2013 Holiday Gift Guide

My Reluctant Gourmet 2013 Holiday Wish List

I’m a little late this year with my Holiday Gift Guide. I think it has to do with how late Thanksgiving was this year but here’s what I’ve seen so far and thought you might find interesting.

All of these items can be found at Amazon.com where I do most of my family holiday shopping in addition to 3 Sagittarius birthdays for my girls. Plus I’m a Prime member at Amazon and love the 2-day Free Shipping that comes with most items. Who doesn’t love free shipping?

On My 2013 List

	Kindle Fire HDX 7” Tablet - I have one of their older versions of Kindle that gets a lot more use from my oldest daughter who likes the format. I’m still a little old fashion and enjoy reading printed paperback books. I have a few friends who have Kindle Fire models with all the bells and whistles and love them.There are hundreds of cookbooks now available for the Kindle Fire that make it a perfect gift for your technically advanced friends who love to cook. Besides cookbooks, there are plenty of videos and you can always get to YouTube for even more cooking videos.

	Oster Electric Wine-Bottle Opener - One of my many holiday catalogs said this was the most popular gift for 2013. It’s been around for a few years and I’ve owned one for a least 1 or 2 years and it works. I’ve tried other battery powered wine openers that were not very successful and getting corks out but this one works.Not only does it get new corks out from my white and every day red wines, it works really well with some of the older bottles I’ve laid down to mature and even those I forgot to drink. It has a little trouble with new synthetic corks that are so dense, I have trouble with them with any of my corkscrews but I seem to manage to get them out. Great gift idea for friends who enjoy an adult beverage now and again.

	Mister Tea Infuser - Don’t have one of these yet but it is a Best Seller on Amazon and my wife drinks a lot of tea so this may be great stocking stuffer for her. According to Amazon, it is molded from food safe soft silicone rubber, perches up on your cup to hold your tea and is made out of tasteless silicone rubber.According to one review posted on Amazon and really made me laugh: “Not only can you put tea leaves in his pants but then he holds on to the side of the cup likes he's Nicholas Cage after finding all of the national treasure. My life was put back on track after purchasing this product.”I’m sold!

	Peppermint BarkFor years we would buy tins of William-Sonoma Peppermint Bark and give them out to friends and family for Christmas. Why? Because it’s was festive, seasonal and tasted so good. This year my wife is sending hot yoga towels designed and produced by a good friend of ours to all her friends but I’ll be sticking with my holiday proven peppermint bark.I just checked the William Sonoma website and you can buy this peppermint bark cheaper there with free shipping on orders over $49 so that may be the way to go if you are buying several. You can also go to one of their stores and pick up one or two. This is a great gift for friends who love chocolate and candy canes.
	Corkcicle Color Wine Chiller - I gave a couple of these to friends last year and put one in my wife’s stocking. We like it and I’ll be giving a few more of these out this year. Not only are they good for keeping white wine cool, they work well to bring red wine down a couple of degrees to make it truly room temperature when houses weren’t kept as warm as they are now. And they make for great conversation starters.According to Amazon, “ Corkcicle maintains chilled white wines and cools room temperature reds, are simple to use; freeze and place in bottle, are made from BPA free plastic and non-toxic freeze gel, are easy to clean and available in several pop-inspired colors or original cork.