Xmas Loot.... (merged w/ "Santa" topic)

[Fay Jai]

I know that it is early, but I know that I got...I mean, my wife got an OXO Mandoline from her parents.

More after X-mas!

What about you?

[culinary bear]

digital scales... lovely. :)

[Timh]

Nice score on the scales. I got the El Bulli book from my wife's boss, really! I knew as soon as my wife handed it to me.

[ladyyoung98]

my fiance got me a mexican mortar and pestle and a six shelf rolling bakers rack....and i know that only because he wa s so exited abot both he could nto wait til saturday and he claimed he could not wrap the bakers rakc...cuz he had to put it together .....lol

Edited December 24, 2004 by ladyyoung98 (log)

[purplewiz]

So far, food-wise, we've received:

- 1 lb tin of mixed nuts (no peanuts!)

- 2 lb round of Gouda cheese

- box of pears and apples

- 3 frozen tubs of NC BBQ with sauce, Wasabi Peanuts, and Pecan Pralines

Not bad all in all, considering the past two years we've received at least 40 lbs of citrus fruit by this time. There are only two of us, and neither of us are big citrus fans, so most of it either went bad, was given away, or was juiced and frozen and still resides at the bottom of our deep freeze. This year we passed the word in the family that while we were grateful for their generosity, PLEASE stop!

Marcia.

[Yuki]

I got a pasta machine already but there should be more coming...

Also got my delivery from Hong Kong

- Curry block and black sesame peanut candy from Macau

- new kind of noodles from Japan and Korea

- 30 dried abalone (my aunt have been drying them for at least 7 years now so they are all ready for cooking)

- more of my favourite junk food

[Ling]

So far I've received countless boxes of cookies and chocolate from my students. I am steadily plowing through them. I know that one of my gifts this year is a French press coffee maker. I don't think I'm getting any other food-related gifts.

[YKL]

Well ... I won't know for certain for another 14 hours (have a rule that I have to wait till Christmas Eve is over) but one of the most intriguing mystery presents is a gift from a friend - a square box of about 8cm x 8cm with a gift tag that says something like "For the person who has everything useful for the kitchen!"

Can't imagine what on earth that will be ...

Apparently I'm a very difficult person to buy for - so kitchen and food stuff is always a good fall back. Can be amusing when you find duplicates or themes - like last year when I got about three copies of Schott's Food and Drink miscellany ... and the year before when completely different sets of friends seem to have a cheese theme ... got a cheeseboard, cheese knives etc ..

All good though,

Yin

X

[helenjp]

I'M cheating really...my birthday is in December so I got this "combined" birthday and Christmas present early -- Braun Multimix M880 350watt.

Very happy...big improvement on the FUNERAL ALTAR flowers which he usually comes home with for my birthday, and while his mistakes in the flower department are less than welcome, he made a much more welcome mistake in buying the Braun...he spotted me trying to chop things with a sore wrist after a heavy translation typing session, and resolved to buy me a stick blender ...but he accidentally bought the more expensive model

[Suzi Edwards]

Can be amusing when you find duplicates or themes - like last year when I got about three copies of Schott's Food and Drink miscellany

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Christmas 2004 will forever be the year of Schott's Food and Drink Miscellany. I received four copies.

This year I've had a copy of Nose to Tail eating, bottle of vodka, box of biscuits from Marks and Spencer and some cashews. My mum doesn't wrap presents and my cats opened the bag they were in.

At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Safran]

Nice score on the scales. I got the El Bulli book from my wife's boss, really! I knew as soon as my wife handed it to me.

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OK, there's something I'm definitely NOT doing right here. Let me confirm this: the El Bulli book, not from your boss, but from your spouse's boss?!! Nice going!!!!

[NulloModo]

Hehe, I have it from pretty good sources that I will be graced with a CookShack Smokette Model 008 smoker.... I can't wait ;).

[andiesenji]

One of the doctors that subleases in our office gave me a pizza baker which I am going to leave at the office. I don't think she has a clue that I make real pizza from scratch and have an oven in which to bake it.

My daughter sent me a Trader Joe's gift card for $100.00 (she knows me quite well) and some lovely jellies she brought back from Scotland, from Moniack Castle, Sloe Berry Jelly, a meat and game jelly and Pear and Rosemary Jelly.

A weaver friend sent me some hand-woven kitchen towels that are so lovely I don't know if I can every bring myself to use them. One has a pineapple (for hospitality), another an eggplant, another a carrot and the fourth an ear of corn.

I also got a gift card for Sul La Table but the giver did not indicate how much it is for.......

Also subscription renewals for several cooking magazines.

There is also in my email a notice of an Amazon.com gift but I haven't checked it yet. It is possible it is for something other than kitchen stuff, but I doubt it.

Oh yeah, from several folks who still have not got the message that I can't drink alcohol (severe allergy) several bottles of wine most of which I am passing along to my best friend who can and does drink wine. I am keeping some for cooking and for making vinegar as I am getting a bit low.

Perhaps the wine buffs can tell me if Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1988 Bordeaux is a good year.

[NulloModo]

Oh yeah, from several folks who still have not got the message that I can't drink alcohol (severe allergy) several bottles of wine most of which I am passing along to my best friend who can and does drink wine.  I am keeping some for cooking and for making vinegar as I am getting a bit low. 

Perhaps the wine buffs can tell me if Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1988 Bordeaux is a good year.

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Heh, aren't those gifts great? Everyone I work with knows I am doing the Low-carb thing, yet I still recieved gifts of a loaf of christmas cake, some home-made fudge, and several boxes of chocolates. Not, of course I accepted them with great thanks and appreciation... my friends who get ot enjoy the bounty of these gifts are very happy with me now.

[highchef]

my  fiance  got  me  a  mexican  mortar  and  pestle  and  a  six  shelf  rolling  bakers  rack....and  i know that only  because  he wa s so exited  abot  both  he  could nto wait til saturday  and  he  claimed  he  could  not  wrap  the  bakers  rakc...cuz  he  had  to  put it together  .....lol

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THAT is soooo cool.

[winegeek]

I'm hoping for a Riedel decanter. I'm in desperate need of a new one. I promise I've been very good this year.

[winesonoma]

Every year Pat and I give ourselves a vacation. Think this year it's New Orleans in Feb. Oh and she gets a Wüsthof Santoku so she can look like Rachel Ray even though she's Pat Ray in the kitchen. She learned how to care for knives so she gets a good one.

[kiliki]

An early xmas present from my boyfriend of a huge box of Parisian macarons from Fauchon, carried on the plane on someone's lap from Paris to San Francisco, and then on someone else's lap from SF to Seattle. How he worked that out is a long story but I am in HEAVEN.

[McDuff]

Stick in the eye---our paychecks never showed up.

[cjs]

the Bourdain book naturally. Had to pick it up myself just to make sure the spousal unit bought the right one! Can't wait to read.

[Chef Fowke]

I got a huge, beautiful ~very fresh~ white truffle from my new BEST FRIEND!!

I am going to have to make some fresh cappellini to have with it next week.

Best gift I ever got! I sniff it every 1/2 hour.

[ruthcooks]

My yearly gift to myself is usually a box of cookbooks, but this year it's an oak and copper pot rack. My sort-of-kitchen is very small, so I hung it in the bay window where stacks of miscellany used to live. All the Cuisinart and All Clad cookware which eGullet made me buy this year now live there. It hangs low because I am under 5' and I love it. (Love the cookware, too.)

My best friend sent me a cookbook from my Amazon wish list. I think it's the Lewis & Peacock one. Also bought The New Best Recipe for myself and am keeping it under wraps for reading tomorrow.

My mother usually sends me a $1000 check after Christmas, and this year it's all going for kitchen additions/improvements and maybe a few small luxuries.

[snowangel]

At our In-Law gift thing tonight, I gave micoplanes. I am temporarily the goddess.

[tupac17616]

Oooh, 'twas a nice Christmas indeed. Here was part of my loot from Christmas and my birthday a few weeks ago:

Atlas Pasta Maker

Pasta Drying Rack

Marble Rolling Pin

Pizza Peel (had the stone already, but needed the peel )

Parisian Scoop

American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza

The Gourmet cookbook

Bobby Flay Cooks American cookbook

The New York Restaurant cookbook

Looks like I'm gonna have a lot of good times making pasta and pizza in the near future

[andiesenji]

I got a huge, beautiful ~very fresh~ white truffle from my new BEST FRIEND!!

I am going to have to make some fresh cappellini to have with it next week.

Best gift I ever got! I sniff it every 1/2 hour.

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Do you have it stored in a container with your eggs, just so the eggs will take on the flavor, right through the shell?

That is the way I keep mine! I feel like I am getting more for my money that way.