No Christmas presents pour moi in our bubble of 2. DH did order a very long bright yellow extra heavy duty outdoor power cord for his electric log splitter that Santa brought and is still in the box in our garage. So he made himself happy...

I'd be happy to hire someone to haul stuff out of my house that I no longer want or need.

seagrass

HU there is a 1-800-junk ad I keep hearing on the radio saying "Happy Haulidays". The ad suggests hiring them to haul stuff out of someones house as a gift just like what you want.

Um...yep. I think they had a confab and said, “JC likes cooking”. (Last year, many of them gave me warm things to wear.) They're actually all useful. Okay, the fancy hand soap pump and ring holder (separate gifts) are tangential, but one needs clean hands to cook. ;) There are also: a pair of charcuterie boards, an Italian ceramic spoon rest which is both very pretty and a useful shape. Even better for me because it isn't arched, and the edges are tiny, and the head looks big enough for a ladle. My regular spoon rest is the opposite and useless for ladles. Also, a “pizza grill set” with a round stone, metal ridged peel and wheel cutter. I don't actually have a grill to use it on, but the pieces are different enough from what I have, in size and shape, to find uses for. And a medium sized (2litre) glass baking dish with lid and carrier, which definitely will be used. I only had square and giant with lids. Lids are really useful. I like lids. You can't stack anything on a piece of foil!

I think Mr. Picky got me Corelle plates for the microwave to replace what broke (nowadays they're only guaranteed for 3 years). Just guessing, but some time back I told him I needed them. ;)

I don't expect a lot of gifts, let alone ones that are more than tokens. We do more giving to charity. I feel like a kid with all the goodies. :)

I hope you all had a good season of giving.

A friend dropped in with a dear little brown paper gift bag tied shut with a ribbon and a candy cane. Inside was a small bottle of chai mix, a jar of Campari marmalade and some cellophane wrapped cookies which were choc dipped and covered in sprinkles. The cookies are eaten as is the candy cane but haven’t tried the others yet.

I got the fondue pot i asked for. We'll try a cheese one tonight.

DH got me a cookbook for quickly prepped one-pan roast meals, like a roast of meat surrounded by suitable vegetables etc. It will come in handy for Fridays and weekends when I want something quick and easy after the work week.

A steel water bottle, homemade venison jerky and granola... So yes. Oh and a friend of my sister’s made us both fudge.

I baked gifts myself - sourdough olive bread with an unsuccessful attempt at a tree decoration. And also cranberry crumb cake for gifts which I ate too much of myself. I actually need to make another batch of olive bread for late gifts for my nephew’s family and his girlfriend’s family. The request is for more olives....

My daughter gave me two big bags of rye flour. I was lamenting to her one day how no rye flour could be found in the area and that I refused to pay the prices vendors wanted on Amazon. She said that is when she knew what she was going to get me for Christmas, since I don't want or need anything else. I am so very happy with her gift. It made my day.

Gorgeous bread. lol, the tree. We baked bread for the neighbors and the texts were all over the place appreciated, "swoon" etc. We delivered warm from the oven. Still experimenting with a 'signature' cut. Did not think to try a holiday edition.

We did get lots of homemade sweets and jams and cheeses and butter, etc. Most were covid first timers so when cleaning out the fridge most were moldy, 🤢

Butter and cheeses were from a dairy farmer friend and pro made, thank goodness.

Our gifted sourdough bread...

Beautiful bread -- it would make a very thoughtful gift.

Our gifts were mostly cooking related this year. DH got me a sous vide machine, and some cool nesting bowls with a grating insert. DS, with DH's help, got me a beautiful cast iron Dutch oven. I got my DH some Shun knives. Fortunately, we both like to cook.

Agmss, the tree is a good idea. Both your bread and sleevendog's sourdough looks pretty good to me.

WalnutCreek, I think your daughter is a pretty smart cookie, that's a wonderful gift.

sleevendog, it sounds like you got a nice assortment and it's all edible, double bonus. Some good cheese on a slice of that sour dough and it's supper!

I also baked bagels for some neighbors and cinnamon rolls for others, plus all the cookies that my son in law took to work for treats, he said he'd weigh 300 pounds if he didn't get rid of some of that stuff!

I also got a new tea strainer from Elery, to use to drink up that pound of English Breakfast tea that I've never figured out who sent it. No slip in the Amazon box, of course, and it was properly addressed to me. Amazon has pretty much ignored all messages that I may have received an incorrect shipment, so I'm drinking it, being one of those odd people who drink both coffee and tea indiscriminately. Usually it's coffee in the morning with breakfast and after a couple of cups I'll switch to tea. Why? I do not know, I like them both!

I also got a couple of smaller packets of tea from Burman's, when I got my shipment of green coffee beans, a Christmas gift to myself, which I've been drinking while eating cookies. Yeah, that's why we're back to eating healthier again, LOL, although I at least take my tea black, with no additives!

Annie

We've been half living on chopped salad kits lately. When we harvested cabbage I mentioned to DH that it would be nice if they made a dicer attachment for my food processor so he could make chopped salads. I hate to make salads and sandwiches more than anything...too many years of salad/sandwich duty. He is a tool junkie, so he just had to get me a Mueller onion chopper/vegie dicer that looks a lot like the one As Seen on TV.

I said, "Oooooo...you should really enjoy this for making chopped salads." He knows I hate to make salads. He practiced his best back pedal and said he thought I'd like it for canning, lol. It will most likely reside with the plastic mandoline that I never use.

The Kid got me some locally made peach tea to go with the new bombilla I bought myself.

And maybe best of all...a half pint of huckleberry jam from a friend. Special because the darn deer have taken to eating my huckleberry bushes down in the spring so we've been lucky to get a handful.

At work, our insurance agent ALWAYS brings us Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark. Not this year. And only one patron brought us cookies. No peanut brittle from the woman who make THE best brittle in the world, no kid-decorated cookies from our favorite family, no plates of unidentifiable 'goodies' that discreetly wind up in the trash. Damn covid.

I "bought" my hubby a new grill (he picked it out, ordered and paid for it! LOL) Looking at the instructions for assembly, it looks like he'll have a "project" well into spring!

I don't have the room for any more gadgets!

Kevin and I do not exchange presents, and the only ones we get are from our sister. This year she sent us a mug that said "Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice." I guess Kevin will use that one - I use the Vespa mug I bought in Rome. We should have brought the mug back to L.A. because we have lots of mugs that came with the house in Cathedral City. She sent me some pot pinchers that I will not be able to use, unless I use them to hold crab legs while trying to crack them. I'm not sure they will work for that, but that's the best use I could come up with for them.

She also sent us a collection of nuts, which we've already eaten, and that was probably the best gift. I was hoping she would send me an oven mitt I could actually use, but I guess I'll have to buy that myself. She's sent me aprons in the past that I really like as well.

A box of candy and home-made raisin bread.

RR!!! Oh, I am so happy to see you here! Happy, happy, happy New Year to you and your family, and a healthy year going forward.

Come back more often, I miss you.

Annie

I got taco holders. Which I wanted. Have a taco bar party planned when things open up.

We also received 2 boxes of fruit/sweets etc.. I took all of the sweets to DD's house to get rid of them (used to take them to work!) Won't have to buy fruit for a couple of weeks!

Neighbors brought cookies and almond squares, both delish. Former business associates still send chocolate covered pecans and peanut brittle. DD was stymied on what to give DH until she remember his love of pralines from a particular place in NOLA. But my best gift was the new deWalt drill that I asked for. My old drill croaked in the summer. I had no idea how much I used it and how much I missed having it!

You know, bbstx, I have a chicken plucker attachment that goes on a drill, that would make it food related! (grin)

Annie

I got a HUGE basket of wine, nuts and dried fruit. Now I need to figure out how to use it all up without any help from the usual holiday company.

Kate

My DH and DIL gave us a 6-mo subscription to Baconfreak. Yesterday's first delivery was pkg of Cajun Bacon, and a pkg of shelf-stable smoked bacon. Don't know how they do that safely??? Must be dry cured but that is only a 90-day fix. It also came with a silly black T-shirt with "Bacon is Meat Candy" logo. We sent them a 9-mo subscription to Harry&David's Fruit & Cheese club. We also bought a 9-mo subscription for ourselves. We will be living "high off the hog" with sides of "good for you".

I just have a problem with the gel cold pack. I already get them with my monthly medication. Don't know what the heck to do with them. Any ideas?

Oh, bacon of the month, I know some people who would love that gift! My daughter loves the Harry and David pears, she says they're better than the ones at the grocery store.

I don't know about the gel packs, though, I've gotten a couple of them and don't have any idea what to do with them, other than stick them in the freezer and use them in coolers when we get to go to the beach or on a big city shopping trip again.

Annie

Someone gave us a box of six Harry and David pears that were so pretty. Three of them were good but the other 3 were tasteless. I suppose it can happen but kind of a disappointment. We also got a box of 4 Beef Wellingtons from Kansas City Steak Co. We've had them before and thought they were good.

My sister was getting meds with the freezer packs. We freecycled a bunch and she was able to give a bunch to a fish place that delivered or shipped fish, but who knows if that is still allowed?

She asked them if there was a way to recycle or reuse, and they just said good luck!

Late to join the thread -- I did get some Chalk Hill wine, some artisan-crafted chocolate, jam, coffee. The oddest thing was a dutchbaby mix that you add eggs and milk to. Uhm, what is exactaly in the mix -- flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar? Talk about markup on flour! (Anyway, it is the thought that counts)

I gifted myself another, larger, Wusthof bread knife as I had some rewards expiring and it was on clearance. I really like their bread knives. Recently we've became addicted to a local producer's meyer lemon rosemary with seasalt boules.

Just got my main gift today. Mail is sporadic now. But a beautiful set of 8 restaurant quality steak knives in a butcher block holder. I really wanted them, ours don’t cut much anymore.

Santa (me) sent us a 2 lb. box of See's Candies Nuts and Chews.

DH bought a kick ass Japanese chef's knife and a corresponding paring knife as well as a high tech sharpening device that only an engineer could assemble and use. He also bought a bluetooth oven thermometer that communicates with his smartphone and fits in a holder with a magnet on the side of our refrigerator.

Very soon, I'm going to be obsolete in my kitchen.

seagrass