Food Christmas gifts?

Coffee, coffee, coffee! I received 3 different Kona whole bean coffees from my son in Hawaii, a Tanzanian peaberry from another son, and half pound of Jamaican Blue Mountain, which I won on a bet with a Miami Dolphins fan who lives in Florida. We bet a "cup" of coffee on each Bills-Dolphins game. The past few years the teams have split, but this year the Bills won both games, so she sent me the Jamaican.

I give a lot of food Christmas gifts. This year it was a lot of spices, salts and such. Plus bottles all around of one of the better barbeque sauces from our new home in Carolina.

I also received a box of assorted Penzey's spices. As for giving away, I gave away a lot of home made wine.

New cookbook having to do with seasonal recipes, food to table sort of thing with family stories, on planting veggies, herbs, and so on. Plus, a new chef's knife and a stove top smoker. I gave a basket of goodies, which contained locally grown and made items. Pomegranate Balsamic, along with evoo, almonds,walnuts, honey, and a beautiful small cutting board, which the recipients announced too beautiful to cut on, so they are using it as a vessel to hold cheeses, grapes, crackers, other types of finger foods for their many entertaining events.

[Robin Garr]

I made a big batch of pimento cheese for a Christmas party! Does that count? It was good, too ...

Santa brought me a Staub dutch oven and a stainless steel paella pan. No dummy, that Santa.

Got wine from a daughter and brother, and Christmas cookies (from our recipes) from two daughters. Good stuff from brother (a Pinot and a Rioja), and local stuff (not the best) from daughter.

We received a lot of cookies and the like from friends and neighbors. Betsy baked a bunch of sweet breads (banana/chocolate/candied ginger and a cranberry/nut bread) and we gave to about 16 neighbors or friends (about 6 got a bottle of wine as well)

Beyond that, Betsy gave me a Durand (special corkscrew for older bottles) and David Kinch’s Manresa cookbook (we ate there together, but this might not be cookbook we use the most- lots of specialty equipment required). I also got from friends a cheese pictorial encyclopedia and a big round of Bleekman Blaak (a Hudson valley goat/cow cheese). I gave Betsy Chef sleeves (disposable covers for her IPad for cooking).

We gave Dave a ramen book and an HMart (Korean supermarket) gift card, and my brother-n-law a pressure cooker - think that's it for food related stuff.

A new toaster oven for the counter top. Unfortunately, we also need a counter top. We're now in the process of looking for a small table to put in the pantry so we can set it up. It will be good to have, though - it's pretty ridiculous to heat the whole oven up to broil one piece of cheese on toast.

Also received an extremely cool pizza cutter in the shape of the starship Enterprise.

Betsy gave me a Durand (special corkscrew for older bottles)

Nice. My mother gave me a Laguiole corkscrew (which I had requested) and after I opened it she was quick to regale the whole family with tales of how expensive it was (although I never got the actual number), prompting them to guffaw and mention the free corkscrews they had gotten over the years were just the same, etc.

Nice. My mother gave me a Laguiole corkscrew (which I had requested) and after I opened it she was quick to regale the whole family with tales of how expensive it was (although I never got the actual number), prompting them to guffaw and mention the free corkscrews they had gotten over the years were just the same, etc.

Of course! All corkscrews are the same, just as all cars are the same, all jobs are the same, all houses are the same....

Our best friends come over for Christmas dinner every year and this year brought us a nice bottle of Blood Orange infused olive oil and white peach balsamic vinegar. Can't wait to make salad dressing out of that olive oil with some of the Trader Joe's orange champagne vinegar I just picked up.
We also got the usual gifts in the mail… Harry and David pears (yes, very good), a wine and cheese basket, Pecans three ways, Popcorn five ways, and some mini, mini chocolate chip cookies that are ridiculously addictive. Oh and one of my step-daughters got me some neat, self-releasing cake pans.
Happy New Year everyone!

[Jenise]

I received a few lovely things: an interesting bacon salt from my friend David, local Canadian honey from David and Nadine, a pair of 10" long Chef tweezers for complex platings, some purple 'moscato' salt that Bob found somewhere and which I'm loving, and a Gramercy Tavern cookbook. Bob bought me the latter--and I have absolutely no idea what set THAT idea in his head when the super obvious Manresa and Mhyrvold mentions I really did make (including making him sit through a Charlie Rose interview) didn't take one little bit!--but it won't be uninteresting.

As for giving away, I gave away a lot of home made wine.

And how is that different from the other 364 days of the year, Howie?

I always make homemade gifts for my staff to pass out at the Christmas party each year. This year I made salted caramel sauce and spicy Mexican chocolate sauce packaged in 5 oz Weck jars. The recipes came from the book Modern Sauces by Martha Holmberg (I also give them a copy of the recipes). It was a big hit this year.

Our best friends come over for Christmas dinner every year and this year brought us a nice bottle of Blood Orange infused olive oil and white peach balsamic vinegar. Can't wait to make salad dressing out of that olive oil with some of the Trader Joe's orange champagne vinegar I just picked up.
We also got the usual gifts in the mail… Harry and David pears (yes, very good), a wine and cheese basket, Pecans three ways, Popcorn five ways, and some mini, mini chocolate chip cookies that are ridiculously addictive. Oh and one of my step-daughters got me some neat, self-releasing cake pans.
Happy New Year everyone!

The Orange Champagne Vinegar is one of my favorite vinegars Carrie...usually have several bottles in my pantry. Let me know how you like it with the Blood Orange olive oil. I've used it with several olive oils, and it seems to work nicely with everything. What brand of olive oil did you get? I've tried the Extravagonzo Blood Orange which also 20% grapeseed in it.