I’ve always enjoyed good food and drink. Having once worked in a nice restaurant, I learned more about food, wine, and spirits. When I married my husband, I passed some of that knowledge on to him. We started going out to dinner at nice restaurants and trying out new recipes. We developed a taste for quality alcoholic drinks over cheap booze. My husband started to explore his interests in preparing good food and drinks, with my enthusiastic encouragement. After all, I get to enjoy the products of his experiments.
To help my husband explore his new interest in good eating and drinking, I started buying him gifts that I knew he would love and would never buy for himself. My gifts turned out to be a big hit with my husband and now we’ve both been enjoying more of the finer things in life right in our own home. These are the five gifts my husband has loved and/or used the most.
5. Omaha Steaks- My husband is a carnivore, plain and simple. He loves a good steak. Last year at Christmas, I bought him the BBQ special at www.omahasteaks.com. For about $50 plus shipping, I loaded up our freezer with two five ounce filet mignons, two nine ounce boneless strips, two six ounce sirloin steaks, six four ounce gourmet burgers, and six four ounce steak burgers. The meat came to our house via UPS, packed in a special styrofoam cooler with dry ice. We also got a free cutlery set just for ordering. My husband and I were very pleased with the quality of the steaks. If red meat is not your thing, Omaha Steaks also sells fish, poultry, veal, pork, lamb, side items, and desserts. They even sell pet treats!
4. The Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal Smoker/Grill- I bought this little beauty for our third wedding anniversary last year. My husband’s dad loves to barbecue and has made some wonderful barbecued creations over the years. I heard all about how great my father in law’s barbecue was and was ready for my husband to create his own delectables. I spotted the Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal Smoker/Grill on www.cooking.com. Priced on sale at around $80, the Brinkmann Smoker/Grill consists of 13 pieces, including the smoker body, a dome lid, three hardwood handles, two stainless steel racks each capable of holding 25 lbs of food, a porcelain-lined water pan, a removable charcoal pan, a base pan, and an external thermometer. There’s also an instruction manual and a recipe book. Our smoker/grill even included a small piece of hickory wood. The Brinkmann smoker/grill is relatively lightweight, easy to put together, and well constructed.
So far, my husband has used the Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal Smoker/Grill to prepare smoked salmon, barbecued ribs, and barbecued chicken. Although preparing smoked food is a time and labor intensive process, my husband and I have both really enjoyed the end products… even though it means our waistlines expand a bit.
3. Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt/ Ice Cream Maker- Okay, so maybe this gift was more for me than for my husband, but we both really enjoy being able to make our own ice cream and killer frozen drinks without making a big mess. Priced at about $50, the Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt/Ice Cream Maker is available at a variety of outlets. I purchased ours at www.cooking.com. The ice cream maker comes with a plastic base that houses a 50 watt motor, a double insulated, quick freezing bowl, an automatic mixing arm, a large spout for adding ingredients, a transparent, easy-lock lid, and an instruction manual that includes recipes for ice cream, sorbet, yogurt, and frozen drinks.
Before you use the ice cream maker, be sure to keep the special freezing bowl in the freezer for at least six hours. If the bowl is not sufficiently cold, your ice cream project might not turn out right. We learned that the hard way when I got overzealous and decided to try to make ice cream without properly freezing the bowl. The end result was edible… in fact, it actually tasted good… but the texture wasn’t right. We keep our empty ice cream bowl in the freezer at all times now, so it’ll always be ready to use. In as few as twenty minutes, my husband has made wonderful strawberry daiquiris and frozen margaritas with the machine and I’ve made quite a few batches of killer ice cream that tastes better than anything we’ve ever bought in a store. Best of all, the machine doesn’t make a huge mess like traditional ice cream makers do.
2. A One Year Coffee Tour at Peets.com- My husband loves coffee. Last summer, I introduced him to Peet’s Coffee, which is based in Berkeley, California. He liked the coffee so much, that I went online and ordered a twelve month classic tasting tour from www.Peets.com. The twelve month tour is priced at $148. I opted to be billed in monthly installments, at about $16 a month including shipping. Each month, my husband got a pound of freshly roasted whole bean coffee. Each pound of coffee was stamped with the date it was roasted, usually less than a week before it arrived on our doorstep. We could smell the fantastic aroma of the fresh coffee beans before we even opened the box! Every month, the coffee came from a different part of the world. One month, we drank a Sumatran blend, the next month we drank coffee from Kenya, the month after that, we got a pound of coffee from Guatemala. The tour also came with a pair of great coffee mugs, custom made for coffee lovers! I got great customer service, too, when one of the coffee mugs arrived broken. Peet’s Coffee sent me two more mugs free of charge!
If a one year coffee tour is too extravagant for your budget, you can sign up for three month or six month tours. You can also specify decaffeinated or caffeinated blends, as well as whole bean or ground coffee. My husband loved that gift of Peet’s Coffee so much, that I’m thinking about getting him another tour this year. If you don’t like coffee, Peet’s also sells gourmet teas and accessories.
1. Mr. Beer Premium Homebrewing Kit– My husband loves good beer about as much as he loves coffee. He also loves to explore new hobbies. I put those two interests together when I bought him a Mr. Beer Premium Homebrewing Kit at www.cooking.com. The Mr. Beer Premium Homebrewing Kit costs about $50 and comes with one plastic 2.5 gallon fermentation tank, beer mix, yeast, cleanser, sixteen reusable bottles and caps, a package of malt dextrose “Booster” and instructions. Because I had a feeling my husband would love this gift, I also bought him extra beer mix and booster. Ever since Christmas last year, my husband has been happily brewing his own creations. In just a few weeks, he will unveil his latest masterpiece, an Oktoberfest brew that has been conditioning in our dark closet for the past several weeks.
This kit is great for beginning brewmasters. Those who are very experienced or purists may want a more professional set. Even though the Mr. Beer Kit is for beginners, it’s important to follow the directions very carefully. And bear in mind that though it takes about an hour to brew a batch of beer, it takes several weeks before the product is ready for consumption. I’ve really enjoyed watching my husband learn about the process of making beer. I’ve also enjoyed tasting his efforts, which are getting better and more drinkable with every batch! What’s more, this gift didn’t break the bank. If you aren’t into beer, the Mr. Beer Web site also has hard cider mixes. For those who don’t drink alcohol, there’s a Mr. Rootbeer Kit available for $24.95. Check out www.mrbeer.com for details on the Mr. Beer Kit or the Mr. Rootbeer Kit, as well as accessories for either kit.
It’s true that I spoil my husband with new culinary toys. He, in turn, spoils me with his delicious treats, which is becoming more and more evident on my “blossoming” figure. Maybe this year, instead of buying a new toy to help us indulge our culinary tastes, I should look into purchasing a treadmill!
Reference:
- Cooking.com’s Web site: www.cooking.com Omaha Steaks: www.omahasteaks.com Peet’s Coffee: www.peets.com Mr. Beer: www.mrbeer.com
