There are so many things to give the cook/foodie/hedonist/kitchen-obsessive in your life this holiday season. Like this, this, this or *especially* this.
In honor of the 12 Days of Xmas, here are a few things on our list…
Twelve pounds of Bella Rosa Coffee
Eleven jars of Beekind Honey
Ten packets of Gary and Kit’s Dukkah Spice Blend
Nine recipes from the Ceres Cookbook
Eight trays in my new Excalibur dehydrator
Seven gift certificates to eat out at local restaurants
Six cast iron pans
Five adorable chickens in a hand-built chicken coop!
Four packs of Baker Creek heirloom seeds
Three pounds of locally grown wheat
Two days to cook everything in the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook…
And a FoodSaver 3880 Vacuum Seal Master Chef Kit under my tree.
Meantime, here are just a few of the things we don’t want..
You know the whole DIY food thing as officially jumped the shark when Williams-Sonoma comes out with an artisan butter-making kit. That doesn’t include the cream. For $30. I’d be glad to hand-deliver you a pint of heavy cream and a clue for $15.
– Brooklyn Kombucha kit for $70 you get a fancy glass jar, some sugar and tea (granted, its fair-trade!) and a SCOBY starter. Um, or you could open a bottle of $3.99 kombucha from Whole Foods and make your own. Perhaps it goes without saying that ordering a DIY “kit” kind of defeats the idea of doing-it-yourself?
– Panini Press/Quesadilla Maker: You really need something that takes up this much counter space and costs upwards of $100 to make a grilled cheese sandwich? Hint: Put the sandwich/quesadilla in a skillet, then put another heavy skillet on top. Genius.
– Mixed Cocktail Machine: Fill this $300 digital bartender with neon-colored mixers, a little rum and a perfectly mixed cocktail is just a push-button away. Which sounds nice until you try to tell it your problems and its only response is, “Feeling Lucky?” Frankly, this is much more clever.
– Automatic Cocktail Shaker: When mixing a cocktail just feels like too much work.