What did Santa give you for your kitchen?

[Jenise]

Got some cool stuff here: a Chefs Choice electric knife shapener since I'm so bad about sharpening my knives as I go, a folding knife carrier because I often cook elsewhere, and a 14" non-stick All-Clad skillet. (Maybe a hot tip: Bob said he found a cooking school in St. Louis that sells All-Clad direct fairly inexpensively, about 40% off MSRP).

A pie carrier from the people who always ask me to bring pie to their place. Seems just slightly self-serving!

Two pasta makers
How did that happen!

Two pasta makers

Feel free to ship the extra to me, Ian! I'll PM you my mailing address.

My wife splurged this year and got me a Lello ice cream maker. It has the built-in refrigeration unit, so there's no need for anything to pre-freeze anything. I just made my first trial batch of cinnamon ice cream (using some of that Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey's) and it worked beautifully.

Mike

Santa brought me a 4.6 qt. Le Creuset Oval Cocotte.

Richard

A Williams Sonoma crepe pan.

Robin is a pro at making crepes -- she's teaching me that little flick of the wrist to make the dough fit the pan perfectly. Somehow the most ordinary filling seems quite elegant once it's put in a crepe.

Somehow the most ordinary filling seems quite elegant once its put in a crepe.

My French Canadian Grandfather was not only noted for his baked beans, but for making crepes also. However, he called them flapjacks. Sometimes he's just roll them up with home made strawberry jam. He was 89 when he died in 1962 (I was 13), so he had been making these since the 1800s.

A nice bamboo cutting board ...

My 5-year-old son picked out a nice black oven mit (without any prompting from his Mom) because I burned the sh*t out of my hand a week or so ago. Also, I got a spice mill.

Not a !@#$%^&* thing.

Didn't notice this thread initially so a repost is in order.

On my side of the ledger, I received a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, Cooks Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue book, Karen MacNeil's Wine, Food & Friends, new grilling tongs, a jar of rib rub and a jar of herbs de provence. A rather nice haul!!

I gave my wife a nicely decorated butter bell and a cookbook named Perfect Party Food by Diane Phillips, the so-called Diva of Do-Ahead. The employees at our local kitchen store raved about both. We have 2 children who are seniors, one in college the other in high school. So graduation parties loom on the horizon and this book will hopefully be useful.

- Cuisinart 11-Cup Food Processor
- Braun Stick Blender
- Zyliss Chopper Thingy
- Mortar and Pestle

I think they want me to cook for them or something!?

- Cuisinart 11-Cup Food Processor
- Braun Stick Blender
- Zyliss Chopper Thingy
- Mortar and Pestle

I think they want me to cook for them or something!?

Gary, my wife loves her Zyliss chopper thingy. One thing it is great for is mincing or chopping garlic. But a word of warning: do get those cutting blades into soap and water soon after chopping garlic. Otherwise, the garlic oil/juice takes on all the positive qualities of Superglue....you will need a jackhammer to get the left-behind garlic bits off the cutting blades, which as you are aware are an awkward configuration to wash.

Thanks for the heads-up, Mike. I like food to stick to my ribs, but not quite that aggressively.

I got Natalie McCleans Red, White and Drunk All Over...I was entertained by the intro, in which she says part of what she loves is the BUZZ she gets from wine...I can make friends with a woman like that!

No tools, although I desperately need a new rolling pin since I dropped my marble one on the floor and it cracked in half (It was already missing its handles, but that hadn't slowed me down for more than 10 years.)...And yesterday at Costco I saw an over the sink cutting board with a built in strainer that I just LOVED.

Yes, I buy many of my own gifts...

Dh also got me Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy for my recent birthday. I like him, so I'm interested in the book...

I bought a good gift: Culinaria Italy, which has recipes and essays...Culinaria is, apparently, a series, but I've got an Aunt and Uncle who rave about this book and my mom was REAAALLLLY wanting it, so that was our gift to her... of course, now *I* want it...

With an Amazon gift certificate we got: "Tasting Pleasure: Confessions of a Wine Lover" Jancis Robinson; and "Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage" Dorothy J. Gaiter.

Another daughter gave us a nice casserole tote set.

Grandkids gave us a total of three ceramic mugs and two travel mugs. Why don't these kids' parents tell them that Nana & Papa gots plenty of mugs!!!

[Jenise]

Oh also got me Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy for my recent birthday. I like him, so I'm interested in the book...

I bought a good gift: Culinaria Italy, which has recipes and essays...Culinaria is, apparently, a series, but I've got an Aunt and Uncle who rave about this book and my mom was REAAALLLLY wanting it, so that was our gift to her... of course, now *I* want it...

I like Jamie, too. For all the hype and "liver lips" (Robin's description), he's actually a fine cook and his books have given me some ideas I simply wouldn't get from American cooks. I like the Culinaria series, but only own one, the Carribbean book. Bob got it for me when we lived in Alaska, I think the tropicality of the foods really seduced him. I'm sure you'll enjoy the Italy book a lot.

Does the dining room count?

Cooked a risotto with cauliflower from the jamie O book last night and it was fabulous (you have to like cauliflower; I do.)...Also as I was flipping through it, I found a picture of him serving the grape pickers at Villa Petrolo an afternoon lunch...Villa Petrolo is where we spent a week at the end of Summer 2005..he mentions it at least one other place, so it is quite the connection for me...

I'm making the Grissini from Carol Field tonight, as in Robin's Foodletter, and I am deciding which recipe to make next from the Jamie book..Oh, I know. I saw a green lentils and sausage dish...that has to be the one.

B

[Jenise]

Speaking of connections, I went to Amazon and ordered the Carol Fields book. Thanks for bringing that one to our attention. Can't wait to make my own grissini.

A word of warning. Don't bake the grissini until you're about ready to eat...Otherwise you'll be making two batches. I speak from experience...I'm trying not to finish off the pile of breadsticks that is sitting on the counter, but let me tell you it's tough/

Lunch was ONLY breadsticks. By the time I realized I should eat something mroe substantial, I was too full of grissini to want any more!

Glad you're jumping on the Carol Field bandwagon. My favorite is Pane Pugliese,...and one of the pizza doughs, cannot remember which one.

I am actually trying to work my way through all the recipes...Oh, hey..there you go, my New Year's resolution..

b

My birthday falls a few days before Christmas and my wonderful brother and sister-in-law have taken to sending Williams-Sonoma frozen croissants as a birthday present. (Oprah put these on her "favorites" list a few years back.) I think it is a fantastic gift, and it's now a tradition to bake and serve these with Christmas dinner. Everyone goes crazy for them. My husband ate three of them with his prime rib dinner!

Silicone Pastry brush

I bought a new pastry brush a couple months ago because my old one had shed nearly all its bristles and the new one was even worse at losing them, so I went to see if they had any guarantee and saw these silicone ones -- Hmm I thought holding one up, and a woman who was browsing started telling me howgood they were and how she wouldn't be without heres.

So I bought one, and guess what? She was right!!