I got a spaetzle maker I'd asked for. Also some comfortable, stretchy pants, which will be good to have with all the spaetzle I'll be making.

Extra mixing bowl for my KA! Yay!

Among other things I received a bottle of Antica Formula. Originally to go w the bourbon I've been buying, but after tasting it I may use it mostly as an aperitivo. Ok, I'll also make at least one manhattan and one negroni w it...or more as needed.

Greek Church inspird gingerbread house (from LTH Christmas Party - Thanks irisarbor)
Honey from a cousin's golf course-based hive
Hand carved honeydripper (a happy coincidence, considering the above gift)
Uncle John's T-shirt/apron ensemble
Cookbook - Simple Cuisine by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook
My Last Supper: The Second Course by Melanie Dundea
Box-O-Meat from Omaha Steaks

Edited to add:
Homemade bagels (from LTH Christmas Party - Thanks Chouxfly). How could I forget some of the best bagels I've ever eaten.

stevez wrote:Box-O-Meat from Omaha Steaks

?????????

Jeff - with your Antica, you might also try an Antica and prosecco mix ... My new fave thanks to the bar at Sable.

mbh wrote:

stevez wrote:Box-O-Meat from Omaha Steaks

?????????

It was a gift box containing bacon wrapped filets, pork chops, chicken breasts, twice baked potatoes and some type of apple/caramel tarts.

My SIL got me a wonderful Gourmet Standard 12" chef pan, with a lid... something I have been wanting but unable to justify buying for myself.

I gave Chouxfly a home bar: a wooden cart from Ikea, a mini fridge, and about a dozen bottles of various spirits to fill in the holes of our previously sparse collection. I also threw in some things like bitters, bar sugar, and mixers. My sister pitched in by sending him a copy of The Craft of the Cocktail. He presented me with a very delicious postprandial beverage last night... and it occurred to me that I will be the beneficiary of this gift as much as the intended recipient!

Siun wrote:Jeff - with your Antica, you might also try an Antica and prosecco mix ... My new fave thanks to the bar at Sable.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying it.

My sister went all out & while I asked for the copper preserving pan I received an ipad 2 -- I did ask for it but I didn't expect to get it .

Awesome to have easy access in the kitchen to recipes online that I use frequently without having to print them out.

Plus it played exactly what I wanted to hear while I cooked without me having to disrupt the rest of the house.

Already thinking about tossing several cooking magazines if I can find a way to link to favorites, & must try recipes that are available online.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:I got a spaetzle maker I'd asked for. Also some comfortable, stretchy pants, which will be good to have with all the spaetzle I'll be making.

What type did you get: slide or press? I have both, though I really like the slide much more.

In the last week, for two birthday parties and Christmas dinner leftovers: I have made 10 batches of spaetzle.

Regards,

I got the sliding one. It's great! However, your spaetzle production is clearly outpacing mine on such a level that I fear I will never catch up. I have only made spaetzle once since Christmas. My only excuse is that it's just SaintPizza and I in the house this week, with the boys visiting grandparents.

I got a couple of cookbooks, For Cod & Country. And the big Cooks Illustrated book.
My Mom got me a Banneton for proofing loaves of bread. (coming soon to random food photos thread)

My MIL just gave me onion skewers? And silicone trussing needles??? (think large bore needles connected by thick silicone string)

SousVide Supreme and the sous vide cookbook from Thomas Keller (Under Pressure) - can't wait to get started!

I got a Henckels Twin Pro S 5'' Santoku knife. I also like the bamboo chopping board which comes with it.

I got:
7.25 qt Le Crueset Dutch oven in kiwi
Pasta maker
XL crate and barrel silpat knock-off

I gave:
Chemex coffe maker, stainless steel thermal carafe, assorted Intelligentsia single source coffee. Husband is now hooked on expensive coffee - the Costco stuff just can't compete!

A late but much-appreciated arrival -- a t-shirt from Uncle John's

=R=

$50 in Applebee's gift cards, as a white elephant gift....crap.

Books from family members visiting from Mexico who know me well:

Chiles Rellenos en Mexico - Anthology of Recipes

Mexican Party Appetizers - Spanish Larousse Edition

Mexican Desserts - Spanish Larousse Edition

Foodstuffs from Oaxaca:

Assortment of Mayordomo mole pastes and chocolate

Food gifts received: assorted baked goods, chocolates and treats; assorted tea (herbal, green and black); and a $50 Grand Lux Cafe gift card/door prize.
Food gifts given: made sugar free, diabetic friendly versions of some of Mom's cookie recipes; candy and chocolates; CLIF bars and protein drinks.
Cooking related gifts received: microplane citrus grater that I've wanted.
All time greatest cooking related gift (received in 2008 from Ms. Ingie): Jenn-Air Attrezzi stand mixer that I use all the time, especially for making bread.

Didn't quite recieve it yet, but the wife approved the purchase of a chamber vacuum sealer and a sous vide supreme machine!

A 32 oz, filet of hot-smoked smoked wild Copper River Sockeye. I have had it with crackers, in eggs, sandwiches and pasta and still a bunch left. Any Ideas?

- old tyme(50+ year old), hand cranked meat grinder
- Gift certificate for Ream's
- an empty bottle of Sepp'l Brau (Star Union Brewery product circa 1933-1965)

Just about all my gifts were food-related, which was partly because of the agreed gift-giving protocol among my BIL and SIL and families that each couple would exchange one gift with each other couple. It's difficult to pick joint gifts for two people with very different interests, so hey, who doesn't like food? And we all love to cook. My/our haul:

- One 7 qt. enameled cast-iron Dutch oven
- One handmade cherry spatula, made from the tree my BIL had in their backyard, which was chopped down to provide the wood for the newly converted loft office over their garage (so in a way, we are going to be eating off their floor)
- One fabulous huge-ass Moroccan cookbook
- King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion
- Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in 5 Minutes a Day
- Vacuum pack of hot-smoked salmon from husband's well-meaning aunt in Seattle; we never know what to do with the stuff (it's a style I don't like; I'm an Ashkenazi cold-cured lox girl). Any ideas?
- Local chocolate bar from SIL (70% dark chocolate with butter toffee and sea salt)
- Gift certificate for $50 to The Wooden Spoon in Andersonville from one of my 73 bosses
- Macy's gift card, which is food-related if you spend it all on kitchenware, right?

Gifts given:

- Ice cream maker for BIl and his wife
- Electric pressure cooker for SIL and her husband
- New set of stainless steel cookware for Mom (I don't think she's bought herself any kitchen equipment since she got married, and that was in 1966!)
- Stovetop espresso maker and milk frother for in-laws, if the darn thing ever gets there; I have to say, I am not impressed at the moment with DHL, because the package sat in Germany from Dec. 15th until Jan. 3rd, and I still have no idea whether they will ever manage to deliver it (gift was ordered from Amazon UK, and in-laws are in Cyprus - anyone know other places in the EU where we might order future gifts for them? I had no luck finding anywhere in Cyprus with online ordering, at least not in English).

Eva Luna wrote:- Vacuum pack of hot-smoked salmon from husband's well-meaning aunt in Seattle; we never know what to do with the stuff (it's a style I don't like; I'm an Ashkenazi cold-cured lox girl). Any ideas?

See the post 2 upthread of yours.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Eva Luna wrote:- Vacuum pack of hot-smoked salmon from husband's well-meaning aunt in Seattle; we never know what to do with the stuff (it's a style I don't like; I'm an Ashkenazi cold-cured lox girl). Any ideas?

See the post 2 upthread of yours.

=R=

I saw that, but I really am not a fan of this kind of salmon, so was hoping for something that would disguise it a bit more. BIL was suggesting some recipe for stuffed cabbage with smoked salmon, maybe something more along those lines?

Eva Luna wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Eva Luna wrote:- Vacuum pack of hot-smoked salmon from husband's well-meaning aunt in Seattle; we never know what to do with the stuff (it's a style I don't like; I'm an Ashkenazi cold-cured lox girl). Any ideas?

See the post 2 upthread of yours.

=R=

I saw that, but I really am not a fan of this kind of salmon, so was hoping for something that would disguise it a bit more. BIL was suggesting some recipe for stuffed cabbage with smoked salmon, maybe something more along those lines?

A cream cheese-based dip might be a good way to go. I often do that with lesser quality hot-smoked salmon. I've also made a savory cheesecake with it in the past, which turned out pretty darned good.

=R=

My family (who are from BC) has been smoking Salmon for generations. As I said above, smoked Salmon is delicious in scrambled eggs, on top of salads and in pasta. It is especially delicious in quiche and Rissotto. I often just make a sandwich spread with salmon, mayo, chopped onions and celery. It does freeze pretty well, if you have leftovers. A hint for the vacuum packed stuff: let it sit on a plate at room temp for a while and keep spooning the juices left in the package over the filet until they are absorbed.

I have to say I take offense to the implication that hot-smoked salmon is somehow inferior to the cold-smoked stuff and needs to be "covered up". Hot smoking is the way Indians have preserved Pacific Coast Salmon for centuries. I am partial, but I think Pacific Salmon is far superior to its Atlantic cousins. Certainly the wild salmon is. It is just two different cultures and two different methods of preserving it. Not to say there is not some inferior farm-raised fish that is covered up by hot-smoking, but there is some really crappy Lox out there also (at absolutely ridiculous prices). My Russian grandparents smoked fish as does my uncle, and nothing beats freshly caught and smoked wild Pacific Salmon. My uncle will smoke his Salmon right on the river banks using found alder wood and a cardboard box as a smoker. When he gets back home, he then cans it in Mason Jars in its own juices. It is absolutely delicious. Interestingly, I prefer Sockeye and Coho to the more expensive King Salmon. Anyhow, if anybody has some hot-smoked Pacific Coast Salmon they want to dispose of, I would be happy to take it off their hands.

People, I never said hot-smoked salmon was inferior or anything of the sort; I just said it's not my preference. I don't have a ton of food dislikes, but some of them (raw tomatoes, even fabulous homegrown ones, for example) have been known to mystify others. We get this same gift every year, so I am looking for ideas on how to use it in a way that my husband and I might both enjoy. That is all.

Eva Luna wrote:People, I never said hot-smoked salmon was inferior or anything of the sort; I just said it's not my preference. I don't have a ton of food dislikes, but some of them (raw tomatoes, even fabulous homegrown ones, for example) have been known to mystify others. We get this same gift every year, so I am looking for ideas on how to use it in a way that my husband and I might both enjoy. That is all.

Please don't take it personally, it is actually an accumulation of comments made in various threads, that makes me feel that there is a certain amount of snobbishness against hot-smoked Salmon around here. Salmon fishing (and smoking) has been a part of my family for many years, so I am defensive, but I will also be the first to admit that there is some crappy smoked Salmon out there masquerading as the real thing (often coming from Seattle). Many people have just never had good hot-smoked Pacific Salmon to know the difference. Please try the fish in a Risotto (use some of the juices mixed in the broth), or a cracked wheat pilaff, I think you will be surprised. BTW, I hate tomatoes too.