dinner. With drink parings.. yum.

[purplewiz]

Chocolate. Dark chocolate. 70% cocoa solids is nice, 85% is, too. And a nice cuppa coffee...take a nibble of the chocolate, a sip of the coffee, and let the heat of the coffee melt and mingle with the chocolate in your mouth. Simple and sensual.

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 23 year old bourbon. It's the most I've ever spent on a bottle of booze, and I regret nothing. It's fantastic. Sippin bourbon of the finest kind. Me time to the 10th degree.

Terrine of foie gras, truffles, and porcini mushrooms.

Marcia.

[Jason Perlow]

Wagyu beef from Lobels

Jumbo Stone Crab Claws flown in overnight from Florida. Makes lobster and King Crab look pale by comparison.

Russian or Iranian Ocetra Caviar

[browniebaker]

My splurges are marrons glacés and good cheeses.

[daniellewiley]

Well, money is always an object, but:

Port and chocolate

Great cheese from the Zingerman's counter

Cultured butter

A big Zin or Cab

And, at a restaurant, foie gras.

Oh, and great coffee, always   

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Oooh, I agree with most of these. I always feel special when eating Zingerman's cheese. They store and sell it perfectly, so while it's expensive, it's always fabulous. I love sitting by myself with a great magazine and eating a hunk of their farm bread covered with slices of a great, aged goat cheese. That always feels decadent to me, and really it's not TERRIBLY expensive. I also feel decadent when using any of the products I've purchased overseas. I always save them forever. I have a jar of chestnut cream from Paris in my cupboard, and I took a long, long time to eat my Fauchon Fig Preserves.

[Mabelline]

After very careful consideration, I would have to say a good tea, and fresh,next-day scallops at my small independent grocery, who is the only place up here to get never-frozen, fresh seafood.

Artisanal bread from one of our two good bakers.

Antelope meat, at any price. I love that stuff

[Gifted Gourmet]

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 23 year old bourbon. It's the most I've ever spent on a bottle of booze, and I regret nothing. It's fantastic. Sippin bourbon of the finest kind. Me time to the 10th degree.

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This I simply had to check out! and right you are: "me time" to the limit!

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 23 Year - 95.6 Proof

This is the only 23 year old Kentucky Bourbon sold in the country today. There are only 3,000 bottles of this very rare 23 year old bourbon.  $200

[zenpup]

Hmmm, Lobster Truffle sauce over fresh pasta....any truffles ( including chocolate!) and dead-ripe, sun warmed tomatoes eaten sitting in the dirt next to the vine...yikes, I wish I hadn't seen this thread today...it's not even breakfast time yet...and I was planning a protein drink for breakfast and a skimpy salad for lunch...trying to keep my (ahem!) girlish figure... good thing I'm broke...

[eunny jang]

Excellent lamb.

And Lobel's Wagyu beef.

[Joanne212]

Truffles, hands down. Wholesale cost doubles, but retail profit quadruples. (If you'll pardon my definition of "enjoyment.")

[Fynnicki]

Good chocolate is my favorite indulgence...La Maison du Chocolat is my all-time favorite. I also love artisanal bread (especially a good walnut wheat) and cheddar. And brownies...I have to sneak off every now and then for an Amernick (a local bakery) brownie.

[reverendtmac]

As a cost-conscious student (can't hardly put 'starving', I've budgeted well for decent food!) - a bottle of Macallan 25. You could pair that with a friggin' Snickers and it'd be heaven...

[Susan G]

"Me time" comes cheaper for me (Simple minds, simple pleasures?)

Half a dozen Mozartkugeln and a good book.

And yes, that's the "no expense spared" answer!