Anyone get foodie gifts? My SIL is a pastry chef and my brother is a chef at the most exclusive country club in Cincinnati. I love them so very much for the gifts they gave me (along with a Gamefly subscription), especially this first one:
Dear God in heaven I can’t wait to get into this shit!
I don’t “do” Christmas…but I bought myself a bunch of food-related stuff that arrived this week. I got a soy milk machine, and a slow cooker. Never had either before. I made pulled pork for the family for dinner - awesome, and awesomely easy.
I got a turducken from my father. More of a thanksgiving gift that didn’t arrive in time. We baked it tonight. Tasty. We’re eating it in layers though as it wasn’t thoroughly thawed and we didn’t want to overcook it. We’ve had drumsticks, breast and some duck. I’m not quite sure where the chicken part is hiding as we haven’t cut that far into the beast.
My aunt and uncle gave me an alder-smoked salmon filet and a very nice platter to serve it on. It’s going to be an appetizer at the family Xmas party next Friday (we always have the family get-together after the actual day because it’s so much more relaxed).
My big gift from my husband was a pressure canner, along with tools, a recipe book, and a bunch of jars. I’d wanted to get into canning, but we have a ceramic-top stove and the research required to find one that would work with it was daunting. The real present was that he did exhaustive research on the subject and even called the stove manufacturer to confirm.
There are lots of pick-your-own strawberry fields around here, so come spring I can go to town on some strawberry jam. I have a garden during the summer, so I’m also looking forward to cucumber pickles, pickled okra, hot pepper relish and maybe even canned tomatoes!
I also received, as a stocking stuffer, a little kit from Thinkgeek that let’s you turn 64oz juice bottles into booze. There’s also a ginormous indian cookbook.
I got a 5 quart enameled cast-iron dutch oven, two handmade wine toppers, and a sculpture of a leopard print peep-toe Louboutin pump with a beer opener built into the sole.
I got: a Cuisinart ice cream maker (we are on our fourth batch; we will need bigger pants soon). An enormous coffee table book on exotic ice creams. Several pounds of candy. A big heavy oven stone and a baker’s peel. ??? I need a better oven to go with the last two things…
I received a Belgian waffle iron, a new rice cooker, a set of 4 deep-well metal mixing bowls, an oversized (wraps all the way around! I do need this…) kitchen apron, and a nifty digital food scale. For myself I got a new chashaku (green tea whisk) and a lovely little matcha cup.
For my salt loving mother, I got a marble swivel-top salt cellar with two compartments, and a jar of Alaea red sea salt to put in it. This lady will dip kosher salt from a dish with her finger and just eat it like that. Come to think of it I probably shouldn’t be encouraging this.
