My 100th Post & My Christmas Bounty!

Wow....100 posts...I can't believe how quickly it snuck up on me!  To be really fair, I should have hit this milestone a few weeks ago, I do have a few recipes and restaurant reviews that I haven't posted yet, but with the holidays and some personal stuff that came up, I just got behind.  But I am excited that I get to show off all my fun new cooking gifts that I got for Christmas on my 100th post!

My family and I had a wonderful Christmas this year, filled with old traditions (biscuits and gravy for breakfast and wearing the silly paper crowns that come in the Christmas crackers during our Christmas feast) and new ones (going to the Clees family's on Christmas Eve for Chili and getting Chinese take-out for dinner).  But it didn't really matter what it was that we did, it just mattered that we did it together, because that is what the holidays are really all about!  I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family, we all really do enjoy spending time together, so that makes it all the more fun when we do.  Speaking of my wonderful family, they have been really supportive of my blogging (quickly learning not to take a bite of their food before I take a picture when we are out at restaurants and coming over to try out my latest creation); and my newfound blogging hobby was clearly not forgotten by them when it came time for Christmas shopping!  I hit the jackpot!  In years past they have always told me how difficult I am to shop for, so I guess my new hobby has made things easier for them, which in turn, benefitted me!  So here is a tour of my new foodie gadgets....I can't wait to try them all out!

Digital Food Photography Book and a Collapsible Light Box (Not pictured)

My mom got me the light box and my sister got me this cool book.  The light box is so neat; it pops up out of a case, then folds flat for storage and it came with a tripod, some extra spotlights and a few different colored backgrounds.  I am still working on figuring out how to best use it, but I can't wait to take my food photography to the next level with the light box and the photography book!

Stainless Steel Cheese Knives

I actually got these knives at a holiday gift exchange that my girlfriend's and I have every year.  There were lots of fun gifts to choose from, including a Fajita Set and MAC eyeshadows, but I just couldn't resist the cheese knives because I LOVE CHEESE!  Not only do I love cheese, but I love to entertain, and serving cheese and crackers is so easy and elegant....and now I have the tools to do so!

Non-Stick Baking Mats

In my recent baking adventures I started using parchment paper on my cookie sheets...and wow...what a difference it makes!  No more sticking to the tray and they just cook so much more evenly.  Since I would like to consider myself somewhat "green" I thought that it would be better to have re-usable mats that served the same purpose.  My mom got these for me at Macy's, they are Martha Stewart brand, and they even have a dozen little circles on each of them to show you where you should place the dough!

Cooking miBook

My sister got me this, and it was a total surprise! I had never even seen one of these before (which is very unusual for me, I like to think that I am up on all the latest gadgets).  Basically, it is supported by Food Network and is a mini computer/tv thing that you set on your kitchen counter and it allows you to look up a recipe and cook with it step by step!  It is like private cooking lessons!  It is loaded with over 300 recipes and tips.  I can't wait to try it out and learn some new tricks of the trade!

Spode Baking Dishes

For those that have known me a long time, you know about my love of all things polka-dot...especially black and white polka-dot!  I was so excited to get these dishes; they are not only practical, but so cute!  I saw these on the Macy's website back in September and casually mentioned to my mom how cute I thought they were, I had completely forgotten about them, and was so excited to find them under the tree!  They are really heavy duty, and will make for such a nice presentation when I have guests over.  Now I just need to figure out what I want to use them for first!

Cuisinart Non-Stick Hard Anodized 10 Piece Pots & Pans Set

While I am completely in love with my new Spode baking dishes, I think my favorite gift was the pots and pans set!  When I first moved into my house I owned nothing but a bed, a tv and a retro baby blue velvet recliner; I had always lived in the dorms in college, so I had no need to acquire any kitchen stuff.  So when I got my first house I needed everything....and everything, well....costs a lot of money....so I ended up just buying the cheapest set of pots and pans that I could find at Kohl's.  And while they were good to me, it has been 4.5 years and they have seen better days.  So I was elated to get a brand new set of heavy-duty pots and pans that don't have any scratches or chipped coating!  The sizes of these pans are much better than my old ones, and I can't wait to get cooking with them!  So thanks again Mom & Dad....I love them! (Oh yeah, and thanks for coming over and helping me clean out my kitchen cupboards so that I had a place to put them!)

So to all my friends and followers....it looks like I am all set to bring you all more foodie fun in 2010!