In your quest for the perfect gift for the food-lovers in your life, is there anything in particular that you're searching for? I remember the year we bought my mother a KitchenAid, and all the research and reflection that went into choosing just the right model. Are you looking for a certain kind of pan, an expensive appliance, or a gourmet gift for a friend or family member?
Let us know and we'll help research it if you want, and the community can jump right in too. What gifts are at the top of your list - for others or yourself?
I'm starting to get into drinking better coffee once a week as a treat, instead of the disgusting stuff at work every day. I want to get a french press and a coffee grinder, but I don't know anything about them, help!
(I was thinking something like a 2 or 3-cup french press, because it's just me.)
The year me and my three siblings pitched in to get my mother a Kitchen Aid mixer, she cried. She had always wanted one but would have never spent $300 on herself. To date it is my favorite gift that I have ever given.
For myself I'm hoping for a nice dutch oven this year. I have visions of stews and pot roasts dancing in my head.
Amber, before you jump into the french press fray, I'd like to encourage you to take a look at the chemex coffee maker
http://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/
my boyfriend and i were considering a french press, but for some reason he settled on this instead and we couldn't be happier!! the coffee is really delicious and we swear, tastes less acidic made this way, and they come in various sizes, from one suitable for a single gal up to one for say, a police station
oh, and they're really pretty, i think there's even one in the collection at MOMA
We use one of these for one or two cups of coffee in the morning:
http://www.swissgold.com/e/c_produkt06.asp
I think it makes delicious drip coffee, and it's easy to make just as much coffee as you need. We bought ours at Peet's.
i'm hoping for a coffee maker, too. i want an easy to clean, sturdy, programmable model. i don't need anything big- no more than about 6 cups. i'm looking at the zojirushi BD15 and also a plain ol' mr. coffee. i can't really decide what i want and that's part of the reason i just want it to appear as a gift!
i have 2 french presses, but i find them too messy and hard to use at 6:30 am. they were fine when i only made coffee on the weekend. we have a small bodum and a large one from ikea. both have held up fine.
I bought my boyfriend a Bodum french press and a coffee grinder (I don't remember what company made the grinder, it was pretty inexpensive, though) a few years ago and we've been really happy with both. Unfortunately, breakfast and a cup of tea is about all either he or I can muster first thing in the morning.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm very intrigued by the Chemex coffee maker!
This year I'm hoping for a slow cooker. Ridiculous, given that it's my first year in sunny, 70-degree-on-Christmas LA, but for some reason I've been craving rich, slowly cooked foods.
MFM, I'm very attached to my Bunn coffeemaker. Even though it doesn't put out a cup quite as fine as a french press would, it's so no-frills that it lasts forever and can pump out a decent pot of coffee in about 5 minutes. It's not programmable, but my experience with those sorts is that they break faster and take forever to actually brew the coffee.
If you really need it to be programmable, so that it awaits you in the morning when you get out of bed, Consumer Reports ranked the Black & Decker SmartBrew DCM2500 and Mr. Coffee FTX25 tops. The Zojirushi you mentioned does fare pretty well in the ratings too, but it's like 2 or 3 times the price of the other two.
wow, verily, thanks for all the info! i *am* hesitant to get the zojirushi because i'll only be making coffee in the morning, and it does seem like a lot of cash.
I've got to say, my krupps drip coffee maker is super. I think it was about $30. I have gourmet-y friends with french presses and vacuum pots and all manner of coffee contraptions.
When they drink coffee at my house, they all love it. If you make it _really_ strong, and then water it back down a touch, it's as good as anything. Smooth and very non-acidic/burnt tasting. As long as your machine isn't dumping boiling water directly on the grounds, and as long as you have enough grounds (1/3 more than you think), and as long as you're using good beans, it'll taste awesome. Leave the rocket science and control freakery for when you're making Espresso.
We have an insane number of coffee brewing methods at home (we got a Moka stovetop espresso maker and the new Mukka Express stovetop cappucino maker as wedding gifts), two french presses that we never use, and a Keurig pod machine thingy that I got at my old job. But the thing I turn to every day is a red plastic filter cone, just like the ones my parents use. They sit on top of the mug, you put a paper filter and grounds in, and make one cup at a time. No mess to clean up, perfect coffee, small to store, and they cost under $5. I pasted a link with more info about them into the URL space, so it should be behind my name!
What I'm craving for Christmas are cookbooks. I was Jacque Pepin's La Technique and I'm dying to get Sunday Suppers at Lucques.
hey kate, since you mentioned the mukka express, i'm hoping you might be able to share the benefit of your experience with it. i just bought one for myself at crate & barrel. i'm wondering if mine's defective -- the button doesn't press down and milk for the cappucino doesn't froth up. any pointers on how to use it? i was SOOO looking forward to this as a no brainer option for the morning and now i'm so bumming.
Amber, here's the coffee grinder I use: http://kitchen.apartmenttherapy.com/food/appliances-small/good-product-krups-fast-touch-coffeespice-grinder-013338
If you're not messing with espresso machines, I don't think you need anything fancier than this. Mine's lasted for years now.
Also, Caitlin - the current issue of Cook's Illustrated has one of their famous test/reviews of Dutch ovens - might be worth a look.
Abby, I think yours is defective, unless you haven't yet sort of fiddled with the knob to see if then it can press down. It doesn't go down far, but it does depress, and ours makes loads of foam (complete with the HEARTSTOPPING "characteristic puffing sound" described in the instructions. I'd take it in and exchange it if it still doesn't work after you've jiggled the knob around. (Maybe it isn't fully in place in the pot?)
The downside to the Mukka is cleaning it: MAJOR pain, and you have to completely take it apart each time (including prying out the rubber O-ring) or else it mildews. I left the cleaning to my husband the first couple times and we learned that lesson the hard way.
Amber, I have a french press, use it every day, and would never go back to a coffee maker. It makes the best coffee hands down. And it does not take much extra effort to make it: boil the water, grind the coffee, mix the two, wait 4 minutes, then press. And the cleanup is very easy, because everything comes apart and there aren't many parts to clean.