Mixed Plate: Holi-DIY and Resource Guide

Well, it's official - it's December and you just can't escape the fact that THE HOLIDAYS ARE TOTALLY EFFING HERE (and they're calling from inside the house!). Nevermind the fact that Costco has been selling Christmas wrapping since August. I'm here to help you on this whirlwind of Holiday Madness by sharing my Jedi Master Wasabi DIY Gift-Making Tips, as well as a resource guide for where I purchase a lot of the base materials on the cheap. (Hint: the Interwebs.) So let's get crack-a-lackin' my little Elves and Elvises -- there's gifts to be made!

Gift wrapping - brought to you by Pinterest and being a scrap-hoarder - Photo by Wasabi Prime

OMG a Recipe: Ho-Ho-Holiday Gift Emergency? Don't Panic, Have a Cheese Cracker

I'm interrupting my Germany/France posts for a couple of weeks because I realized, holy crap, it's the holidays! And I'm sure you've been like me, doing all the frenzied last-minute buying, baking, wrapping of gifts. Or maybe not. Maybe you, too, are only now realizing, Holy Crap It's the Holidays, and that you do not want to commit the same gift sin as last year's Chia Pet/Pajama Jean debacle that everyone has vowed silence over, never to be spoken of again. Ever. So, why not give a gift that's not only tasty, easy on one's schedule, but you can say it was homemade? Because no one's going to believe you knitted those Pajama Jeans, you big ol' liar.

Bust out the baker's twine, it's the holiday season, bitches - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: My Own List of Favorite Things (Take THAT, Oprah!)

We're in the terrifying thrall of X-Days Till Christmas and it's barely the second week of December. I felt my chest start to tighten the moment I had to change the calendar over once November croaked out its day. Despite the fact that Santa's laws-of-physics-breaking visit is at the end of the month, the hard truth is, the gift-gathering should be mostly done because you know it's going to take the whole month to track people down for a holiday meetup to actually give them that glorious Chia Pet you so lovingly selected last minute from the drug store bargain aisle. Gift giving has become less of a thoughtful art, and more of a mad dash to some imaginary finish line with gift-wrapped Snuggies in our clutches. Just Say No to a Pajama Jean Holiday. Instead, how about thinking outside the box, making gifts more about use and less about clutter, and most importantly: Shopping Local.

Unique cutting boards made with salvaged Big Leaf Maple wood - pretty AND useful! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

This post was inspired by Oprah, or rather, to counteract her demigod-like status. I remember when she first started doing her Favorite Things list around the holidays, showcasing hidden gems and artisan products that she would package up in a well-produced yearly episode. She's given a lot of great press to small companies and changed a lot of lives, and for that I appreciated her efforts to give people an alternative to Big Box Store gift buying. Then, after a while, the Favorite Things turned into too many high-end, designer items, and then there was the car thing where everyone in the audience literally got a car, my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I turned the television off. But I still appreciated the heart of what Almighty Oprah was trying to do and I wanted to come up with a few of my own Favorite Things that I've discovered this year.

My Favorite Things are just a handful of items; they're just a few items I thought were showcase-worthy because at the heart of all great gifts is a story, whether it's in the product itself or the way you as the gift-giver came to discover it. And yes, they're all food-related, which makes sense for a food blog, but makes better sense for a recipient because heaven knows we all don't need more decorative dust-collectors. It's nice to get something we can consume and enjoy the experience without wondering where to put the thing, or if it's an object, it should be something you can use regularly, and kitchen-related items can be both artful and useful. 

Which leads me to one particular item that I think brings a little beauty into your everyday life -- handmade cutting boards made from a local Northwest native species of tree called Big Leaf Maple. These are really special items because the particular tree that was used to harvest from was a massive 60 year old Big Leaf Maple tree in Olympia which fell in that huge winter windstorm back in 2009 -- if you lived in the area at the time, you probably recall that insane storm. We were without power for a week, so I sure as heck remember. But from the wreckage comes beauty, as the salvaged wood was made into cutting boards all shapes and sizes, with no board being exactly alike, given the nature of the reclaimed wood. The boards are cut down and left to dry age in a method called spalting, which enhances the wood's grain and develops unusual coloring patterns. They're sanded and treated with food grade mineral oil and are safe to serve items like cheese, crackers and prepared meats. It's not recommended to cut raw meat or chicken on, but that's fine because I would consider these boards more presentation serving ware than something you'd hack up a side of beef on. They're finished with a custom brand in the corner, the initials ML, which stands for the mother who owns the property, and the son who crafts each board. 

Display your favorite winter fruits on a schmancy Pacific Northwest cutting board! - Photos by Wasabi prime

I was introduced to these boards by my friend Jameson Fink, who you probably know as the man, the myth the legend behind Wine Without Worry, wine writer for magazines, as well as the author of Beginners Guide to Wine. And also just a very cool dude. Jameson's a friend of the family in Cooper Point who makes these beautiful cutting boards and along with good taste in wine, he has great taste in gift ideas. These are handcrafted boards from a single tree, and given the artisan nature of the items, it's a limited supply, so get 'em while they're hot. Think of it as art you can use because they're lovely conversation pieces and a great gift for someone who likes to entertain. Believe me, you can never have too many serving platters, boards, etc. If you want to know more information about the boards and where you can get one of the Preciousses, contact Jameson directly. He's volunteered to be the point person for this very boutique family operation, so send Jameson a ping through the various networks of interwebs he has on his contact page.

The boards would make a perfect Big Gift for someone special. What about stocking stuffers or little goodies to add to gift bags? Instead of one big centerpiece gift, I usually opt for a mishmash-melange of little finds that I've collected throughout the year like handmade soaps and lotions, flavored salts and sugars, cute mittens -- all wonderful finds that you can typically find at farmers markets. But, OH SNAP -- most farmers markets have closed up shop since it's off season. Luckily there are small craft shows that open for the holiday season -- find one and go to it, you will find all the little affordable gifts and stocking stuffers to your heart's content, and you'll be buying items from the person who made it, so they can tell you all about each piece. My favorite place to see what's going on locally is the bulletin boards in coffee shops -- the Starbucks has become the Town Hall for the 21st century. While you're waiting for that peppermint mocha with whipped cream and sprinkles, take a gander at the bulletin board for upcoming craft fairs in your neighborhood. 

A funny thing happened on the way out of the hardware store... - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Shop creatively and in unexpected places. Be open to discovery. Skip the Ninth Circle of Hell that is the shopping mall during the holiday season, because it's just full of people with the glazed-over look of Black Friday regret, junkies looking for that next bargain/red tag discount hit. My biggest discovery this year was, of all places, at the local True Value hardware store right in Duvall. I needed something random like wreath hangers and as I was leaving the store, my eye caught on a small display full of locally harvested raw honey. Jackpot. I actually left the store, thinking of the honey, then ran back to buy a few bottles. It was Kismet, swarmed by bees. The honey was bottled by a local beekeeper who knows the owner of the hardware store; he up hives all over the Cherry Valley, and then collects the honey to sell at a very affordable price. I picked up a couple of bottles of blackberry honey and one called knotweed, which sounds less than sexy, but the honey was a gorgeous caramel color, darker than the golden blackberry variety. It's pretty sweet stuff, ideal for tea drinkers or anyone who wants something sweet on their morning toast. Once I packaged the bottles up in a more festive way, they went into gift bags and boxes knowing the recipients would literally have a taste of the Cherry Valley, and the place I call home. It's not just honey in a jar, it's personal, a treasure discovered, and something I know the recipient will use and enjoy.

Granted, not everyone lives near Duvall, much less in Washington. Maybe raw honey isn't your thing, but the point is to always keep your eye open for discoveries. And small towns are perfect for these unexpected treasures, since shops are willing to sell unusual items like handcrafted jewelry and yes, food items. I guarantee you'll find more amazing treasures and trinkets shopping five small shops along the Main Street of a little town than you will browsing the mega aisles in a single Big Box Store. Think on a bigger level -- just by diverting a few of your holiday gift budget towards small, local businesses, you're a part of a growing collective that supports creating more jobs. It's holiday cheer that is priceless. 

That's one big, hot... rooster - Photos by Wasabi Prime

But of course, it's the holidays, which means -- who the hell has the time to be out driving around, making precious discoveries in quaint Small Town America? We all have busy schedules and for as much as we pine for a leisurely holiday season, everything turns into Murderball in December, and I still shop online like a madwoman. As tempting as it is to use the hell out of that Amazon Prime membership this holiday season, take a second to see what else is out there in Retail Interwebs-landia. One of my tastiest finds this year was during breakfast at our neighborhood spot, the Duvall Grill. You get your delicious plate o' food, and they bring out the typical array of condiments: ketchup, Tabasco (red and green), Cholula and/or Tapatio, aka, Spooky Blue-Eyed Creepy Uncle sauce. This time, it was a funky bottle of hot sauce with a dapper, suit-wearing rooster on the front. A clever ode to our Other Favorite Rooster Sauce, which I would argue is the Unofficial State Condiment of Washington, this new spicy little devil was simply called DeMars's Rooster Sauce. It wasn't dying-of-spice hot, just a really satisfying touch of heat, but with vibrant sweet pepper flavor and vinegar-forward -- a bonus to Tabasco fans. It's all natural, vegan, gluten free, so no junk, and by god, it's flavorful. It made an already good breakfast wicked-awesome mo' bettah, and I was hooked. I looked up the company and DeMars is based out of Olympia and sold in a few stores, so keep an eye out for them on the shelves of small grocers, or if you're impatient like me, go to their website. 

Hot sauces are perfect gifts for people who love their food to bite back, and we have a lot of family and friends who I knew would dig this rooster the most. I went ahead and bought a case of the smaller bottles from their site -- 12 bottles = 12 mini gifts. Bazam. And how cluckin' awesome is that, when they included a nice little handwritten thank you note from "The Rooster Crew." Love it. And given its in-state proximity, I received my order within two days, no express shipping needed. I was able to dress up each bottle with a little gift tag, noting their delicious local-ness, and add them to gift bags and boxes full of homemade cookies or other goodies like local chocolates.

You don't have to run out and buy each item like on Oprah's Favorite Things. In fact, I hope you find your own Favorite Things this year. I wanted to highlight some discoveries I'm quite proud to show off, because they're a piece of home, they all come with a story, and no matter where you live, I know there are treasures waiting for you to discover and share with loved ones this holiday season. So keep a watchful eye out, whether you're in a hardware store or just having breakfast at your favorite neighborhood diner -- you can avoid the typical shopping snarls this year and never have to buy another Chia Pet again!

Mixed Plate: Home for the Holidays

There's no season I love more than Christmas. For all the complaints about how early it starts, with a kickoff from the retail industry, decorated trees up as early as September, I still look forward to the time of year. As a child, it was of course about Santa and getting the equivalent of the Red Rider BB gun without shooting my eye out, and then in my late teen/early twenties, I lost sight of the holidays. I would sit staring at the tree and wonder if the day would be any different than the next, disappointed to not easily have that holiday joy again. It felt as though something important was misplaced and you were left frustrated, looking everywhere to find it, feeling even more distressed having known you once had it and now it was lost. It wasn't until being apart from family, losing the things you had begun to take for granted that you realized the holidays were for celebrating the times of togetherness and maybe trying to recapture a little of what was lost. That's when Christmas came back for me, and why it was important to make a big deal out of something, at least once a year.

Tis the Season to Celebrate - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Not to get all maudlin about the holidays, but since Christmas has just passed us by, it feels a little silly to list off holiday food ideas and suggestions. Plus I think everyone's probably sugar plummed out by now. It's more important to see why we make such a fuss over this time, especially since there's so much effort into the lead-up to December 25th. We did our share this year, but with a measured effort. For the first time, I didn't decorate a tree, mostly because my schedule was too stressed and I knew in my mind it would come down to a question of taking time to dress up a tree or use that time for spending with friends, and quite frankly, myself. What they say is true, if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take very good care of others, and the season is all about giving of yourself and your time. And even if we weren't planning anything extraordinary for Christmas, I wanted it to be a good and comfortable one. The Mister and I were long overdue for the recharge.

So our big Christmas feast was shared by a few friends who came over and I made a heaping pile of spaghetti and meatballs. Extravagant, no? Mostly because some of our other friends made the clever suggestion to do a Flying Spaghetti Monster dinner party, a kind of internet meme secular feast. Also, spaghetti and meatballs is a pretty easy dish to make ahead of time, which was a good thing, since our Christmas dinner was a little touch and go -- a sudden windstorm knocked out the power for a short time and we were having flashback fears of a previous holiday when the storm knocked out power for days. Luckily, this was not the case. Power was restored, friends gathered, we drank several bottles of wine and totally carbed-out on pasta, bread and tiramisu for dessert.

Feast of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (with Meatballs!) - Photos by Wasabi Prime

You're seeing an Italian theme, albeit an Americanized variation. Everything revolved around the spaghetti and meatballs. I said that's what I was planning on making and everyone was happy to have it. Regardless of one's background, it's the one dish that evokes a lot of comforting childhood food memories, and maybe that helped make it a good holiday choice. Since neither the Mister nor I are particularly religious, there's no compelling ritual we adhere to outside of the fact that we just want everyone to have a good time and not feel like this was fancy. I was wearing fuzzy PJ pants through dinner! I made a big batch of antipasti, which was like a Kitchen Sink salad of everything -- artichoke hearts, fresh cucumber, roasted bell pepper, garbanzo beans, salami, cheese, all tossed together with some pesto and left to marinate in the fridge. I also made a tapenade to spread on toasted bread, made of sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers and pistachios. I have to say, adding pistachios is fantastic for pesto -- gives it a nice sweetness and a nice alternative to the typical pine nuts.

Dinner was finished off with little tiramisu parfaits. A more personalized and pretty way of presenting dessert. Plus one of the people we had over was having a birthday -- sharing your big b-day with JC, that's a tough room, no? And a little tiramisu parfait looks just dandy with a little birthday candle in it. I used the basics of this tiramisu recipe from Epicurious, swapping out the traditional ladyfingers with sliced chunks of pound cake. Total cheat, yes, but tis the season to take shortcuts. Knowing the cake would be layered in a little glass, the ladyfingers would be too bulky and the smaller bits of cake made for even layering. And for the coffee sugar syrup, I used amaretto instead of marsala, which gave the cake a fragrant almond flavor - definitely doing that again. For as many times as I've eaten this dessert, it was the first time I'd ever made it, and I was really pleased with how it turned out. I could have eaten just the creamy mascarpone layer on its own!

Pesto is made best-o with chopped pistachios, a new tasty addition - Photos by Wasabi Prime

As for our Christmas at home, it was one that was becoming a growing tradition in our small household, since I've stopped spending the holidays with family. Brock and I wake up, we give our dog Indy a Christmas Morning snuggle (no different than other lazy weekend snuggles, but special all the same), and we have a good hearty breakfast. This Christmas breakfast was a taste of Hawaii -- I had made some Spam fried rice earlier and seared up some Portuguese sausage and fried some eggs to go with the rice. Not exactly the same as waking up to a tropical Christmas, but good enough. We stay in our cozy robes, having our very own Forever Lazy/Snuggie morning, opening presents and taking calls from family.


Christmas gifts galore, Indy is the happiest dog in the world - Photos by Wasabi Prime

We always give each other one special Christmas gift -- Brock got a membership to the Rare Beer of the Month club, so weirdo beers are starting to arrive to our house. I got a very special gift from the Mister -- all new cookware. He's a nut for researching products and chose a set of stainless steel, heavy-duty pots and pans. It wasn't the gazillion-piece set, where you wind up with odd-sized cookware you never use; he chose a select few pots and saucepans the size we'd use and not so heavy so that I couldn't easily handle and clean. To some, this may sound like a Bad Husband Gift, the bowling ball with "Homer" engraved on it, but it was really special to me because number one, I really needed new cookware, I've been using pots and pans from college, and number two, he knew I'd never have bought them for myself. He knows how I am -- any spare bit of money goes towards savings or bills; buying something like good quality cookware, despite how much I'd use them, would feel too extravagant. My brain tends to work this way: I have pots and pans, why buy new ones? Even if those ones I have are so old, the bottoms are totally warped to a curve and the handles are plastic, aka, not oven-safe (yet I put 'em in the oven anyways). I'm fairly sure the old nonstick coating flaked off ages ago, and it's just a miracle we haven't been poisoned or gone blind from some weird metal poisoning. Yeah, this new cookware is a total godsend! You totally rock, Mr. Wasabi!

Christmas goodies, including what everyone needs, an inflatable turkey - Photos by Wasabi Prime

And so another Christmas has come and gone. The madness of the holidays can subside for another three hundred and sixty-odd days until the decorated trees get propped up around September, or maybe even earlier next year. We didn't have a big decorated tree this year, but I didn't need to stare at it blankly, trying to find the spirit of Father Christmas somehow nestled in its pine needle-filled boughs. I'm thankful to find the holiday spirit so much easier these days, especially after this year minus the crutch of a big Christmas tree. It was found in the time spent with friends, silly and sweet gifts, food that's more familiar than fancy, and in the appreciation for changing traditions. I hope you all had a good holiday, no matter how you celebrate this season, and I hope you find the spirit of goodwill stays with you throughout the coming year.

UnRecipe: Tips for Holiday Baked Gifts

I realize we're only at the halfway point of December, and Christmas isn't for a couple of weeks, but if you're on true Holiday Time, you know it's the home stretch for getting gifts prepared and mailed off or ready to give away at the next holiday party. By the time the dwindling days of December's early twenties hit and Christmas Eve is just around the corner, I hate to say it, your holiday goose is cooked since a lot of online stores may not be able to guarantee Dec. 25th delivery and if the malls seemed crazy before, they'll be like a cracked-out madhouse by then. So, why not keep things simple and consider something handmade and edible. Like Wasabi Mom would always say, Food Always Fits.

Tis the season to take over the kitchen with cookies - Photo by Wasabi Prime

It's gotten more difficult to buy things for people over the years. Personal interests change, priorities get shuffled with new jobs/babies/life as a whole, and for most of our friends and family, we're in that stage of "no more stuff, please." We have all the things we really need, and frankly, so many people are looking to simplify their life by cutting back on the objects that eventually become clutter. But holiday gifts are all about showing appreciation, a token of love and gratitude for the person being important in our lives, so why not get into the true holiday spirit and shower them with sweets and junk food we'll all be swearing off in the new year? Pull out that rolling pin and unholy amounts of butter -- it's time to get baking!

Dress your cookies up for the holidays to make 'em feel special - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Homemade baked goods as gifts don't have to be fancy. If anything, the simpler the better, if you're making large batches of gifts to give away. I've gone through my phases of doing complicated confections like layered petit fours with fancy-schmancy icing, holiday-shaped sugar cookies that took more time to decorate than bake, and any number of ideas I saw on Martha Stewart's site that inevitably brings up the, "Oh, that's a good idea," lightbulb in my head and I'm up till 2am, just trying to get a single batch of something completed. I've gotten to the point where I look for simple cookie recipes where the dough is very basic and easy to double or triple batches, and keep the decorating simple, but colorful. The cupcake fad has brought more confectionary elements to the basic grocery store aisles, so I've been able to find little pearlized sugar dragée decorations, along with sanding sugars in gold and silver. Instead of going to the high-end specialty shops, I often find large containers of colorful sanding sugars at discount stores like Ross or Marshalls, where they have small kitchen sections. The decorative sugars are dry goods and have a fairly long shelf life, so I often buy my supplies after the holidays and just keep them in the pantry for the following year. I probably use the plain, large crystallized sugar the most for baking projects year-round, so if you're only going to get one item, that would be the most useful.

Best tip for baking cookies for gifts? Keep it simple! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I stuck with the simple sugar bonbon cookie recipe from the CakeSpy book. It was small and jewel-like with some sprinkles on it, you stuff each cookie with bits of chocolate or nuts for a sweet surprise, and it was easily made in multiple batches since you use a little cookie scoop tool to get the shape nice and round. If you're making about three or four batches of something, this is the recipe for success. Once they're baked, it's all about packaging them to finish them off so that they feel very precious and gift-like.

Cookies with a sweet surprise and how packaging makes all the difference - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Little celophane cookie bags are your friend during the holidays. You can get printed ones or clear bags, and while they come with handy wire twist-ties, I like using those and then tying some ribbon or strips of cloth to really make it feel like a little gift. The bags come in bulk, and you can either buy them online or if you're in the Seattle area, my favorite store for getting packaging is the aptly-named Packaging Specialties store in Bellevue. They have cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes and many have the clear, food-friendly coating on the inside, if you're putting something rich like brownies in them, and don't want the food oils to soak through. Get some ribbon or strips of decorated paper to make a simple band around the boxes and finish off with an address lable seal, writing what the item is. You don't really need wrapping paper, and probably shouldn't, as you want the recipients to know right away it's a food gift, so eat immediately. Another way of packaging food to make it feel extra-special is using glass jars. You can get large canning jars in bulk, or if you're only getting a few, nose around antique or secondhand stores -- there's often inexpensive vintage glass jars that make for great presentation. A quick run through the dishwasher, fill it with a favorite treat or snack, and then put a nice bow around the top -- it becomes a special gift, as well as a unique cookie jar for future use.

Along with cookies, I made some quick candy treats. Caramel popcorn is surprisingly easy and fast. I bought a jar of popcorn kernels and popped about three or four batches' worth of plain popcorn over the stove in a large lidded pot. I was careful to remove as many of the "old maids" as possible, to keep people from cracking teeth on seeds, and set the popcorn aside to cool while making batches of caramel. I had a basic recipe for caramel corn, but added extra flavor by putting in some cayenne pepper and cinnamon, which gave it a nice spicy sweetness. I did have one caramel casualty -- I was multitasking too many things and let the caramel sit on the stove for too long, and burned one batch. Caramel sauce down!! But it was a good lesson to not take your eyes off cooking sugar, not even for a second. Once I had a few ample piles of caramel corn popped and cooled, I stored them in large freezer bags until I could fill the individual gift bags for the final presentation. As you can see from the photo below, our house becomes like a food factory, with a few days devoted to making the sweets and then another day devoted to packaging everything up for the dozen or so people who get sweets as gifts. But it's totally true when they say packaging is everything -- if you go through the effort of making something special, it should be presented like a treasure, no?

Welcome to Santa's Village, aka, our dining room table - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I think variety is what makes baked gifts more interesting. Instead of giving a hefty bag of the same cookie, I'd rather give smaller portions of different things. So far I had cookies and caramel popcorn, so my last item was a riff on the old favorite, peppermint bark. I had done the classic peppermint bark in the past -- melting white and dark chocolate, layering on a tray and sprinkling with crushed peppermint candies. It's a pretty and simple presentation, but I wanted to do something different. The combo of chocolate and peanut butter is a favorite, so I did a layer of melted peanut butter chips mixed with white chocolate, then a layer of milk chocolate and a hefty sprinkle of crushed almonds to finish.  I also did an all-chocolate version, using a layer of melted dark chocolate sprinkled with dried cranberries, crushed pistachios and a sprinkling of a smoky finishing salt. They're so intensely sweet, it's fine to give small amounts of each one. They show nicely in clear bags, so I divided the broken-up shards of two different candy bark and labeled accordingly.

Bark if you love holiday bark! And tons of SUGAR!! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

This sounds like a wild and crazy undertaking, but by no means do you have to go this route of Holiday Baking Gone Wild. The point is to pick time-tested recipes that you're comfortable with and spending a little extra effort on packaging the finished goods. By making multiple things, it keeps the gift interesting, and I hope the recipients enjoy the variety as well. Since many of these had to be mailed, I chose items that weren't particularly delicate, since most of these treats would be sent off in boxes, tossed about every which way. Sturdiness is another Prime-Approved baked goods rule, so consider that as you're choosing cookie recipes.

As the pre-Christmas days dwindle, consider skipping the mall to get someone yet another piece of clutter they'll wonder what to do with, and just make them something sweet to show your appreciation!

Out of Office Reply: Merci Buttercups to All

Vacation, All I ever wanted, Vacation, Had to get away -- you sing it, The GoGos, my totally rad sistahs. The Prime has packed her bags to fly off with Mr. Wasabi for da islands of Hawaii to spend quality time with family and hopefully some quality time with a big bowl of saimin. In the short hiatus, I wanted to leave something that pays tribute not to the edibles, but the nourishing quality of friends, family, and the kindness of those who I've recently become acquainted with as a result of this blog.

Can't eat Rainier? But it would be fun to try - Photo by Wasabi Prime

The recent talk of the Federal Trade Commission cracking down on bloggers fully disclosing their "blog-ola" for posts biased towards whatever freebies sent made me think of the food-themed gifts I've received while writing this blog. Make no mistake, these weren't some shady, midnight payoff for a favorable review, these were sincere gifts from close friends who were only too kind in showing their support for finding one's bliss in a new hobby. I don't think The Man is going to come knocking on my door for what I got on my birthday or the holidays, but it made me think, Damn straight, anything received should be acknowledged. Our moms raised us right to pen thank-you notes, and while the thoughtful givers of these lovely items were sent proper written correspondence, I wanted to share the coolness of their gift-giving prowess, and extend my appreciation across the board to all who have been so supportive.

I had received a lovely and unique birthday gift from friend and fellow blogger, Radish and Rosé earlier this year. Amongst a package full of adorable food-related gifts (including these adorable heart-shaped measuring spoons!), there was a vintage book called You Can't Eat Mount Rainier! signed by author and Seattle historian, William C. Speidel. It's too perfect a thing not to share. The book is a jazzy little hardbound tome of recipes collected from local Seattle restaurants back in 1955, including some still-standing familiars like Canlis, El Gaucho, and even the now-karaoke kingdom of Bush Garden. No longer in print, but if anyone comes across this book, it's an absolute treat and treasure to have on one's shelf.

I also had the recent enjoyment of having one of my best friends from ye olde school days come out and visit around the time the film adaptation of Julie & Julia came out in theaters. A gal I lovingly refer to as The Angry Peanut (don't ask; long story) made the trek out to Washington and we had a delightfully food-filled weekend with the movie, and a wine festival. In thanks for the visit, the Peanut sent a care package full of goodies, and in her typical humorous style, she added cut-out word bubbles to comment on each item.

Bite me, FTC, these were real gifts, not payola! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

She recalled my wanting of a simple ceramic-bladed mandoline, hence her funny note hoping she picked out the right gadget. I did not say "what the eff is this?" but I sure expelled several eff's when on the maiden voyage of the mandoline, I had a wee accident. Despite a long weekend in the Town of Suckville trying to do everything with my un-favored hand, the gadget is awesome and totally worth the risk to make more paper-thin sliced foods.

Angry Peanut also knew of my anarchist love of the TLC network's show, Take Home Chef and included a cookbook from the show's host. Curtis Stone is the very adorable chef from Oz who looks more like a surfer dude, but he affably charms his way into the homes of grocery shoppers (usually hot ladies), cooks a gourmet meal with the hot ladies, and the husband or boyfriend are totally dumbfounded when they walk in on a saucy Aussie and a camera crew making time with their woman. People hug it out, a delicious meal is served, and the show ends on a cheerful note. I say it's an anarchist love because aside from the fact that Curtis is cute as a button, I keep waiting for an episode when a jealous husband or boyfriend completely loses their shiznit during the ambush, so that I may laugh so hard, I never stop. Maybe it speaks to the ever-expanding list of reasons Why I'm Going to Hell, but I've always been thankful for Angry Peanut's devoted friendship and hearty encouragement of this Dark Side of the Force within me. I am Darth Vader to her Emperor Palpatine. I should write that on the next Valentine's Day card.

Silliness aside, I want to express a truly heartfelt thanks to the people who have taken the time to read this blog and write so many kind comments and emails. Sincere thanks also go out to the people I chat with via Twitter, and those who have taken the time to "follow" Wasabi Prime via the Twitterverse. This was a project started for myself and a few foodie friends, but it's turned into a creative and enjoyable way to connect with people and learn new things from fellow bloggers, as well as the rare opportunity to bend the ear of professionals within the culinary world. Thank you so much for the support, because it's always a pleasant sense of amazement to see that people think the posts are worth a peek.

Since the Prime is on hiatus, please take a look at the blogs on the Om Nom Nom links page -- they are all amazing foodie sites and I try and keep up with everyone's post every week. They are all reminders that I still have a lot of work to do, and to keep exploring and tasting my way through life. I'm signing off with a pic taken of some pretty petit fours from Tiffany & Co snagged during last week's Fashion Week. No real reason other than to illustrate the sweet thanks expressed to everyone. See you all in another week or so! Mahalo plenty!

Totally sweet, dude - Photo by Wasabi Prime