I just looked up all the past orders on
Amazon to see what toys I've bought for myself (and others bought for me). These are the ones I really like:
Waring Pro PVS1000 Pistol Vac Professional Vacuum Sealer System
I already have a Foodsaver sealer, but this one works with the Waring resealable bags. I tried the Ziploc and Foodsaver resealable bags and pump, but this thing is a Mercedes and the others are Chevys.
Baratza Virtuoso - Conical Burr Coffee Grinder (with Bin)
This is a burr grinder, so it is quite expensive (which is why you want someone else to buy it for you). It totally blows out of the water any of those blender-style "grinder" that just use whirring blades. Those cheap grinders are great for getting a totally random grind. They are also a great way to burn coffee.
Cafe Casa Milk Frother 2 Speed Coffee Latte Maker
This is incredibly well-made. I use it to froth skim milk to put on top of hot chocolate instead of whipped cream (you can froth cream if you wish). I also have figured out how to use it to make lattes, using my Aeropress Coffee maker. Between the two I have the world's cheapest espresso/latte machine, but for 1/10 the price. I also make salad dressing with it.
Aeropress Coffee Maker
Gosh I love this thing. We've had it for about seven years and between my wife and me, we use it 4-6 times a day. No other brewing method produces as smooth and bitter-free a cup. You actually make a shot of espresso with it, and then add water to make a normal-sized cup of coffee. What makes it really great for us is that we have one of those under-sink "instant hot water" dispensers that gives us 195 degree water at the press of a button. So to make a cup of coffee, we just set the grinder to grind a find espresso grind, but that in this gadget, add two ounces of hot water, wait ten seconds, press the plunger, add water to fill the cup, and drink.
Zebralight H600Fw MKIII Netural Floody 18650 Headlamp
OK, so it's not cooking-related, but a lot of people in the forum obviously love hunting, fixing things, etc. This light is unbelievably bright, and has a really fine quality of light. You can get much cheaper headlamps, but you won't get a better one. BTW,
candlepower forums is where you want to go to find out everything about portable lights, from flashlights to lanterns to headlamps to bike lights.
OXO Good Grips Adjustable Measuring Cup, 2 Cup
This is a really good gift idea to give to someone who doesn't really want to spend much money on you. I actually recommend getting the 1-cup measure because you can use it for much smaller measures, but it is temporarily unavailable. They also have one that is specifically for tablespoon-sized measurements.
So what is it and why do you want it? Well, it uses a silicone plunger to push ingredients out of the measuring device. This is great when you want to measure honey, maple syrup, ketchup (catsup?), mayonnaise, or anything else that takes a long time to scrape out of the measuring device.
Ultrasonic Cleaner
I'm not providing a link for this because I'm not sure my Kendall 9-liter unit is the best. However, I'm absolutely sold on having an ultrasonic cleaner. Rather than describe it here, I already posted in this forum about how I use it with my smoking equipment:
Ultrasonic Cleaning
Kicking Horse Coffee, Three Sisters, Whole Bean Coffee, 2.2 Pound
At this stage of my life I've got most of the simple things that I want (I'd still like a Lear Jet, but that's not going to happen). As a result, my grown kids just get me food for the birthday and Christmas. This is one of my favorites. I think I may actually like their "Kick Ass Dark Roast, 2.2 Pound" better.
StarPack XL Size Silicone Spoonula
Never has something so simple given me so much pleasure. Think of this as a combination wooden spoon, silicone spatula, scraper, and spoon. You can use it to stir, ladle, scrape and, with some foods like rice, to serve. I use this every single day, and often don't have to get out any of the other things I just mentioned. Unlike some things which attempt to combine different functions into one, this combined idea actually works better than any of the individual items that it replaces.
SodaStream Source Home Soda Maker
We drink a lot of seltzer water. This gadget lets us make it anytime we need it, and we can control how much fizz we get. If the soda gets a little flat, just put the bottle back on and add some more. Walmart, Target, Ace Hardware and many others have an exchange program for the CO2 canisters. It costs about $18 with the exchange to get a recharge that will fill your 1-liter bottle sixty times. You save a lot of money if you drink a lot of seltzer.
OK, that's everything from the past year. Two more you might look at -- both of which feature
moi as the top review for the product (he said modestly):
Breville BBL560XL Hemisphere Smooth Blender and the
Max Burton 6400 Digital Choice Induction Cooktop. I really love the induction cooktop because it lets me do searing, deep fat frying and other messy or smelly cooking and take it outside. I simply put a cookie sheet under neath it and place the cooktop on top of my cold BBQ. Stuff can splatter and smoke and stink as much as it wants, and it only takes about 30 seconds to clean it all up (the BBQ will just burn the stuff off the next time I use it).
I have more ideas, if you are still stuck ...