What did Santa bring you.......

My brother gave me a restaurant sized roll of aluminum foil (yippee!!),

Am I the only person that thinks this is a great gift? I think this is awesome!

Becky..we got a rockin deal on this one at Walmart (only $35!)! But what they don't tell you is that it comes in literally 100 parts and each of them are attached. So we spent 2.5 hrs. putting it together. Many curse words later, as well. My son got a shopping cart from Nana and he pushes it all around, but we left it at her house.

Lots of coal in the stocking.... Fueled up for a few years. Guess I was a good boy last year

My brother gave me a restaurant sized roll of aluminum foil (yippee!!),

Am I the only person that thinks this is a great gift? I think this is awesome!

Well, we love the heavy duty food service foil as well. We use a ton of it on our firework shows. Every mortar that has a shell in it needs to be covered by foil to prevent accidents. Naturally, a box ends up in our kitchen as well.

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[Robin Garr]

I hesitated to post this because I don't want to sound "holier than thou," but I decided to go for it because I love this program and think it deserves all the publicity it can get: Mary and I decided a couple of years ago that we really have too much Stuff, and instead of accumulating more of it we ought to be shedding some of it. So instead of giving each other presents, we took about the same amount of money we would have spent, and instead made online "microloans" to entrepreneurs in emerging countries through http://www.Kiva.org - check it out, it's a great concept, not really giving away your money because more often than not, after a period of time the entrepreneurs pay it back, whereupon you can withdraw it or, more likely, re-invest it in another organization.

http://www.Kiva.org - a great gift idea for those who don't really want to buy their loved ones Stuff.

Robin- I've given Kiva certificates for the last 2 years and everyone loves the idea. My 14 yr old niece told me that she is adding money every month into her Kiva account and is helping women in 6 countries. Who knew it would be a way to teach geography?

For all fans of Kiva and other micro-loan programs, I highly recommend the show "Penny Revolution" on the Halogen network. It focuses on the recipients of these micro financing programs and it's very interesting!

Becky,

I was lucky enough to receive two Lodge dutch ovens for Christmas...a 2 point something quart size and a 6 quart size (ok, ok...so I bought one of them for myself). I've already put both to use and am extremely happy with them. They compare very favorably with much more expensive products and (also in their favor) I don't have to sound like a French ballet dancer when I pronounce the name of them.

Also got a couple of really nice cookbooks I have been longing for...

They compare very favorably with much more expensive products and (also in their favor) I don't have to sound like a French ballet dancer when I pronounce the name of them.

But you still look like one.

They compare very favorably with much more expensive products and (also in their favor) I don't have to sound like a French ballet dancer when I pronounce the name of them.

But you still look like one.

Yeah, that's me alright...floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

OK, I didn't put it here yet because it isn't directly food related, but it could be (can you say documentary?). I'm open to ideas.

Here's my new (used) toy. Not HD, but it is professional: (had to buy it for myself, nobody else would spring for it)



I also have a flip video cam that fits in my pocket in case I don't want people to stare. Heehee....

gary, i too love those big restaurant foils.(they are wider then regular foil) my best friend owns a eatery back in ny and she sent me 6 of the foil and 6 of the saran wrap a few weeks ago. i love how you don't need two hands to cut it off. i think this stuff will outlive me. i might have to will it to someone.
i have a friend who offered me big $$$ for one box of foil. i just handed it to her. heck, you thought i gave her a piece of jewelry. she thanked me so many times.

Wow, Annemarie, those things are EXPENSIVE! Your friend must be "connected" to give you 12 boxes, seriously. What did you say your last name is??? J/k, it's probably best to remain anonymous.

And just to chime in about "what did Santa give me", well... I think the best present was the one I took to my family's big exchange, where you buy something in the 30-50 dollar range, draw numbers, and steal each other's stuff. I got stuck with a box of stuff I didn't want and the person that brought that gift didn't want what she had, she wanted her's back, my sister wanted the other lady's which was what she brought, and she had already swapped someone for mine to give them what they brought, etc etc... So after an organized shuffle, a group of us left with what we brought. Mine was The Secrets of Louisville Chefs cookbook, a pound of Heine Brothers coffee, and a porcelain mug from Heine's (sorry, Nimbus, I honestly TRIED to go to Ray's twice but you were operating odd hours). But it worked out for me because if I had Nimbus coffee, she probably wouldn't have given it back (Janice loves Nimbus) and I'd have been stuck with a lame digital picture frame (not my thing).

One of my favorite gifts besides the Wii Colleen got me, is the 24 oz Tervis Tumbler I received personalized with my name and an IU logo!

IU logo!

arg .... well nobody is perfect

Calphalon Stainless Stir-Fry pan. It's a beast.