My Christmas loot

I received a ton of great gifts this year too! Here are some highlights:





First off I got a bunch of cookbooks. Should I take this as a hint? ;) My brother gave
me the French laundry and Bouchon cookbooks from the impecable Thomas Keller.
My husband had a theme to his presents, things we can do together. I'm looking
forward to cooking up some vegetables and risotto with him, from the Chez Panisse
vegetables, and Risotto cookbooks.


My husband also gave me this amazing espresso machine from Saeko!
It's especially cool because it is fully automatic. You just load the whole
beans in the top and it grinds, tamps and makes the espresso for you.
No messing about with coffee grounds and getting the whole counter
dirty. I love it and my husband has been making me a latte every
morning. :)



I received this glam clutch from a great friend (previously posted about
here). This will be perfect for a New Years outing somewhere special.



We also got a very cool Garmin Nuvi GPS navigation system from my
parents and are super excited to try it out. I hear you can even get traffic
reports on them to avoid traffic snarls!

Christmas Gifts

I don't know about you, but I love love love giving people gifts. I love
picking out the perfect something for someone I love, and I put a lot
of effort into coming up with fun gifts. I gave two guy oriented gifts
this year that I thought were particularly cool.



The first was my "guy present of the year". Practically every
guy on my list received one of these radio controlled havoc
helicopters. It's still amazing to me that these tiny little things
actually fly. They look rather like dragonflys in flight. Very
cool!


The second gift was this cellphone/pda/watch that I gave my
husband. He is very much a geek and always on the lookout for the
latest gadget. So, I thought this would be perfect for him. You can
use it as a watch or a cellphone by inserting your gsm sim card. There
are multiple options for taking calls. You can talk directly into it Dick
Tracey style or use the included blue-tooth headset.

Holiday Gift List (1)

I know it's a little last minute, but here's part 1 of my holiday gift list.

For Your Favorite Chef



Everyday cooking: These are the books I reach for most often when
planning a simple weekday meal (America's test kitchen family cookbook,
and Quick from scratch Italian). Both include easy to make fantastic dishes.
America's test kitchen tests hundreds of recipes to find the best way to
make each dish and provides helpful hints on various questions you might
have, like what's the best bread for making your own bread crumbs?



Special Occasions: These are cookbooks from two of my favorite
restaurants in San Francisco, The Zuni Cafe and Tartine. The recipes
are definitely a bit more labor intensive, but worth it! Tartine's
desserts are to die for!



Stories about food and cooking: Heat describes one man's adventures
with famed chef Mario Batali, Tender at the Bone is by Ruth Reichl,
former New York Times food critic and life long foody. It describes
her childhood, growing up experiencing the worst and the best food
has to offer.


Aprons because if you don't look cute while cooking, why do it?
Two of the great aprons they have at Anthropologie, Sparkle
Apron and Stokholm Floral Apron.