Gift Guide 2012

For the wino in your life, may I suggest several wine gadgets:

The Durand corkscrew. It's a little pricey at $125... okay, make that very pricey but it combines the best of a standard corkscrew and Ah-So bladed cork extractor. It isn't needed for every bottle of wine but it shines with older bottles of wines or dessert wines with a little age. The teflon coated corkscrew holds the cork in place while the blades augment the extraction of even the most fragile of corks. I never travel with wine without my Durand corkscrew.

Riedel "O" stemless glassware. I know that stemmed glassware is the standard but when dining at BYOB establishments, it's a lot easier carting stemless glasses especially since I need to carry a 2nd set for the Mrs. The stemless feature allows me to cart twice the amount of glasses in the same space. And if you purchase the 5 glass set from Riedel, it's also etched on the bottom of the glass what type of grape varieties work best with a particular glass shape.

For the chef in your life, may I suggest these kitchen appliances:

Fagor 3 in 1 Multi-Cooker. It cooks via high or low pressure or functions as a slow cooker with a high setting to first brown the food. There's also a rice setting so it's basically a rice cooker, pressure cooker and slow cooker all in one. I use mine a couple of time a month so it's not an appliance that ends up in the appliance graveyard.

Tiger 4.5L Thermal Cooker. Unlike the Fagor cooker this device requires no electricity other than the initial boiling of your food. Because I consume a lot of whole grains, this cooker shines at cooking beans and barley. Normally if you boil beans or barley, you have to keep a close eye on it during the first several minutes because of the potential over-boiling that may result especially when the "scum" is released from the barley or beans. With this thermal cooker you simply bring your food to boil then cover and insert in the dual-walled outer chamber and after 45 minutes, perfectly cooked barley or after 60 to 90 minutes, perfectly cooked beans with no muss or fuss.

Or may I suggest these kitchen gadgets:

Amco 2-in-1 Lemon & Lime Squeezer. After using one of these gadgets, I stopped using the traditional plastic orange juicer. These squeezers are a lot faster for lemons and limes and are just as easy to clean.

Sha Ra Ku Mono knives. Unfortunately, the only licensed retailer in the US is Seattle Cutlery right across the street from Pike's Place Market. They're designed by Komin Yamada, the brainchild behind the Global line of kitchen knives. I recently purchased the all purpose kitchen knife and like it as much (or better) then my Global, Shun or Kyocera kitchen knives.