Oh, and he no longer drinks alcohol and he's not into juicing.

He is into biking however. Though I don't know how that would translate here, lol.

Can he be trusted with messy things? An immersion blender is very cool, but if you're not careful they redecorate the kitchen very fast.

On the appliance forum they were talking about all the things they could do with rice cookers that all sounded very cool to me.

The battery can opener which wiggles by itself around the top of the can is fun.

Happy Anniversary!!

The kitchen-related semi-appliance my ex appreciated most was a home beermaking kit.

If he's into a healthy lifestyle instead of beer (good for him), try a veggie juicer or compost starter.

Guys and grills...grill accessories? firepit?

Good luck!

Blue

---"Do any of you have any small kitchen appliances that would make a fun gift?"

I know just the thing--a Sanyo ECJ-PX50S. Search it at Amazon. Remarkably versatile kitchen helper and highly rated. Very finely manufactured, it's a pleasure look at and use. It will cook a side dish precisely and hold it ready while you deal with something else. That's fun.

Not sure how it would go with fruit/flowers, but how about a George Foreman grill? We have a tiny old one, the new ones are better with removable grids. We use ours for burgers, grilled cheese, and such - much less messy than frying pan.

Thank you for all the tips!

Pillog, lol, yes, he's very neat. He does like to cook when he has time. I thought of one of those immersion blenders, but can't think of a single thing he'd make with it! He doesn't do/drink much other than water, coffee and the occasional glass of juice. I, on the other hand, might well make use of it!

Blue, yep, they all sound good to me too. But probably not for him. If he drank wine or beer I'd have it made! We gave him new grill accessories for Father's Day last year to go with our new grill. That was a good idea, too!

Fredl, we looked into a rice steamer when we tore out the kitchen and decided we would never really use it (he couldn't imagine having one)after the construction, so that got bagged. What a nice unit, though! I'll have to show that to my sister who would probably love it!

Ajsmama, that's the one small kitchen appliance I thought he might be interested in. Not really sure though, so taking today to think about it.

Ugh, I'm not trying to be contrary. But he is pretty involved in the kitchen and very involved with what we purchase/use in general and part of my dilemna is that we've talked about most of these things!

In case anyone's wondering why I waited until the last minute, lol. One reason I'm struggling is bc I was under the impression this year's gift is 'wood' and had a gift in mind for that already! Also, I just had a surprise party for him a couple of days ago and on top of work, the teeny bit of school I have to do and doing the kitchen reno alone, I had that to take care of!

Thank you again for the tips and the anniversary wishes. I'm going to keep thinking and take care of it tomorrow between my coats of paint!

How about a power paint roller (do those things even work?)?

Maybe you could borrow it! :)

Fun appliance (to me) = ice cream maker. And he can make fruity flavors to tie it into the fruit theme as well.

i can tell you what my DH loves to use in our kitchen.

#1-foodsaver vacuume sealer-this is his favorite

#2-convection toaster oven-i got him this for christmas

#3-aero garden-he bought this himself for me for christmas(yeah right!) he has been growing romaine lettuce since january, now he's growing tomatoes.

my favorite small appliance is my margaritaville blender. its great for everything. kids use it for slushes, smoothies too.

sprengle - a few ideas, perhaps more niche than what you're looking for:

- ice cream maker (you could get an old fashioned hand cranked one)
- panini press
- pasta machine

Eliz

Not kitchen related but sort of an appliance, would be a bike computer. As a cyclist myself, I definitely appreciated this gift. Ideally take his bike in to the store where you buy it so they can install it. There's a wide variety of prices, from the simple and cheap (but still useful!) to the more sophisticated which track your pulse.

It's not an appliance, but back to the fruits/flowers - what about planting a flowering or fruit tree in his/your honor?? Either in your yard or elsewhere if you don't have the space?

Do you have a kitchenaid mixer? There are many attachments available that might make a nice gift.

I've got it! But it's more a gadget than an appliance. The Thermapen! I've been wanting one for a while. It's an instant-read (and I mean instant) digital thermometer. The Thermapen is the darling of the "Cooks Illustrated" magazine, and is also popular on the Gardenweb's Cooking Forum. If your man likes to be in charge of cooking the meat portion of dinner (what man doesn't?), he will really appreciate the Thermapen which takes the guesswork out of judging when something is cooked. Thermapens come in several colors, but I guess a guy would like the black one.

Thermapen Reviews at Amazon

Thermapen Website

P.S. Please tell me about your plate warmer? Do you mean the cloth kind? They used to sell plate warmers at Sur La Table, but they're out of stock, and I would like one.

Love my thermapen! great choice!

Hmm, well, I'm officially overwhelmed and today is the day! LOL

I did think right away about a flowering tree. We intend to replace one we are taking out this year in the fall. So other than giving him an IOU for something we are already doing...so I scratched that unfortunately!

I DO have a KitchenAid mixer, that was just taken out of the box for the first time in the 15 years that I've had it in anticipation for the kitchen being finished. It's actually sitting in the cabinet I was hoping it would fit in. The cabinet is still in its packing and stacked in my living room with the others. Yes, I'm a little anxious and excited for the cabinets to go in! I'd wondered if that might be a good gift so maybe I'll look at the accessories. I currently have none!

He doesn't go for ice cream much, but I have and am considering a panini press or George Foreman grill!

Actually, he is getting a new bike with gift money and gift certs. He has a mountain bike that he's been doing sporadic long (7-10 mile) rides on and so is now getting a road bike. I thought right away in response to your post that he already has a computer, but that's on the other bike! So I'm heading to the bike shop to check them out today. It is appliance enough for me!

I have one instant read thermometer. But now my curiosity is piqued with the thermapen. So I'm going to look at that now as well!

Great ideas, everyone! I have a lot to look into quickly, as well as getting paint color on the new walls today, and prep for my date tonight!

This may be too late, but since you said he drinks coffee, how about a great burr grinder (as opposed to a blade style). I've been looking at them, and Krups has a nice looking one (not as huge as some of them), that has gotten good reviews at Amazon.com

Happy Anniversary!!

-Susan

Oh! Shannonplus2, yes it is a cloth one, similar to the one at SurLaTable. He doesn't like it, lol. I do. I think it's great! He wants to build a rack for the plates to sit on and then the cloth surrounds the rack. He's not getting that the cloth lays on the dishes to warm them. He puts the dishes in our toaster oven instead. Good grief! The man has the mind of an engineer and is just so stuck on this!! LOL

Looking into the grinder as well, as he has come to enjoy his coffee. We can both only drink decaf though. I hear (but don't taste) that decaf tastes terrible. Is it worth the extra work of grinding it fresh still? Curious to find out!

Sara m, do you have any recommendations for the bike computer?

As for grinding fresh - we find that it makes a difference regardless of whether it's decaf or full throttle. Plus, with the burr grinders, you can change the type of grind you get - so can make it for your espresso maker, a french press, or whatever. Plus - we have found that a french press makes the best coffee we've ever tasted.

-Susan

I'm not Sara m, but my oldest son is a bike mechanic and installs many bike computers. He is at school right now, though. I'll send him a text and ask him if he has a recommendation for you, but it may be several hours.

Happy Anniversary!

This is one of my own favorites, so, I've actually given it as a gift to others. I have the coffee maker that brews directly into a commuter cup. We are always on the go, so it's great to already have the coffee in the cup with the lid on it when we're ready to rush out the door. I can't remember what mine is called, but I finally stopped using my other coffee maker, when I realized I can also use it with the carafe from a french press, if I don't need coffee-to-go.

All these ideas sound really good, but I like my Thermapen. I am a gadget geek, so the whole "thermocouple technology" rings my bells. But others may find the $90 price tag for a meat thermometer to be too high, and I can't argue that. At least Chefsresource.com
is offering free shipping if you decide you want to get the Thermapen.

Since you said your DH has the mind of an engineer, I am linking below an article from the "cooking for engineers" website that compares kitchen thermometers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cookingforengineers.com Article about Thermometers

Well, my son got back to me already during his lunch hour. He bought himself a Trek Incite 8i for his new road bike (he is 17, and is just getting into road biking-he rode BMX before).
Here is a link to a whole bunch of bike computers, including the one he bought. http://gearwestbike.com/itemlist.cfm?category=48
My son is planning to go to college for engineering, btw. :-)

We have the ice cream maker for the KA mixer and usually use it to make sorbet. Much healthier than ice cream and I've made pineapple sorbet in it that has almost no sugar. So if he's into a healthy lifestyle, that might be good.

I also have a quesadilla maker that's nice. We have quesadillas once a week or so and you can make those pretty healthy.

One of my most frequently used small appliances is my little KA chopper thing. I use it to chop onions and celery almost daily and even use it to chop cooked chicken for chicken salad. SOOO much quicker than a knife and cutting board. I have a professional sized butcher block in my kitchen but I hate chopping onions on it because of the smell.

And last but not least, I second the Food Saver device. Great way to keep all sorts of things fresh and a great way to marinate meat as well.

Happy anniversary! My DH got a convection/toaster oven for our anniversary!

I believe you can use the new George for pannini. The tiny old one we have doesn't have removable grills or a deep hinge so it's hard to get thick slices of bread in there but it works great as a press. Besides burgers and grilled cheese on bread we have done psuedo-(ham and cheese) pannini and quesadillas (just have to fold tortilla in half instead of using 2). I would go for a larger GF instead of separate appliances.

Of course, KA attachment is good idea too. With ground turkey at $5/lb, I told DH it was worth $50 to get grinder and use Artisan - grinder would pay for itself in 6 months or less!

Being an engineer, I'll have to check out the link on thermometers. I hate my digital (not instant read) - it was off 50 degrees and I ruined a $15 roast last month! I usually don't use it, just go by time but I'd never cooked a "spoon roast" b4 and the butcher told me to cook it by temp.

Happy anniversary!