Hello all! I hope you’ve been doing well in my absence and had a scrumdiddlyumptious holiday season. Lest you think that I have not been cooking the last two weeks, well, it’s been a combination of favorites, the Christmas turkey, corn casserole, leftovers, and this week, the name of the game has been detox from all the richness with a lovely, light beef barley soup (recipe coming tomorrow for Thoughless Thursday). Only one and a half pounds to go to undo Christmas!
I had a marvelous Christmas in the gift department. My in laws gave me the Kitchenaid Cookware I so desperately wanted to replace my well-loved set of Simply Calphalon that I’ve been using since I got married. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve been so busy since Christmas, I haven’t even unpacked it yet! I intend to rectify this shortly.
Hubby got me a fantastic and wonderful set of Furi knives 
that have their own bamboo case. I’m in love with bamboo in the kitchen. I have no idea why. These are awesome. Well balanced, comfortable, sturdy (and he got them for 50% off). I also got one of Rachael Ray’s Gusto Grip knives, which I haven’t yet tried, being so enamoured with the Furi set.
From my mother in law, or perhaps one of the dogs (don’t your pets give gifts?), I got Witch in the Kitchen, another kitchen witch type cookbook from my Wishlist. (I’d already bought myself a copy of A Kitchen Witch’s Cookbook.) I don’t expect to make magic of the paranormal variety in my kitchen, but both of these should provide delightful research for a book series I’m cooking up. My mother bought me a rice cooker, which is appreciated, though I already have one. And though it wasn’t for me, hubby got a lovely set of BBQ tools, which I’ll no doubt use at some point.
Over the holiday I got to finally watch Julie and Julia. I’m sure I’m the last food blogger to do so. I loved it. I believe I will add a copy to my wishlist for birthday perhaps. I’ve been reading through the actual blog that inspired the movie this morning. Chick is funny. But I really must drag myself away and get to my hour of workout before I high tail it to the office to record more lectures.