Foodiebia Holiday Gift Guide

It's time for another holiday gift guide!  Hope you enjoy these picks!

Williams Sonoma, $19.95

How adorable is this set of three wooden ornaments?

Rancho Gordo, $38.95 

This gift isn't for everyone - but any avid cook would love a gift pack of heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo.  Rancho Gordo has all kinds of gift packs, including a sweet sampler with vanilla and sugar.

Amazon, $13.14

My favorite cookbook - perhaps of all time, and definitely of this year - would make a great gift for any home cook.

MoMA, $42

The name alone makes this a great gift:  Fruit Loop Bowl.

Crate and Barrel, $18.95

This set of cookie cutters are great at the holidays or year-round!

Fishs Eddy, $46.95
This acacia serving tray would be perfect for someone who loves entertaining.  

Crate and Barrel, $12.95

If you know someone that likes to bake cookies, they need a cookie scoop pronto.

Fishs Eddy, $11.95
I fell in love with all the tea towels like this I saw all over France in restaurants.  Classic and cute.

Etsy, $40
This Etsy shop sells cutting boards for all 50 states and is perfect for anyone who loves California or Virginia or Illinois or Michigan...

MoMA, $28
Not exactly Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast, but it will do!

Amazon, $20.58
This is a great book for any avid and adventurous baker in your life.  The crack pie recipe alone is worth it!

Five Things

Harper had a week-long sleepover last week that thrilled her to no end.  Our neighbors went out of town, so we were taking care of Mochi and Latte for the week, and Harper couldn't have been happier.  Now that the Three Amigos have been separated, since our neighbors came back, Harper has been moping around the house and attempting to drag me to their place on every walk.  Apparently I'm not as much fun as Mochi and Latte to have around.

As a thank you gift for watching the dogs, Joyce and David brought us this huge box of cookies from Hong Kong. My favorites were the panda cookies in back, but the almond biscuits came in a close second.  Now I need to figure out a way to transport Paris pastries back to the U.S. to thank them when they watch Harper!

Last weekend I got to meet one of my heroes: The Alice Waters.  She was at Omnivore Books for a signing, and I couldn't miss the chance to meet her.  I didn't even know she had so many cookbooks - and I already have a lot of hers!  Naturally I needed copies of these previously unknown books of hers.  I got her to sign a few of her amazing cookbooks in her distinctive handwriting, and I walked away giddy.  She was very sweet.

Vintage food mill - score!  Per my request, my mom sent me her old food mill, in the box and everything!  Is that Italian, Mom?  I remember using this together in her kitchen to make homemade tomato sauce out of our garden's tomatoes.  Pretty much what I imagine doing with it again one day!

And last but not least - to my Wedding-Date-For-Life, John.  Weddings are a lot more fun with a wonderful man by your side.  

The Rest of Napa

This was our third weekend trip to Napa (the first being our honeymoon), and I think I love that place more and more each time I go.  Not that it's original to love wine country - the food and the beauty are unmatched. We are pretty lucky to have this place in our backyard.

This was our first time in Napa with a pooch, and it made the experience better.  This shot was taken at the Rutherford Grille before I chowed down on BBQ ribs and cole slow.

We stopped at Peju winery on the way out of town to pick up a couple of bottles - with Harper of course.  It's amazing how many wineries in Napa welcome dogs.

We stopped at a farm stand to pick up some local vegetables to eat for dinner when we got home.  Big juicy tomatoes, a couple of white nectarines, and an eggplant zucchini.  What I made for dinner didn't exactly compare to the food we had in Napa, but we made do.

Heath Ceramics

I get to pretend I'm eating at a restaurant every night now.  A restaurant in which I am the sole chef and waitress.  Everyone's dream, right?

John and I went to the Sausalito factory, store, and outlet for Heath Ceramics last weekend and walked out with our fair share of merchandise.  Heath Ceramics provides dinnerware for several of our favorite restaurants in the area.  We would always remark, "I love these plates," turn them over, and find out it was yet another restaurant outfitted by Heath.

After getting home with our purchases, we rearranged our shelves to accommodate the new dishes.  I already had regrets.

Not buyers remorse in the typical sense.  Remorse that I didn't buy MORE plates.  MORE bowls.  More platters.  Why was I so foolish?  Oh, the price.  We will be back, though, this I can guarantee.

This is the smile of a satisfied customer.

Five Things

I'm off to Chicago this weekend to visit some friends and remind myself why I don't live somewhere that is 90 degrees in the summer.  Here are five of my favorite things for this week - brought to you from a Norther California 70 degree day.

I was in between books this week and I decided to read this cookbook, given to me by John's mom, as my bedtime reading.  Consider it a Cliff's Notes version of Mastering the Art of French Cooking - one that is much more readable in a week.  It has a bunch of base recipes and slight adaptations for when you change meats or vegetables.  It's a great way to further your understanding of French cooking and to inspire you to seek more precise methods to your everyday cooking.

At the Mendocino craft fair we also picked up this nifty device.  Don't know what it is?  I didn't at first either. It's a garlic keeper that is supposed to help your garlic last longer by keeping it away from light and still allowing air to circulate.  I'll let you know how it works when I get a better idea.  For now, I just like the idea of having a place for all my garlic.

And lots of garlic I do have.  Garlic is in season, and I picked up this bunch at the market last weekend.  Needless to say, I was enamored by the fact that the stems remained attached.  Too bad I have to remove them to fit into my garlic keeper!

I finally get it!  The nuts in oatmeal thing came to be a bit late.  I had sliced almonds leftover from a recipe and have been throwing them into my oatmeal all week.  I love the crunch and flavor they add to my morning routine.

In Boonville I picked up these gorgeous bowls at one of my favorite stores of all time, Farmhouse Mercantile.  They have a slightly rough aesthetic now that the owner said would smooth out through use.  I wonder if they were intended to be used with sour cream and onion corn puffs...like I may or may not have just done.  

Five Things - Outlet Mall Edition

Ladies, do not go to an outlet mall by yourself.  I repeat: do not go to an outlet mall by yourself without your man's boredom or your friend's judgment to curb you from buying literally everything your heard desires.  This can also be exacerbated by a hard week at work when you feel like nothing but shopping can ease the pain.  I went under such circumstances last weekend and literally filled an entire trunk with shopping bags by the end of the day.

I naturally enjoyed my visit to the Le Creuset outlet.  All their red, white, and blue merchandise was 25% off, and clearly I needed this ceramic mortar and pestle to make guacamole!

The mean, evil, horrible salesclerk asked me at the register "Do you have any of our cast iron?"  Do I have any of your cast iron?  Please!  I said I had lots, in all different colors, and he said he would give me 40% off one piece of cast iron cookware.  An offer I couldn't refuse, clearly!  I decided to pick up this smaller cast iron saute pan for when I'm just cooking up a few vegetables and don't want to use the big ones.  This allowed me to finally get rid of my last Teflon saute pan so all I have left are cast iron and stainless steel.  Huzzah!

This little bowl may not seem like a lot, but I can assure you it is worth its weight in gold.  I make oatmeal every morning for breakfast, as I've said numerous times on the ole bloggie.  I am too lazy to make the stove top kind, so I use the microwave.  This bowl is absolutely perfect, because due to the magic of modern science, the little handle bit stays cool while the rest of the bowl heats up.  Any oatmeal lovers out there should head to the Corning outlet and get yourself several.  (On this latest trip I picked up 2 to bring my set to 7.  Just enough to make it through the week.)

The item I actually intended to purchase at Le Creuset was this sugar dish.  Naturally, I did not fail in my quest, and found out the sugar dish also comes with a creamer pitcher.  Don't mind if I do!

At Caphalon I finally picked up some spring form pans that I had been intending to buy for awhile.  After my last cake baking required some serious prying out of the pan, I decided I needed to get some real pans for the next effort.  I got two since no birthday cake is complete without multiple layers (though I suppose the shape of a bunny will do).

Five Things

When I'm putting in long hours at work, I find that no matter how tired I am, it can be hard to fall asleep at night with all the work thoughts bombarding my brain.  Luckily, my faithful food has been pulling me through, and I fall asleep thinking of what fun thing I will cook next.  Thinking about food has to suffice for now, since I don't have as much time to cook it.  At least the fantasizing provides me some respite.

While putting in my long hours, I have managed to go through my two pound tub of blueberries from Costco in five days.  Two pounds of organic blueberries for about $8 is the best deal on blueberries imaginable.  Considering how healthy and tasty these suckers are, I might have to suffer through the crowds at Costco for some more this weekend.

I'm not sure why I waited so long, but I finally picked up a cookie dough scoop (aka a small ice cream scoop) the other weekend, and I am addicted.  It's amazing that I suffered through using regular spoons for years.  If you make cookies as often as I do, one of these handy scoops is a must-buy!

One of the great things about baking is that I often get to share my creations with friends.  This box made a birthday gift for Trevor, and a few more cookies found their way onto my secretary's desk.  I may be insufferable as a boss and a friend, but at least I provide cookies.  (I promise to post the recipe for these cookies soon (toffee crisps!).)

I used to devour Fiber One granola bars when I was in need of a quick fix, but my new "granola" bar of choice are these disgusting Sweet & Salty Nut bars.  I call them "disgusting" because they are candy bars under the guise of granola bars.  There are three different kinds of sugar in the first five ingredients, leading me to believe there is probably more sugar than peanuts in these things.  They taste great, though, and I find having a candy/granola bar in the mid-afternoon is a good protocol to handle the afternoon slump.

Would you like some oatmeal with that fruit?  One of the greatest things about early summer is the bounty of fruit in the market and on my counter's fruit bowl.  I have so much to get through, that I have no choice but to load up my oatmeal with more fruit than oats.  This bowl had a yellow peach, an apricot, and a handful of blueberries.  It's always nice to start the day with something delicious...and occasionally there are no cookies around, so I turn to oatmeal.

Five Things

It's Mother's Day weekend, and while I won't be spending it with my mom, I will be thinking of her.  Luckily my homemade gift already arrived a few days early so she can be the first of her friends to report at coffee what her daughter gave .  (Let's be honest, none of them are reporting what their sons got them.)  I love you mom, and I wish we could be together to celebrate!

So my love for my mom and these spatulas aren't exactly on the same level, but something had to follow up my top billing.  At the Le Creuset outlet last weekend I restrained myself immensely and only bought a few minor things.  Two of which were new spatulas.  I got a second spatuloon (my word not theirs) since we use our other one constantly and it might be nice to give it a friend.  I also found a replacement for the spatula that cruelly broke inside brownies awhile back.  The clerk said he's never heard of that happening and if it happens again within 5 years of buying the spatula I should give Le Creuset a call.  Hopefully I won't need to call them, but beware brownie eaters, I am on the loose with a new spatula!

I couldn't just add to my growing utensil stash and expect my current containers to withstand the expansion, so I obviously needed to get a second huge Le Creuset utensil crock.  These are great.  Big, sturdy, and pretty!

Food books can go one of two ways for me.  I either love 'em or I hate 'em.  So many are poorly written and not worth reading.  Food Heroes is the opposite.  The author writes beautifully and describes "food heroes" across the world who use artisan methods to make all types of food.  The book includes recipes for both bacon and butter - both of which I intend to try soon!  If you like food, give this wonderful book a try, and let me know if you try the bacon recipe before I do.  (Interestingly enough, I won this book by entering a contest on a popular food blog, Tartlette.)

One man's trash is another man's treasure, right?  Or in this case, one sassy lady's trash is another sassy lady's treasure.  When visiting Anika several months ago she set up her guest room with cute gifts for me, including this Misto oil sprayer that she had never used or planned on using.  You fill it with your own oil (I prefer to keep mine filled with olive oil), and by pumping it you give it enough pressure to spray the oil.  It's environmentally friendly and extremely convenient.  If anyone else is interested in disposing of kitchen gadgets, let me know, I'll be right over!

Five Things

Taken at 7:08 P.M. from our balcony

The first week of daylight savings time is always a thrill.  You realize all the fun you've been missing by being at work during that extra hour of sunlight.  It's especially nice for me and John this year because it means an extra hour of playtime for Harper outside.  We've made it to the dog park a couple times this week already, and Harper says she has grown accustomed to this new life and can't go back.  I couldn't agree more!

Our friends Ray and Hannah sent John this amazing toffee from Elaine's Toffee Company for his birthday.  It was literally the best toffee I've ever had in my life.  I will search for it in every store I walk into until I find somewhere to buy it in bulk.  The genius of this toffee is that the each 3-4 bite piece of toffee (which is the perfect texture - hard but not too hard) is coated with chocolate individually.  That way you have chocolate on all sides.  Unbelievable.

How could I not buy this?  A cake stand for an individual cupcake is just something I couldn't walk away from.  I'm not sure who else is buying these other than food bloggers, but I'm just happy it exists.  John, on the other hand, is protesting this post because he believes I shouldn't be able to post about said cupcake stand until I've made cupcakes to showcase it.  Hurumph.

While visiting Sur La Tabla last weekend I stumbled upon this cookie book on sale for $8.99 plus an extra 20% off.  Don't mind if I do!  It has the best cookie recipe from every year 1941-2009.  Maybe if you're nice I'll make you the cookie of your birth year on your birthday!  I hope 1982 is a good one!

I was originally laboring under the illusion that I needn't buy a pepper mill because I could buy the Trader Joe's pepper that came in a plastic mill.  Well after eating huge chunks of pepper for a year, John and I bought a salt and pepper mill set for the dinner table from Crate and Barrel.  It looks pretty, but barely functions.  So I went from plastic to barely a step above plastic and have now succumbed to the wonder that is a Peugot pepper mill with six settings of grind.  Considering I grind pepper 6 out of 7 days of the week, it really made no sense to be using pepper mills that were so bad.  I know I'm trying to justify the steep price tag, but I'm hoping this one lasts me 20 years (or until I get tired of the color).