In my annual quest to share and steal clever holiday ideas, what kind of cool toys, gadgets, tools, etc. would you ask 
for this year?
3 Likes
My approach to wish lists is to provide a good amount of items in high, medium, and low price ranges.
I like being surprised by what I get but simultaneously if someone is going to get me something I have an opinion on I like to provide enough guidance that I don’t get something I’m just going to replace. Having a large number of items on the list helps to keep the mystery.
This year:
- Cookbooks. I take full advantage of my local library’s online cookbook section to try out cookbooks and I’ve got a list that I want to buy. Bravetart, America’s Test Kitchen Vegetarian cookbook, and Salt Acid Fat Heat in particular.
- I have a lot of cheapish kitchen tools I’d like to have like a pizza peel, a nice apron, a coffee grinder, a bench scraper/chopper, a carbon steel wok, and a set of spring scoops for measuring. Every time I watch Good Eats I find something new that I don’t have. I cook a LOT.
- Various packets of seeds, berry starter vines, and other gardening paraphernalia.
- A really nice Misen all clad cookware set. My cookware are mostly from college and are a bit tired and mismatch.
- I would really like a new DSLR. Mine is fine, really, but I got it in college and its missing some features I’d like.
- Various Copic marker sets, acrylic quilting rulers, paintbrushes, paints, alcohol inks, and mica powders.
2 Likes
Ayden (9) is hoping for a metal detector, kinex, an “extreme” lego set, an ambulance that transforms itself into a camper, and a trip to go see space X in Boca Chica (or Florida whichever). So far he has socks.
I’m wanting a few more trips, a few more beautiful days, a couple naps on the couch and as many squeezes as I’m allowed…and a massive property in Costa Rica where I can start a small misguided cult (peaceful mind you).
5 Likes
Bravetart’s earned the title on her business card of Pastry Wizard! Her recipes are rock solid and the book she put out is well researched and great.
As for the original question, I asked for some sewing odds and ends (bobbin minders, a book on english paper piecing, etc) some tv shows on blu ray that I like, and a dremel. Hopefully a couple things will appear under the tree this year.
1 Like
Everything that the Serious Eats crew puts out is fantastic. I got Kenji’s book Food Lab for my birthday and its also really solid. I donated all of the old Good Housekeeping cookbooks that had been given to me when I went through and found that the recipes were no better than what you’d fine on Pinterest. I’m aiming now to add fewer cookbooks in general, but more book based on real food science. The more I learn about food science the better my cooking has become in general.
1 Like
I can tell you this, do not buy your wife a vacuum cleaner unless they specifically ask. I knew better but my step-Father-in-law didn’t.
4 Likes
or a Peloton bike, it seems.
4 Likes
hmmm… making notes.
4 Likes
What if its a Roomba?
Bought one of these in March thanks to a Wranglerstar post. I’ve used them a good 30 times and can’t believe how long I screwed with adjustable wrenches before getting a tool like this. Getting a few for family and friends this Christmas.
2 Likes
I find my wife will accept anything that has either gold, pearls or diamonds or all of the above on it. The weight has to be in carats.
3 Likes
You don’t see many items with a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Amazon, especially with over a 1000 people reporting. May have to get a set based upon your recommendation.
1 Like
Knipex Nippers are also very good
1 Like
@Nick is great at choosing tools! A couple years ago he recommended some wire strippers, which I bought - and they are as great as he said they would be.
1 Like
I bought my wife a vacuum cleaner for her birthday during our pre-marriage class. She went absolutely bonkers with pure glee. Seriously, she was pumped.
When we told the class, the other women in the group looked at me like I was the devil, but my wife still loves using that vacuum cleaner!
Your mileage may vary…
5 Likes
Do kids nowadays even know what a lump of coal really looks like? Check with Blacksmith, they may be able to loan you a few pieces. Coal is becoming such a rare commodity that it just may be that “something special” that some kids really do deserve.
1 Like
I bought my wife a Roomba (iRobot) vacuum for ONE of her birthday gifts. The other sparkled if you know what I mean. She loves the Roomba. I programmed Alexa to respond to “Alexa, start vacuuming” and off it goes to vacuum the house. Now she wants one that doesn’t have to be emptied every time it finishes cleaning.
2 Likes
You probably facilitated fixing something that frustrated the heck out of her. I don’t mind useful gifts as long as they’re not attached to an implication that I should be doing more or better than I’m already doing. Generally speaking if we’re buying a household thing like a refrigerator or a dishwasher I’m not going to be super happy if its considered my gift, but if we’re buying a thing that makes my ability to do the things I hate more efficiently or more of the things I like doing (like cooking) then I don’t mind so much. But I understand that line can be a bit blurry, thus the list.
My family is used to my weird wishlists. Sometimes it’s an amazon list, but this year not so much. My other go-to for whatever current hobby obsession is to try to find something all in one place that supports other artists like Etsy or similar online market places
This year it’s Etsy. Current fun new obsession is lapidary, so I went through Etsy and made a new public list with a variety of rock slabs that caught my eye. I try to do a variety of prices and tried to focus on several things from only a few artists so it’s easier for whoever to do combined shipping if getting multiple item
Btw, Etsy completely and utterly sucks as far as making it easy to make wishlist that someone could just go search for your name or email and it come up. No way to search a user unless they have a shop.
The workaround is make a list, make it public viewable, add your stuff (when you heart things), then you just need to pull up the list (get in it like you’re viewing it) and send a copy of the URL.