A few of my favorite things: kitchen edition

More gifts that I received for Christmas.

What can I say, I like the practical, especially when it comes to gifts. Here a few of those very wanted practical kitchen-related gifts.

My two daughters listen closely when I say I would like something or want something. They bought me a box of new freezer bags. Yes, I said freezer bags. And yes, I did say to them that I wish someone would buy me a box of freezer bags. I am thrilled to be the owner of a bunch of brand new, untorn, no-leak, uncloudy freezer bags! 

My daughters also bought me dates and unsweetened chocolate. I've mentioned before that I make unsweetened chocolate-covered dates as a sweet treat for myself. Those are the only two ingredients needed, unsweetened chocolate and pitted dates. 2 squares of chocolate will cover 8 dates. I melt the chocolate in the microwave and dip the dates into it one by one, then scraping the bowl with a rubber scraper to coat that final date. I wrote about this vintage confection a couple of years ago, here. One of my intentions or priorities in this coming year is to eat less refined sugar. As I still want to have sweet treats, these dates fit the bill, and to me are like candy. My daughters bought me the ingredients to make more of these for myself. And as I'm the only big fan of these in the house, they're all mine!

My last kitchen-edition practical gift came from my son and daughter-in-law. The price of real vanilla extract is insane at grocery stores. Costco has their own brand, however, that has been highly rated for price by many consumers. So, I suggested my son and daughter-in-law could use their membership to buy a bottle for me. For the past several years I've used imitation vanilla flavoring, and I just wanted to return to the natural version. I costed out the difference in price between homemade vanilla (using alcohol and beans) and commercial pure vanilla at Costco, and Costco's was the winner. As far as I can tell so far, this vanilla is very good.

I have to say, I am so grateful to have family that understands me and listens. I don't need expensive gifts or luxury items. I'm really very happy with small items that I can really use. (And you may have noticed in the top photo, I'd already opened the box of freezer bags. I think those were the first gift that I used this year.)