Copy: “Handcrafted gingerbread cookies perch on the rim of mugs. Set of three.”

Drew Says: How am I supposed to drink my hot cocoa when there’s a ****ing house in the way?

LOL! My thoughts exactly!

See these guys? $12.95 for 4?

I used to make these for my teacher gifts when I was in elementary school. Marshmallows, skewer, and food coloring applied with a toothpick.

And for the record, I am thoroughly offended. Now excuse me while I wipe up the milk I snorted out my nose while rolling on the floor laughing.

The cookie press description had me laughing out loud!

$200 for 18 tea bags!? Seriously!

I'm confused about the marshmallows - Am I supposed to eat them? 12 marshmallows for $13 shipped from Belgium in who-knows-what kind of packaging....don't think so.

One of the comments asked what would happen to W-S when the boomers die - well I'm a boomer and I really don't care now what happens to them.

Lol@ "Cookie bazooka".

Yea, the marshmallow thing was one of the weirder ones! That's over $1 per bite of marshmallow!

I liked their comments on the $200 teas too!

I do wonder, obviously someone is buying this stuff. I like some stuff from William Sonoma, but are they really seriously able to sell 18 tea bags for $200... and to who... and why?

The W-S food items can be pretty obnoxiously priced, can't they?

It's not 18 tea bags, but 18 30gm tins of tea that really do list for that much. Not that it's too much better, but it's more than 18 bags. And really, those lobster sliders can be made for a fraction of the price. And for Kouign Amann, you can go to your local specialty baker and source fresh ones for less.

For the record, I am not a boomer and I shop at W-S, but never for food; and I want those cooker cutters (and have the baking sheet, which works extremely well). Their cookware and bakeware is actually competitively priced for the mid to (mainstream) high-end lines they carry.

eta -- ooh, those cookie cutters are on sale for 20% off.

I was looking at those gingerbread coffee mug things the other day. My first thought was "Those are cute!". Then I looked at the picture again and thought, "Wait. What?".

The reference to Kate Middleton in Drew's marshmallow snowmen critique... !

Gooster, my mother used to give me a WS gift certificate every year for Xmas and I usually bought a piece of cookware. However, one All-Clad piece I bought from my local WS store a few years ago was defective (I noticed it the first time I cooked with it), and WS refused to do anything about it. No replacement, no exchange, nothing. They said I had to go directly to All-Clad.

It was so disappointing because the cookware is the only thing I could justify spending the WS giftcard on in the store. I told my mother about the experience and asked her to not to spend her $$ on WS anymore. It's too bad.

Omg, that was hilarious!

I had tears in my eyes over the cookie press!

On a similar note....

http://www.avclub.com/article/alton-brown-reviews-amazons-dumbest-kitchen-gadget-229612

I haven't physically set foot inside a W-S store in ages. Used to be, before the influx of internet shopping, that was one of the few places around here where one could find things like Dualit toasters and Chantal teakettles. Now that you can get items just about anywhere, I wonder if W-S carries the more ridiculous things fully aware that they're being lambasted for it, but not caring one whit because it gets them talked about and thereby still considered by many to be relevant.

@lisad82 -- I hope you went to All-Clad directly. They handle all of their warranty replacements directly. The store should have explained that to you.I was in BB&B last night and saw some Wilton cookie cutters with handles. $2.99! What the heck? I was surprised to see an even higher price.

@auntjen -- I find the stores always stock more mainstream merchandise and the specialty items I seek are available online -- the mall stores are the worst. But that's increasingly true of anything I buy. I always wondered if people bought the food products, as it seems so outrageously priced.

I bet they sell a lot of those food items to executives who need to give multiple gifts to general colleagues. DH has about 30 people he likes to recognize with a token gift and a handwritten card. Something along the lines of a container of Peppermint Bark is easy to order, transport, of good quality & the WS brand is known. Folks can enjoy it, serve or regift it. It's an easy gift to source and is primarily the delivery system for the personal notes he writes to each person.

He does more substantial, personalized gifts for direct reports & admins, but a WS-type gift is always well-received by the guard in the parking lot, a receptionist at the main door, etc.

Okay Alton, how are you supposed to make noodles out of zucchini without a veggetti?? :)

And the Rollie egg thing? Just creepy

Hysterical. I just spent wayyyyy toooo much time reading the funny comments, too.

Alton as Wolverine with his buddy, Rollie, almost made me pee my pants. :)

I remember that last year's was hilarious. Thanks for posting it again for this year, beagles. Amck2, I'm not sure if it is too late for your DH to order these but they are delicious. Especially if there is a pecan/ nut lover Thepecanhouse.com

What I cannot fathom is why is peppermint bark so expensive? I am not only talking about Williams-Sonoma. I have gone to pick some up at Target and it leaves me scratching my head. It is not a complicated thing to make, the ingredients are not top notch so why? Sometimes I want some quick so I buy it but most of the time I just wait until I can make it myself (and so I can put pretzels in it, which helps cut some of sweetness).

I'm guilty of purchasing several of the AG/WS items for our GD.

Well.....I have to admit that I do buy stuff from Williams Sonoma. I just bought their peppermint cocoa mix and I have a darling WS chocolate pot to make it in, not to mention the adorable reindeer mugs and ceramic reindeer spoons. All the hot cocoa accoutrements were gifts, btw!

I also buy a buche de Noel every year for Christmas Eve dinner's dessert. Practically no bakeries still make these----certainly none in a 50 mile radius of me---and WS sells the best one I have found online. Granted, at about a hundred dollars after tax and shipping it is a luxury, but you know tradition....

This year I also bought napkins and a table runner. It was irritating that probably a good part of the cost is the removable (with a lobster claw jewelry finding) big jingle bell on each napkin (one on each corner of the runner). I detached them immediately and wish there had been an option to purchase sans bells. :-(

kswl2, I don't see the little gingerbread houses that sit on top of the mugs on your list of hot cocoa supplies. I suggest you get shopping ;)

We actually make a buche de noel some years. it is very time consuming but if I have time, I like to do it. I don't get as fancy as WS probably does with decorations. my mom used to actually do the fork tines to make hers look like a log and the fondant leaves and stuff. I do not. I like to keep the tradition going to make it sometimes, but it's a big undertaking.

Sorry but I love W-S and adored the founder Chuck Williams who passed away recently. Chuck really cared about good cookware and great food.

If the current group there has added silly stuff it's because it sells. We Americans love us our kitsch. And it appears that we'll pay almost anything to have it if those crazy marshmallows are any example.

Chocolate Buche de Noel used to be a Christmas ritual. I made them for years. It's a wonderful project to do if there are kids around. So magical.

The mushrooms and holly on the WS buche de noel are marzipan....yummy!

Years ago there was a fabulous bakery in Clearwater Fl called Blue Mountain Cakes and we ordered a buche every year, they made it in many sizes, decorated with magical woodland creatures.

@kswl2 - Were you in NY when Bonte was in business? (Third Avenue/76th). He was an old-school French baker.

There used to be a line out the door at Christmas to get the buches and he sold them until they ran out. If I didn't make mine, I'd get one of his though he didn't make chocolate.

We got our buches de noel at Frederick's on York Ave around 76th St, he was the youngish French baker with the huge handlebar moustache. I passed his shop nearly every day as we lived on the corner of 70th and York and DS was at Caedmon on 80th. Frederick's was almost too convenient!

Don't know Frederick's. But miss those French bakeries!!

Those were the days....a buche available on every avenue! Nowadays it is all mail order for me in the country. I did look for buches available in Atlanta, nearest city, and these are typical:

shapeless and unbecoming from a Buckhead bakery (ieven i could do this):

Or Buche, the Las Vegas version, could never serve this from northside Atl bakery:

....really??

Funny, we would eat hot dogs from street vendors at the park but I can not serve a glitzy buche. Not a food fanatic lol but I guess my little oddities are no stranger than anyone else's.

I'm in agreement on both of those. How a pro bakery could offer the first one is quite a commentary. I'm afraid Jacques Torres, great guy though he is, is responsible for things like the second one. They are fun but not easy.

This is the Williams Sonoma offering from Perfect Endings.....it is my Goldilocks cake, just right!

Lovely one!

Every September pastry chefs/members of the Relais Desserts Association present their new Buches de Noel with a tasting event in Paris.

Here's a blog post with a lot of photos from this year's event - not many old fashioned Buches.

Buches de Noel - Paris 2015

OMG---- Buche de Noel HEAVEN! Why, at age 59, am I just hearing about this fabulous competition now?? This is the kind of thing that would go on my bucket list if I had one. Will have to show this to DH, who has been hinting for another birthday trip to Paris. Thanks for posting this je pense, IMO your thinking is just about right :-)

oh those buche de noel look magnifique! The orange-passione-mangue especially sounds delicious.

I was in W-S yesterday -- and realized that yes, people do buy a lot of their food as gifts. There were also a lot of people buying cookware (great sale), literally carts full. I picked up a small assortment of salts --- $27 for literally a handful of salt. I put it down.

I walked away empty handed, which was an exercise in restraint for me -- and plus what I wanted had to be ordered online.

I read the stories about Chuck Williams and his passion for cooking and beautiful yet functional objects. Some amazing beginnings from someone left to fend for themselves at age 16 and getting started with his first shop in his early 40s (after his first trip to Paris, and his first visit to e.Dehillerin).