So what culinary gifts did Santa give you?

[Jenise]

Here: a butane torch for browning things, and the pasta attachments for my Kitchen Aid mixer.

[Robin Garr]

I gave Mary some quarter-pan-size crisscross racks that fit into our DeLonghi mini-oven, something she's been craving for years but hadn't found locally.

She gave me a fun speaker box that I can plug my iPhone into for listening to iTunes, Pandora, Spotify and such on something more mellow than its tiny little speaker. How is this culinary, you may ask? It's more handy than the house audio system for putting down on the corner of the counter when I'm working in the kitchen.

I got a granite mortar and pestle set. Also, not really from Santa, but about 10 days ago, my old electric range gave up the ghost. It was a 60's vintage Kenmore that was my Mom's. Last Spring, I was given a dual fuel Jenn-Air range that had been stored in a garage for about 10 years. It has an electric and convection oven and gas cooktop with grills and griddle. I broke the black glass oven door when moving it, so I replaced that and had to run 15 ft. of gas line to hook it up. This was a 4-day project for me and put me behind on the usual holiday preparations, but I love it and it helped me make some nice Christmas meals. I will wait until warmer weather to hoop up the exhaust unit, as it will require cutting a hole in the side of the house, but for now I can still use the old exhaust fan. Now I still have to go shopping for a few belated presents.

Our kids gave us a gift card to LeRoux Kitchen http://www.LeRouxKitchen.com and my brother gave us the book "Reading Between the Wines" by Terry Theise.

Two books of ice cream recipes: "Perfect Scoop" by Lebovitz and "Artisan Gelato" by Kopfer.

My sister gave me a $75 certificate to Williams Sonoma. I haven't had the chance to think about what to get with it.

Maybe I will get some ideas from this thread?

Here: a butane torch for browning things...

Nice. I've wanted one of those, but seemed a bit impractical given all the other things I need. Which makes a perfect holiday gift!

I got some fancy olive oil and wine glasses (they always break and they're easy gifts to ask for, especially when you specify the brand/model).

Not kitchen, per se, but I did get Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine. I did get some gift cards that may go to, a waffle maker and some other items.

I got a Hammerstahl santoku knife (very beautiful with wrought steel and wood handle), a new bottle of white truffle oil, an offset spatula and a i-home stand for my Ipad, which makes it much easier to set up to see recipes or watch a cooking technique video in the kitchen. As much as I love my cookbooks, I generally use my Ipad to find recipes or inspiration when I've got a specific ingredient I want to use. By the way Jenise, be sure to try making some beet pasta. You will love the color and flavor, especially with sage butter. I think I'll make some today as I've got guests coming tomorrow.

[David M. Bueker]

Laura gave me an immersion blender. More soups and curries coming soon!

I gave myself a book on charcuterie. Looking for that killer terrine recipe.....

OK, I'm a Jenise copy-cat, I ordered a browning torch and a motorized pepper mill. I probably wouldn't have ordered the latter except that our "good" pepper mill fell apart recently (spilling 2000 peppercorns over every inch of the kitchen floor, TWICE, once as it was breaking, and again after I thought I had fixed it). And when I went to Williams Sonoma "most popular items" this pepper mill was number one.

[Jenise]

I got a Hammerstahl santoku knife (very beautiful with wrought steel and wood handle), a new bottle of white truffle oil, an offset spatula and a i-home stand for my Ipad, which makes it much easier to set up to see recipes or watch a cooking technique video in the kitchen. As much as I love my cookbooks, I generally use my Ipad to find recipes or inspiration when I've got a specific ingredient I want to use. By the way Jenise, be sure to try making some beet pasta. You will love the color and flavor, especially with sage butter. I think I'll make some today as I've got guests coming tomorrow.

I'm glad you said that about your iPad. I do that too (use a computer to search for recipes), and was thinking my brand new iPad would come in quite handy for that.

Do you know what, I've never even had beet pasta. Can imagine that it's quite beautiful--recalling a spectacular beet risotto that I had in a restaurant in Santa Monica one time. Which I've always meant to get around to copying, and have not.

I'm glad you said that about your iPad. I do that too (use a computer to search for recipes), and was thinking my brand new iPad would come in quite handy for that.

Did you get a stand for it so you can prop it up on the kitchen counter?

I keep all the recipes I want to try and those I use regularly in a special gmail account. That way I can tag them with however many labels are appropriate (for example, carne adovada would get "pork" "chile" "NewMex" "Crockpot" etc), and I have access to them no matter where I am. When I travel I take my laptop so I can work, and when I am just visiting someone for the day I have my smartphone. Super handy.

I didn't get an IPad, but an E-Reader, a Pandigital, from Barnes & Noble, which is comparable to a Kindle Fire. It can web surf, play music, do email, etc. It has an Android OS and I will be able use it for recipes in the kitchen.

DeBuyer Mineral frying pans for use on the induction hob and a Chamba earthenware pot. I've been away since the day after Christmas and have not had a chance to season them or try them out but I am anxious to get home and have at it.
I am hoping that the earthenware pot is what I've been looking for for very long, slow simmers and putting overnight in the wood fired oven.

Here: a butane torch for browning things...

So I am butaned up and ready to flame. What are we going to burn, Jenise?!?

Obviously crême brulée. What else? I always have trouble getting the cheese to brown properly on top of onion soup. I think the torch might be a great way to "cheat" and get the brown bubbly finish one wants. And, hmm, marshmallows?? What???

[Jenise]

A slightly mashed chunk of goat cheese to serve on top of a tomato or spinach salad? The mashed potatoes atop some individual wild mushroom parmentiers?