New Toys

I have been so blessed this season by friends, family and my sig-o! Their gifts to me this Christmas all coordinated and provided me with an entirely new kitchen! For the longest time my kitchen has been stocked with plastic cups and measuring spoons and teflon coated pots and pans. I can never bring myself to buy everything at once to upgrade my kitchen as it deserves, so I like to buy things one piece at a time and slowly upgrade, one piece at a time. Thanks to all of the people in my life, though, I have been able to upgrade all at once!

It started with a friend at a secret santa party. She got me stainless steel measuring cups and spoons! Yay, no more plastic. Say bye bye to paint peeling off and hello to ENGRAVED labels!

Then, on my way to my annual trip to Las Vegas, we stopped by the Williams-Sonoma Outlet and my mother surprised me with a Lagostina set, an Emeril Legasse pot, a pasta cooker/vegetable steamer and a Le Creuset! I've been wanting a Le Creuset for such a long time. Every time I believe I'm ready to purchase one, I get to the store, look at the price tag and reconsider. Thanks to mother, she made the decision very easy this time around. My kitchen is now stocked with bright and shiny pots and pans. No more scraped off non-stick coating!

On Christmas day, my sig-o handed me many little packages. From him, I received a heavy duty kitchen scale, a spoon rest, spoon clips, and a shootsac (another one of those things that I have dearly wanted, but can never bring myself to purchase).

In essence, I received a new kitchen for Christmas! All items to be replaced will be going in the donation pile. I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Gifts for Friends

I usually try to give away gifts that have a homemade touch. It gives me a chance to challenge my creativity while spending as little time as possible stuck in traffic and trying to find parking at shopping centers. This year, to all friends whom I needed to ship gifts to, I decided to make cookie mixes. I originally got the idea from bakerella a few months ago. To add my own touch to the gifts, I used my recent interest in digital scrapbooking to my advantage. For the mixes, I layered my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and substituted holiday m&m's for the chocolate chips in canisters purchased from The Container Store. I covered the canisters with tissue paper and adorned with ribbon. I used my digital scrapbooking supplies to add on a tag and directions. This gift is a great idea for gifts all year round. I suspect this will not be the last time I will be making this.


Merry Christmas, everyone!