My daughter’s grandmother grew up in England during WWII. She has been in this county for over 50 years, yet her British accent is still strong and often comical to translate. Her taste in foods also remains true to form and self-assured “picky”.  During the holidays, I try to surprise her with a gourmet food or recipe idea; but rarely does she like anything I present to her. HOWEVER, after scouring the Internet for new ideas, I found King’s Cupboard Brand on the  Discover Gourmet Site.  Now I know that the “royal” connection may be what is swaying her opinion, but she really liked this sauce over some store-bought plain cakes that were made at their bakery. I purchased the CRÈME CARAMEL & the RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE.  The small disks of Vanilla-Based cake were moist and thick, but not too large in diameter. I’m catching on that she likes SMALL food- (again maybe this goes back to her childhood days of meager eats). I warmed the cakes slightly in a toaster oven then drizzled the Caramel over 3 and Chocolate over the other 3. She tasted these and (I thought) her eyes lit up just a tiny bit. She ate the whole thing, but would take seconds. Well at least I got THAT one right (YES!)

The Kuhn Rikon KinderKitchen items are so totally cute. I purchased the two knives and the snips for my 3 kids. At first my boy wasn’t interested in cooking with his sisters. But once he realized he could make a mess, cut stuff up and eat the end results, he was WAY into. The kids actually have their own system to things. Natalie likes to decorate the food items, get them out of the oven, almost like the “end” girl; whereas Delia likes to read the recipes and put EACH ingredient in a separate clear bowl like she saw on a cooking show once.  Daniel LOVES to chop meat, skin chicken, knead dough - anything messy. He WILL help decorate if his sister lets him mix the colors for frosting, for example.

The Jura Capresso MT 600 is a great drip coffee maker.  It has a timer function to start brewing when you want it to and makes a nice hot cup of coffee.  The 10 cup thermal carafe keeps the coffee hot for hours after brewing.  I know I can get busy and forget about the coffee I just brewed sometimes for a few hours.  The thermals heat retaining ability is very convenient instances like this.  Even now, almost 6 hours after brewing the coffee, right out of the thermal is still steaming.  Secondly I find that microwaving a cup of coffee can sometimes leave an oily looking film on the top of your cup of jo.  This is neither tasty nor appealing.  We use one of these machines in our office daily and on average it will see good 2-3 pots roll through its system.  It is easy to clean and constantly brews well, flavored coffee or not.  JL Hufford has it priced very competitively for a quality coffee maker and a gourmet brand name.

I was given a Simplex Beehive Copper Kettle for a Christmas gift. As far as gifts go, I was surprised my friends could find one and thrilled they decided to pick me as a recipient of these coveted items.  Apparently, however, Simplex UK closed up shop-KINDA. Recently I heard they were reopening and will again be distributing their gorgeous kettles. JLHUFFORD had a stock of them at one point and my friends bought them up. They gave a chrome Simplex to the mother-in-law who uses it every day for her morning tea. She wanted a kettle that whistles to prevent burning up the kettle as she did with 2 others. I use mine every once in a while. I have had it for several months; so far it hasn’t tarnished badly; it hasn’t really needed a polish yet. I was really excited to hear they are reopening, hopefully before they holidays, as these make WONDERFUL gifts. Adding an assortment of TEAS from JLHUFFORD is about as easy and thoughtful a holiday gift anyone could give or receive.

I don’t know about you but

1. I Love frothed milk
2. I am not good at frothing milk

That is why the Capresso Automatic milk frother was my favorite beverage discovery. It is extremely simple to use. Add the milk and press start. In a couple of minutes you have magnificent frothy milk. I know some purist may not agree with this method of frothing but for me it works wonders. I brew a shot of espresso or some coffee and roughly about the same time I will have up to 8 ounces of heated beautifully frothed milk to share or not to share. Another neat trick with this same machine is if you add chai tea or hot chocolate you can get a frothy delicious brew!

Do you have a summer cookout that you are attending soon and do not have any idea on what to take? You need to check out the cheese ball mixes by Maggie & Mary’s! A cheese ball can be a cookout hit! I know with my family that is the first thing that we go for at a gathering. They are very easy to make and all that is needed to create one of the amazing cheese balls, is a quick trip to the grocery store for 8 oz of cream cheese and a hunt through your refrigerator for 4 tablespoons of butter! Make sure that you mix them together well, because the last time I made one, I was in a hurry because I could not wait to try it, that I got whole bites of butter on my cracker! Needless to say, I was very disappointed at myself. Take your time, make sure that it is well mixed and enjoy it at your next family gathering!

Don’t like cheese balls? Maggie’s and Mary’s cheese ball mix can also be  made into a spread or a dip!

I bought a Bodum Santos vacuum coffee maker for my sister as a graduation gift. Aside from the fact that she absolutely loved it, it makes wonderful coffee. I never thought that the process of brewing coffee could be fun. The beautiful clear glass allowed us to watch the water slowly rise into the upper carafe. The vacuum technology behind this method flushes the brewed drink from the top carafe down into the bottom. The instructions are simple and grind size does not make a difference in this method of brewing. This method of brewing makes some of the hottest coffee possible. The only cautions I have about this machine is the fact that it is almost completely glass and might break if knocked over.