My 2021 Chrismukkah Wish List

Hey Thursday friends,

That image you see above was taken from my phone during an afternoon of Ina Garten-binging (now that I have Hulu Live, I’m making my way through all of the seasons). The reason that I took the picture was twofold: the spatula and the vinegar.

See, every year, my in-laws ask me for a Christmas wish list and every year I scramble to come up with ideas. Craig forbids me from asking for more cookbooks because I have so many already, but forbidding me from asking for cookbooks is like forbidding him from seeing movies. He is to be ignored on that front.

This year, to be more specific in my “asks” I kept a list on my notes app of the food things that seemed cool to me. In fact, Craig’s mom just asked for our lists so, Julee, if you’re reading this, here’s mine! I hope other people get inspiration from it as either stuff you want to ask for yourself or stuff to get the food lovers in your life.

1. A Dexter Russell 8X4 solid turner with oversize straight blade and wood handle.

Is this the spatula that Ina’s using in the above pic? It seems pretty dang close. I polled my Twitter followers to help me identify it and this is what they came up with. The concept seems the same as Ina’s: a wide metal spatula base that lets you flip a ton of Brussels sprouts all at once. Imagine the possibilities! I’m always roasting things on a cookie sheet and the idea of sliding that Dexter Russell underneath them halfway through fills me with joy.

2. Villa Monodori Balsamic vinegar.

Those same Twitter followers who identified the spatula helped me identify Ina’s Balsamic too. I’m always looking for a thick, not-too-expensive Balsamic to drizzle over mozzarella and tomatoes, or to pep up a lentil soup, and this one seems lovely. In fact, when I went home for Thanksgiving, my mom had this on her kitchen table: if it’s good enough for my mom and good enough for Ina, it’s good enough for us too.

3. An Oxo Steel Pie Server.

I watch a lot of America’s Test Kitchen and on one particular episode, they singled out this pie server as the best option for serving up a pie. And seeing as I’ve been making a ton of pie lately, this feels like an indispensable tool: not only is it serrated on the sides to help you cut through a slice, but it’s angled to fit neatly underneath a single wedge so you can get that first slice out neatly instead of making a big, gooey mess, like I usually do.

4. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.

This is one of those food books that EVERYONE is telling me to read and that I keep meaning to buy it but now that it’s December, I’m putting it on my list. It seems like the perfect gift for a literary food lover who enjoys poignant food memoirs. This one is by Michelle Zauner, the lead singer of the indie band Japanese Breakfast, and concerns her trying to cope with her mother’s death by visiting the Korean supermarket, H-Mart. I’m sure I’m going to love it.