2008 Culinary Holiday Gifts

My family had a relatively small Christmas this year, but every gift I got was food/drink related:

"Cookwise", by Shirley Corriher
Cocktail glasses:Six of these, Eight of these
And one of those wine vacuum pump thingies

Anyone else get any good foodie Christmas/Hannukah gifts (so far) ?

Very small Christmas for me too and I lucked into receiving 2 of the 3 things I wrote about here in this post (except I didn't receive any silpats). The mandoline I received was an Oxo brand, and would have made good use out of it when I earlier made scalloped potatoes to bring to a friend's Christmas dinner. I'm very happy, but even happier with the gifts I bought others (even though they were non-food related[!]) because I think they really enjoyed them.

I got a Williams Sonoma fancy nutcracker in the shape of a squirrel, shiny chrome, a welcome and very funny addition to the kitchen. My dog hasn't tried to chase it (yet).

I made out like a bandit: a Kitchenaid mixer, a pressure cooker/canner and a bunch of little handy widgets - along with Calvin Trillin's book About Alice.

Nicest food-related gift: French Laundry Cookbook -- a nice counterpart to Alinea, which I received for my b-day earlier this month. Looks like I'll be more likely to cook from this than Alinea (which is more likely to spawn ideas and sauces than an actual thing four of us will sit down to eat). The agnolotti alone may be worth the price of the book (6 yolks plus an egg, oil and milk per 1.75C of flour!)

Also, a new blender (Waring Professional Retro whatever) --looks sturdy, but I am not sure I like the non-removable blades -- it looks like a cleaning nightmare, and subject to a certain amount of loss on anything I whip up. On the other hand, the plastic blade-jar interface has been what's died on my last two blenders.

I got a Royal Albert Tea Set. And a Cover for my kitchen Aid mixer.

I got a 5.5 qt saute pan (stainless, Cuisinart), a set of cheese knives, a couple of Joyce Chen cutting boards, an Oxo pastry scraper/chopper, a new oven thermometer (which I asked for, but now that I used it today, I hate. I came in here today to ask for recommendations for a new one!), the Bake Until Bubbly cookbook. We also got PF Chang's and Lettuce Entertain You gift cards in a grab bag. One more Christmas even on Sunday with extended family, so we'll see if I get anything else!

Oh, a sort of food-related gift- a blood pressure monitor. I asked for it- I didn't feel like spending my own money on it, so I let someone else buy it for me.

I only received one gift this year on Christmas - the A16 Food + Wine cookbook - as a thank you from my sister for catering a party for her (our family stopped doing holiday presents this year). So, while not officially a "holiday gift," I think it still counts.

After complaining at Thanksgiving that I had nothing to lift the turkey out of the roasting pan with, I received--a pair of poultry lifters.

My wife is an incurable romantic.

I got a set of pyrex prep bowls with lids. And a calender (not food related).

i got some excellent food-related (or just flat-out food) gifts:

a kyrocera ceramic blade peeler that swivels so it can by a y-type or normal style.

'eat me' by kenny shopsin

a de buyer 10" french steel saute pan

two little boxes of das caramelini salted caramels

a couple jars of ground chiles from penzey's

and....

a 1# sack of bacon brittle!!!

Put the new KitchenAid pasta maker to work already with fresh spinach fettucine (pre-saucing):



And the dog (blurry, foreground) was hoping that a strand or two might fall to the floor, but he wasn't so lucky :



I used the Marcella Hazan recipe, which called for 1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, 1/2 pound fresh spinach and two eggs. I made a well in the flour, cracked the eggs into the well, and beat them with the chopped spinach, which I blanched, cooled, then chopped very fine prior to adding it to the eggs. The dough was very wet, so I probably added, in all, another 1/2 c. flour to the dough. Hazan's method also requires a fair amount of kneading (something that other recipes, such as in Bittman's or Gourmet's cookbooks, shortcut, either by using a KitchenAid or the food processor to combine). I find kneading dough to be somewhat relaxing so I'll probably stick with this method even though it's labor-intensive.

So far, though, I'm happy with this pasta-making device -- takes up minimal room in the cabinet, allows you to use two hands to work the dough through the rollers, and the fast-moving rollers make relatively quick work of the dough. I could see this turning into a habit.

abe_froeman wrote: a new oven thermometer (which I asked for, but now that I used it today, I hate. I came in here today to ask for recommendations for a new one!), the Bake Until Bubbly cookbook.

I like this one, which I have only ever seen at the Sur La Table at North/Clybourn. It's got large numbers, is relatively easy to read and can hang from the rack.

Just two cookbooks this year.

The French Laundry and the 20th Anniversary edition of Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless.

aschie30 wrote:Put the new KitchenAid pasta maker to work already with fresh spinach fettucine (pre-saucing):
... I could see this turning into a habit.

That was my gift last year, and it did indeed turn into a habit. I agree with you about the therapeutic nature of the kneading process - the tactile experience of pasta kneading is not something I ever want to hand over to a machine.

Nice job on the fettucine. Looks great.

My one food gift this year was the Alinea book.

Got a very nice, heavy cutting board, new coffee maker, a "this is for lots of meat" homemade card for a dinner at Brazzaz or Fogo De Chao, and a gift card for a class at the Chopping Block.

Also got one of those "roll your own sushi" kits from my sister. Are there any threads about DIY sushi, or should I just go to Mitsuwa?

We used just such a kit, here.

Kennyz wrote:Nice job on the fettucine. Looks great.

Thanks, Kenny!

I got the immersion blender that I wanted. I got a really nice deluxe Breville cordless, but ended up exchanging it for a red Kitchenaid. The Breville had a very industrial feel to it which, unless I was going to be using it full time day in and day out, I did not like. The Kitchenaid, on the other hand, is a bit lighter and more nimble...just what the Dr. ordered. I've already made a pot of ham and bean soup with my leftover ham bone from Christmas and the Kitchenaid was just what I needed to get the texture I wanted in the finished soup.

That was a Christmas present I got last year, and I'm amazed a) that I haven't killed it, and b) how often I use it: for instance, yesterday I was making mac and cheese for Sparky's little buddies and suddenly thought the onions might be too chunky for civilians, popped it in and zizzed away for a silky-smooth sauce.

I received a nice Boos Block cutting board that I cannot wait to try out. I was also given another cutting board from Williams Sonoma that I will most likely return and be able to cash into something new for the kitchen. I'm leaning towards a couple gadgets like a probe thermometer but I know will have a hard time passing up on a knife. I have no need for one, but once I get my hands on it, there's something very sexy about a new weapon.

for Christmas 2008:

Cucina Paradiso-Clifford A. Wright (mint)
Beyond the Great Wall-Alford/Duguid
The Tex Mex Cookbook-Robb Walsh
Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking-Kenneth Lo (I'm half-assing a concordance of divers American Chinese cookbooks)
subscription to Saveur

intending to add via gift cards:

Kitchens-Gary Alan Fine
The Food Life-Steven Jenkins
Ma Gastronomie-Fernand Pointe
The Complete Robuchon
A Day at El Bulli
My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking

still perusing since my birthday:

Food: The History of Taste-Paul Freedman
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper-Fuchsia Dunlop

Got a "Batali" 4qt Risotto pan w/ the Rice and Risotto cookbook by Christine Ingram.

Hope to make use of it in the next couple weeks.

aschie30 wrote:Put the new KitchenAid pasta maker to work already with fresh spinach fettucine (pre-saucing):

Beautiful! I'm so jealous. My new year's resolution is to start making pasta. The main issue I'm grappling with is the fact that I do not have a pasta maker... It's a good thing I have 2009 to work it out.

For Christmas this year, my sister gave me an immersion blender, and I love it so much, I'm surprised I don't sleep with it under my pillow. I've made more soups in the last week than I have in the last 10 years...very, very simple soups but so delicious and so smooth!

Camerons stovetop smoker
Bodum French press
Shiitake mushroom log
Smoked extra virgin olive oil ("The Smoked Oil")
CARM extra virgin olive oil (Portugal)
De Nigris balsamic vinegar
Hickory smoked sea salt
Fumee de sel