Lady Lunchalot

My goodness. Two posts in a week. I hardly recognise myself.

The other day O asked me what I would like for Christmas. I am always a little shocked and mildly embarrassed when I receive a present. Not quite sure why. I think I get so focused on buying presents at Christmas that it never actually occurs to me that I will receive them.

I had no idea what to ask for, but O is such an attentive listener and an expert present-purchaser (think Oroton sunglasses for last year’s Christmas, birthday dinner at Vue de Monde, beautiful art for first wedding anniversary) that I know I’ll love whatever he comes up with.

Unsurprisingly, many of the gifts my nearest and dearest have given me are of the culinary variety. There was the Global knife set from Stu for my 30^th. The Kitchen Aid mixer from the Barcelona boys as a wedding present. Both of these treasures are awaiting my move back into the new house, and, I will admit, are part of the appeal of finally moving back home (not that the baby and the custom designed kitchen aren’t enough of an enticement).

And then of course, there’s my treasured library of cook books, many of which have been welcomingly received as gifts over the years. Zo gave me my first real prize in that department for my 21st - a much loved copy of Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion. Oh, and not to forget my beautiful timber spice box, which was another 21st gift and has spent the past decade diligently soaking up the scent of my spice collection. I love opening the lid on that box.

As weird as this sounds, many ex boyfriends have given me knives as gifts. Not psycho bloodletting dagger-style knives, but proper kitchen knives. Andrew gave me a Wiltshire knife set at about age 20, with my name engraved in the cooks knife. Mick gave me a beautiful Furi cooks knife years ago which has been my favourite ever since. He even went so far as to tape two coins to each side of the knife to counter the superstition that giving a knife as a gift would “cut” the relationship. We’re still good friends many years after the romance finished, so maybe it worked!

There was also the cast iron Staub cooking pot, a gift from another ex, who also gave me a pasta machine. I remember unwrapping that pot under the Christmas tree and I knew that the pot would be around much longer than the boyfriend was. And I was right!

And of course there’s lots of other things. Mother of pearl handled salad servers from Stu. Muffin pans and lots of baking things from O. Exotic aprons from far flung Asian destinations when friends return from holidays. Ice cream makers (thanks Za). Much needed platters from in-laws. All sorts of goodies to fill my cupboards.

Perhaps over the past 6 months I’ve become so distant from my own kitchen possessions that are packed up in storage, that I really can’t think of anything that I need. Perhaps I am actually content? The only things I want right now are my waistline back, a big jug of Pimms, a good night’s sleep, and a giant wheel of double cream brie, none of which are going to happen for quite a while yet!

For any food lovers still putting their Christmas wishlist together, I came across this great article in the Age.

So what’s on your Christmas wishlist?