Gift Guide for the Food Lover

Have I told you that I love presents? I do. I LOVE presents. Giving and receiving them. Gifts are my "love language," if you will. I even love getting the mail because I never know what will be inside. If you struggle in the gift-giving-department this holiday season, allow me to assist you with this list of 10 gifts for the food lover in your life! (Many of these gifts I have received myself, so they do, in fact, have my personal stamp of approval!)

1. Personalized Pyrex
Gifted for our wedding, this amazing dish lets the rest of the world know that everything I make is 100% Morganic! Thanks Katie! (Search Etsy for several artists who create these.)

these brownies are both gluten-free and morganic

2.  Personalized M&M's
These M&M's have our faces on them! And we cannot thank our sweet friend Sarah enough for sending us these as a wedding present!

taking M&M to the next level

 3. Gourmet Mustard
My dear friend Lauren gave me this mustard... and it is definitely the best mustard ever. It's perfect with cheese or crackers. I can't wait to try more of these from Terrapin Ridge Farms. The Brown Sugar and Pecan and Brewer's Mustard look amazing. Perfect for the condiment aficionado in your life!

best. ever. mustard.

4. Jazzy Cutlery
Also pictured above, I am the proud owner of this Wusthof Gourmet 4-inch Decorating Knife. My knife-snob parents (love ya!) gave me this offset handle, crinkle-y blade knife that is delightful for cheeses and vegetables. I once got a room of 20 people who had never tried radishes to devour a plate of them with hummus, no doubt due to the intriguing cut!

jazzy decorating knife

 Might I also suggest the Wusthof Classic 5-inch Tomato Knife. Next to butternut squash, tomatoes quite possibly may be the most annoying thing to cut. A razor-sharp serrated blade will have you gliding through tomatoes with ease.

tomato knife

5. French Oven and Pretty Pottery
The most beautiful of the food-lovers' gifts! I feel happy inside every time I lay eyes on my Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron French Oven in Caribbean. It is one of my favorite wedding presents (thanks Wendy & the girls!) This is a quality gift that will last a cook's lifetime, available in a variety of rich colors. Find the nearest Le Creuset outlet store near you, I hear that's the best way to buy them.
  We also received some lovely handmade pottery soup bowls that get their use in our house at least once per week. Handmade pottery is a great way to support local artists and give a one-of-a-kind gift. Ours were purchased for us at Arts Fest in State College.

soup's definitely on in these pretty vessels

6. Truffle Oil
Category: Things Food Lovers Want But May Never Buy For Themselves
 My dear Lauren (the mustard giver) gave me white truffle oil from O & Co. for Christmas last year. My favorite use? A few drops on a cheesy wild mushroom risotto. Delish.

7. Soda Stream
Wow. This might be the most valuable thing in my kitchen besides my chef's knife. A home-carbonation system. Here's how it works: Fill the Soda Stream bottles with regular tap water and chill in the fridge. When a seltzer craving strikes (all day long if you are me), twist the bottle onto the machine and press the button. A CO2 cartridge pumps gas into your water, creating bubbly H2O in seconds. One liter of sparkling water via the Soda Stream costs about 25 cents, where a liter at the grocery store can cost up to $1.00. You do the math: MAJOR SAVINGS! You can also purchase syrups to add to the already-sparkled water, creating many flavors of soda. But we (I) like to keep it clean, just bubbles and water.

the no-brainer gift: a home carbonation system!

8. Homemade Vanilla Extract
Why buy it when you can make it? Well, because it takes about 2 months to make... there's your disclaimer: you can't officially make homemade vanilla extract in time for this year's Christmas gifts, but it is still a noteworthy homemade present. Just combine whole vanilla bean pods, split down the middle, with enough vodka to cover them in a glass jar, using the ratio of 5 bean pods per 8 oz of vodka. Let sit for 8 weeks! A blog called Beanilla should answer any additional questions. I think all of our friends will be getting homemade extract for Valentine's Day this year!

homemade vanilla: it seems too simple not to make

9. Stylish Aprons
For the fashion-conscious cook in your life. My cousin Kelly got me this chic outfit-protector from Anthropologie. Throw in a matching nail polish for added flair!

the perfect accessory for a food lover

10. Home-Roasted Coffee

Buy whole beans roasted in a small batch with love and care. My favorites are Paradisos Coffee and Bassett Beans. (Find them both on facebook.) Make it a really great gift by adding a ceramic drip coffee cone for your coffee-loving friend.

photo by paradisos coffee

Give with joy!

Dinner Party: Secret Ingredient-Style

Last weekend we celebrated the birthdays of two wonderful friends and fellow newlyweds, Lauren and Jeremy. (Aren't fall birthdays the best?) We invited L&J to our apartment for a dinner party in their birthday honor. The twist: they each got to choose 2 ingredients to be incorporated into the meal.

After days of deliberation, the secret ingredients were chosen...

She picked:

1. Apples
2. Sweet potatoes 

He picked:
     3.  Butterscotch
     4.  Fish

Apparently ingredient-choosing was particularly difficult for Jeremy, who, inspired by the show Chopped, also considered- quail eggs, goat brains, preserved duck eggs, sweet tea vodka, rack of wild boar, frozen waffles, hot dogs, and watermelon. What helped him decide was the realization that he should probably choose something he actually wants to eat.

Choosing this menu was too fun! The fish threw me the most... when it comes to fish, I only know what I like, which is basically exclusively salmon. But what better time to try something new! The best of friends are the best audience for recipe experiments. Especially on their birthdays.

With the inspiration of multiple cookbooks from my library (Giada, Moosewood, Clean Food) as well as a favorite website (CookingLight.com), the final menu came to be:

First Course:

Autumn Salad

fresh apple, dried mission figs, gorgonzola cheese with maple balsamic vinaigrette

Entree:

Dill and Mustard-Encrusted Wild Haddock

with a yogurt-chive sauce

Sweet Potato Fries 

with curry ketchup

Sauteed Zucchini

Dessert:

Butterscotchies 

with Vanilla Ice Cream 

Happy Birthday to you two!

First, the salad dressing... THE cure to salad boredom... guaranteed! You can even add it to roasted veggies like I did, here.

Maple-Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette
Shake up these ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

baby arugula with fresh pink lady apple, dried black mission figs, gorgonzola cheese and of course, maple-dijon balsamic vinaigrette

For the fish, I chose haddock, a firm white fish, which the experts say is great for breading. I went with wild-caught for sustainability, and the kind gentleman at the Wegman's fish counter even took the skin off for me! (Without a snobby fish-filleting knife, skinning it myself would not have ended well. Ask my dad about filleting whole fish, it's his favorite hobby.) About 6 oz of fish per person. I dipped each fillet in egg whites (2 total), and then a seasoning mixture of 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon dried dill, 1 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard, 1 tsp paprika, 3 cloves minced garlic. I lined up those bad bad boys in a baking dish and baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.



A chive and yogurt sauce complemented the fish.

Giada says, mix together the following-
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp dijon
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chive.

It was a little different for me, but it was worth a shot. It's always good to have some curry ketchup from Germany on hand, too!

This was a meal we got so into eating up, I almost forgot to photograph it. You'll get the picture from these snapshots of my half-eaten plate.


Now, onto dessert... Butterscotch Bars! I used a Cooking Light recipe, so sweet and delicious. I made them the day before, but popped them into the warm oven before serving with vanilla ice cream.

This little butterscotchie just got smothered right before the picture was taken.

Having our friends choose ingredients was such a fun way to inspire a dinner party. I encourage you to do the same! Just be willing to follow through if they choose quail eggs... but I'm glad I didn't have to. Thanks Lauren and Jeremy... and happy birthday!