Foodie Gift Guide

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November 15, 2021 By Jennifer Lambert 5 Comments

My family and I love to cook and eat and cool gadgets often make our lives easier. Here are some fun gifts for people who love spending time in the kitchen or around the dining table.

We have certain kitchen essentials and have/had some fun cooking tools for our kids when they were little.

We don’t really care for many unitaskers or any multicookers. I actually enjoy cooking and my counters are already cluttered enough. I want good quality tools that are functional and beautiful that will last a long time.

We love good food and good wine. Dinner each evening is a feast.

Gift Guide for Foodies

Pepper Mill

I love this pepper mill because it’s easy to turn and refill. It gives lovely coarse grinds.

Whipped Cream Dispenser

We love, love, love this whipped cream dispenser, especially during holiday dessert season! I love making my own whipped cream with natural ingredients and flavors.

Kitchen Torch

I never thought I would like, use, or need a torch in the kitchen, but it comes in handy for more than just crème brûlée!

Electric Milk Frother

I have a microwave frother but I also love my electric frother. We can use the flavored Silk almond creams or regular whole milk, cream, or half and half.

Dehydrator

It comes in handy to dehydrate foods when we garden and can’t eat everything right away. Also fun to make homemade fruit rollups or gummy snacks from fresh fruit! Loads of uses.

Food Sealer

We like our Food Saver, but we may get this Zwilling system. We like to marinate meats with no spilling. I often separate bulk buys into servings for our deep freezer. I need to remember to label everything!

Wine Opener

There are some fancy and expensive wine openers out there, but this is still my favorite! The electric ones worry me and my husband loves his waiter’s corkscrew from Laguiole from our last trip to Paris. This is easy to use and doesn’t hurt my hands or break the corks.

Wine aerator

We like aerating our red wines and the more complex white wines either direct into glasses or into a decanter for better and fuller flavor.

Decanter

We love our glass decanters to air our red wines and make pouring without spilling easier. And they’re pretty on the table!

Vacuum sealer

We don’t often have leftover wine or soda, but these vacuum pump sealers work wonders to save bottles. They can then last up to a week!

Wine Rack

We have a simple wine rack in our basement where the temperature is always cool.

Wine Books

These books are great for learning about how to pair wine with food or discovering what you love!

Also, fun cookbooks are great gifts!

Specialty Glassware

I bought an engraved whisky glass for my husband last year and he loves it!

Fun wine glasses with cute sayings or insulated/unbreakable cups for picnics or backyard entertaining are popular.

Food gifts or subscriptions

I am always excited to receive a bottle of whisky or wine.

Cheese or salami is always welcome!

I love gourmet chocolate with fancy unique ingredients. My favorite is saffron!

One year, my husband game me an olive oil of the month subscription.

We’re excited to see fun food Advent calendars in our local grocery stores – cheese, wine, beer. These make great gifts or fun to try new flavors.

Wine

Firstleaf wine gifts are versatile and they can customize which wines they prefer – sweet or dry, sparkling, white, rosé, or red.

My husband and I gave ourselves a Firstleaf subscription last year. It’s been a fun adventure!

Seafood

KnowSeafood gifts or subscription for the seafood lovers! We live in Dayton, Ohio, and finding good affordable fresh seafood is difficult. We love, love, love the selection and quality at KnowSeafood!

What’s your favorite foodie find?

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Kiwi Crates Gift Guide

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November 11, 2020 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

KiwiCo inspires kids to see themselves as makers — engineering and creating their own innovative designs and outcomes. Their core offering is a monthly subscription which has delivered millions of hands-on projects. These fun and enriching STEAM projects are designed to spark creativity, tinkering, and learning. Ultimately, their mission is to provide the next generation of innovators with the tools and a foundation to become creative problem-solvers and critical thinkers.

Subscriptions across brands can be ordered on a monthly, 3 month, 6 month, or annual basis. Users can also purchase single crates through the store.

Kiwi Crates make great gifts for birthdays and holidays.

KiwiCo’s monthly subscription crates come filled with age appropriate STEAM projects for kids, from toddlers to teenagers, and even adults! STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Every crate explores a different theme designed to spark creativity, thinking, and learning.
All projects, inspiration, and activities are created by a team of product designers in-house in Mountain View, CA, and rigorously tested by kids.
KiwiCo offers eight different product lines spanning a variety of interests and age ranges – for kids from age 0-104 (kids at heart!).

Which Kiwi Crate is right for you?

Panda Crate (ages 0-24 Months) Developed in partnership with Seattle Children’s Hospital, each crate helps babies learn by doing what they do best — playing, exploring, and most importantly, interacting with the adults in their lives. Crates arrive every other month and are filled with two-months’ worth of content!
Koala Crate (ages 2-4) delivers fun hands-on activities to engage the natural curiosity and creativity of preschoolers in play-based learning.
Kiwi Crate (ages 5-8) delivers young innovators all the materials and inspiration needed for fun hands-on projects that explore art, science, and engineering.
Atlas Crate (ages 6-11) sparks kids’ sense of adventure and curiosity, inspiring them to see themselves as citizens of the world.
Tinker Crate (ages 9-16+) allows young innovators to discover and learn about science, engineering, technology, and math through hands-on activities.
Doodle Crate (ages 9-16+) invites young designers to build creative confidence by experimenting with art & design techniques in monthly hands-on projects.
Eureka Crate (ages 14+) teaches kids (and kids at heart!) how to apply principles of science and math to engineer solutions and make awesome things they’ll love using every day.
Maker Crate (ages 14+) Whether you’re 14 or 104, a first-time crafter or an experienced maker, we’ve designed each crate to include a chance to experiment with a new technique, draw inspiration from real designs, and take pride in a finished project that’s both fun and functional.

Prices start at $19.95 per monthly box (which is discounted to as much as $16.95, when you prepay for a year) and go up to $29.95 (or as low as $24.95 with a full-year term).

You can earn points and 11% cash back with Honey and Rakuten!

Give the gift of wonder and discovery.

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Gift Guides for Everyone

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November 28, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 5 Comments

I try to recommend items that we love and currently use or have used when my kids were little.

I do most of my shopping online. I use some neat sites to save money or get cash back.

This year, I loved shopping for unique finds on Etsy. TikTok viral trends are exciting for my teens and we have a few of those under the tree. I always buy calendars for the upcoming year.

Gift Guides for Everyone

Book Lists

Books for Every Season

Holiday Books

Books by Topic

Amazing Amazon

What is the best present you ever received?

Linking up: Eclectic Red Barn, Random Musings, Mostly Blogging, Create with Joy, Silverado, Jenerally Informed, Shelbee on Edge, InstaEncouragements, LouLou Girls, Grammy’s Grid, OMHG, Suburbia, Thistle Key Lane, Stroll Thru Life, Soaring with Him, Anchored Abode, Ducks in a Row, Fluster Buster, Ginger Snap,Try it Like it, Artful Mom, Slices of Life, Imparting Grace, Ridge Haven Homestead, Modern Monticello, Simply Beautiful, Cottage Market, Hubbard Home, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, CWJ, Being a Wordsmith, PIeced Pastimes, Anita Ojeda,

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Little Passports Gift Guide

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October 27, 2017 By Jennifer Lambert

Give your kids the world!

The best kids’ gifts inspire the imagination and keep kids interested and engaged. That’s exactly what you get with Little Passports monthly subscriptions!

Little Passports has the perfect gift for all ages:

World Edition

Ages 6-10, explore a new country each month with souvenirs and hands-on activities

Science Expeditions

Ages 9 and up, reveal mysteries of the world through science experiments & activities

Early Explorers

Ages 3-5, discover a new world theme each month, like Oceans, Music & Dinosaurs

USA Edition

Ages 7-12, learn about two new states each month, with activity-packed State Journals

Give the gift of Adventure!

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Give the Gift of Adventure with Uncommon Goods

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October 19, 2017 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

I just love my fun travel cork globe from UncommonGoods!

Our new globe showcases our travels as a family.

The cork globe is lightweight and hollow. We were careful with the thumb tacks and pins. We don’t want to dent our globe!

I love the simple modern stainless steel stand.

It was super easy to assemble. Just fit the steel rod axis through the globe and screw on the top peg.

Our globe measures: 11.8″ height x 9.84″ diameter.

Latitudes, longitudes, the equator, and meridians are well-marked. Continents and countries are easy to view. There’s a neato compass in the Pacific Ocean. It rotates on its axis. It’s great as an educational tool!

It could be fun to tack small souvenirs to the globe too. I don’t feel comfortable removing or replacing the tacks and pins and leaving holes in the cork. There’s also a full-color globe available that is very pretty.

Our family loves this addition to our rather minimalist decor, tastefully exhibiting our travels.

Uncommon Goods is one-stop shopping for the whole family! I want pretty much everything they have.

The travel and book-themed items are some of my favorites.

Explore all the unique and top-rated items at Uncommon Goods and check out these amazing stocking stuffers! There’s something on these lists to buy for even your most difficult person who seems to have everything. I often send my parents clever gardening and home décor gifts.

I was so pleased by the very careful packaging of my cork globe! Shipping was super quick too.

Six red thumb tacks (included with the globe) mark the places we have lived as a military family.

We probably have a few more adventures to go!

White straight pins mark the fun places we have traveled as a family.

We hope to add many more in the future!

This fun cork travel globe was a great surprise family gift that we all enjoy.

There are so many fun items that I love from Uncommon Goods – I’m updating my wishlist!

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10 Gifts for Natural Living

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December 8, 2015 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Know someone who has a chemical-free home?

Here are my Top 10 Gifts for Natural Living!

These are my favorite natural living products that we use in our home almost every day!

1. Wool Dryer Balls

Fabric softeners are irritating to skin and lungs.

Use wool dryer balls with vinegar and/or essential oils instead!

2. Essential Oil Diffuser Necklaces

Love something pretty that smells great and has other great benefits!

3. Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

I love using pretty colored cloths for all our house cleaning needs – with just water or natural products like vinegar and essential oils.

Blue for windows, tan for dusting, silver for stainless!

4. Refillable Spray Mop

We love making our own cleaners and a refillable spray mop with a reusable pad makes cleaning floors easy and healthier and more environmentally sound.

5. DIY gifts with Essential Oils

Here are 10 ideas of essential oils gifts to make for friends and family (or yourself!).

6. Gift certificate to Radiant Life

I love this company for glassware and supplements – especially cod liver oil!

7. Essential Oil Diffuser

We have diffusers in almost every room. I love the scent and benefits!

We use calming scents in the bedroom and attentive scents in the school room. Cleansing scents can get rid of cooking odors.

8. Himalayan Salt Lamp

We love the soft light and qualities of these lamps in our home office and bedrooms.

These lamps can reduce indoor air pollution and allergens, improves mood and sleep quality, and reduces stress.

9. Natural Makeup and Skincare Items

We especially love Lemongrass Spa (please use my code 5450) and Cowgirl Dirt for great chemical-free, pretty makeup. We love the way our skin feels and looks with the natural cleansers and moisturizers.

10. A Happy Lamp

We live where it’s damp, cold, and dim – sometimes year-round! This Go-Lite lamp has helped us the last couple years to improve mood and energy level during those darker days.

What are your favorite natural living items?

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Gifts for the Geek

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November 24, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

I’m so proud that the kids like geeky stuff.

I think it’s so much better that my girls obsess over David Tennant and Benedict Cumberbatch than the latest pop music star boy group. I’d rather we watch intelligent BBC programming than Disney – or whatever it is that’s mindless and popular with tweens and teens. I am loving seeing my kids’ senses of humor developing with brilliant British jokes.

Doctor Who Gifts

This Christmas, the kids are gonna be so excited that I scored some awesome DW loot on zulily.com.

Star Trek Gifts

Because nothing geeky is complete without Star Trek. Even if it’s not technically British. At least there’s Sir Patrick and Benedict. :) Whether they prefer the classics or the new movies, there’s a great gift for your Trekkie!

Sherlock Gifts

For new and old fans, BBC with Benedict…and the movies with RDJ (not mentioning that blasphemous American show, ahem)…Sherlock Holmes is a beloved icon.

Narnia Gifts

The brilliant writing of CS Lewis and the lovely imagery of the movies, these are timeless stories with a great message.

Harry Potter Gifts

I was ecstatic to stop by the Harry Potter shop in London and get all sorts of goodies for the kids. They love their Marauders’ Map and wands and Hogwarts tickets.

Tolkien Gifts

The ultimate in fantasy geekery. I have loved Tolkien since the little Hobbit cartoon in the ’70s!

Star Wars Gifts

I really, really, really wish I still had my original Ewok village and star fighters. And all my figures. I saw Return of the Jedi in theatres and I was sold on the whole franchise. While we wait anxiously to see what Disney does to our beloved characters and stories, here are some fun gifts for your Jedi lover.

What’s on your geek gift list?

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10 Best Gifts for Travelers

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November 17, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

What do you buy someone who loves to travel?

Here are some unique travel gifts for your globetrotter.

10 Fun and Unique Gifts for a Traveler

1. eBags Packing Cubes to pack everything smarter and make it fit. Especially in those carry-ons.

2. A good quality small rolly suitcase (Europeans only do carry ons and I have no idea how they fit everything they need in that for a long trip – even with cubes!) Here’s one to fit your budget. They’re all fun:

Rockland for $53.54
Delsey for $127.49
Samsonite for $229.99
Victorinox for $379.99
Tumi for $396

3. Silicone Travel Tubes. These won’t take up as much space as the hard plastic containers!

4. A fun portable charger like this pink lipstick-sized external battery.

5. Fun Luggage Tags that personalize your bags.

6. Jet Bag for packing breakables. Padded and absorbent!

7. Aquis Hair Drying Turban. I love these so much we use them at home and when we travel! Wicks away the wet super fast.

8.Travel Wallet. To keep important forms, papers, ID. Don’t keep all your ID and currency and credit cards all in one place! Several colors to choose from. Unisex.

9.Bose Noise-Canceling Headphones. Trust me. You want these.

10. A fun and functional travel adaptor for all your electric needs worldwide (150 countries).

What are your favorite travel accessories?

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10 DIY Gifts with Essential Oils

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November 12, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 4 Comments

Want some DIY gift ideas using natural ingredients and essential oils?

Someone into natural health and beauty would love these items!

Check out these 10 DIY gifts with essential oils:

1. Simple Homemade Cleaner.

As simple as baking soda and essential oils in a pretty jar. I like the oily combination of Thieves, Peppermint, and Citrus. Perfect for cleaning the bathroom and scrubbing your nose. Super safe and smells great! For really good cleaning, add some vinegar.

2. Scented Play Dough.

Add essential oils (or even dry spice blends like Apple or Pumpkin!), glitter, and natural food coloring for pretty fun!

Simple play dough recipe: Mix in warm nonstick pan.

2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar

Add essential oils, glitter, and natural food coloring and knead until desired consistency. Store in pretty jar with a ribbon. I like Cinnamon, Lavender, Citrus, or Peppermint. I’ve also added Magnesium oil for calming.

3. Beauty Serum.

Great for all skin types and smells amazing. Check out the recipe here. What lady wouldn’t love to find this in her stocking? Great way to get teens into a good skin care routine. Another super easy skin recipe is whipped coconut oil with Lavender.

4. Bath Soothers.

Add about 10-15 drops of any of these essential oils: Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Rosemary, Lavender, Clove, Cinnamon, Peppermint (decide what scents you love) to a baking soda paste (about 1-2 cups of baking soda with about 1/2 c water until it’s pasty like putty). Place in a pretty silicone muffin tray to dry for about 30 minutes. Pop out and store in a pretty bag with a ribbon. (Beware use with children. These are “hot” oils and could irritate lungs.)

5. Roll-on Blends.

Add essential oils to a carrier oil like Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Almond Oil, fractionated Coconut Oil, or V-6 for personalized blends in pretty and easy roll-on bottles. Some of my favorite oils and blends are Cedarwood and Lavender, Frankincense and Lemon, Thieves, Valor, Pine and Orange.

6. Scented Bath Salts.

Super simple!

1 c Epsom Salt, 1/2 c baking soda, 10 drops of a soothing essential oil like Lavender.

Mix and place in a pretty jar! Add a sprig of dried lavender and a little scoop to the ribbon for a pretty and useful present.

7. Scented Salt Dough Ornaments.

Pretty and fun for the whole family. Great for an ornament exchange party!

Recipe for salt dough ornaments:

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

Add essential oils and natural food coloring to dough. Cut out in pretty shapes. Acrylic paints and glitter (optional). Bake at 225 F for 3-6 hours. Seal with lacquer (optional) but they will last longer and be shiny. Not sure if they will smell as great though. Add a hanging ribbon.

8. Pretty Soap.

You can get a goat’s milk soap base and melt it down. Add essential oils and oatmeal or dried herbs for extra oomph. Place in a pretty soap mold or silicone muffin tin to harden. Pop out and wrap up in pretty paper! See this soap recipe my kids use!

9. Sugar Scrub.

A great pampering gift for anyone! Makes skin smooth and smell great!

Recipe:

Melt coconut oil in a double boiler (I often just use a glass jar). Stir in white or brown sugar until desired consistency. Add essential oil and 1 drop of natural food coloring, if desired.

½ cup coconut oil
1½ – 2 cups sugar
5-10 drops Peppermint oil

I also really love this coffee sugar scrub!

10. Lip Balm.

Pamper those lips!

Recipe: Melt wax, honey, butter, and oil together in a glass jar or double boiler. Remove from heat and add essential oils. While still liquid, pour into a lip balm containers and cool until hardened. You can also use old mint tins or little balm jars.

1/4 Cup Beeswax
2 Teaspoons Honey
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1/4 Cup shea or cocoa butter
10 drops of essential oil (whatever you like – Peppermint, Lavender, Citrus)

These fun and easy DIY items are great for a “make and take” party too!

What’s your favorite way to use essential oils?

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Cast Iron Cookware

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January 15, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert

Cast iron cookware used to be more popular than is it today.

The cast iron from a generation ago was lighter and smoother than what we can find today. It was cast with a different quality of iron.

eBay has some lovely vintage options: Griswold, Wagner, and fun shaped roll pans. The prices are high, but worth it if you don’t have any handmedowns. Thrift stores and yard sales are also good options.

Somehow, cast iron lost popularity. Maybe because it’s bulky and heavy. Also, not dishwasher friendly. It’s ok to use water, but not soap. There are even chains and scrubbies specific for cleaning and seasoning.

Cast iron is an investment compared to some cookware at big box stores that’s cute and pretty, but needs to be replaced often.

Maybe it needs more storage space?

Cast iron has lots of great benefits and we should use it more often.

Why use cast iron?

Generally inexpensive for long lasting cookware.
Cast-iron skillets conduct heat very well and can go from stovetop to oven with no problems.
They last for a really long time.
A well-seasoned cast-iron pan is virtually nonstick so you need very little oil to cook.
They get and stay really hot which is great for searing.
You can avoid the harmful chemicals found in most nonstick pans.
It can leach some iron into your food, and that’s a good thing.
Cleaning is easy. Keep them seasoned with oil. Use boiling water to clean and never use soap or wash in dishwasher!

I can’t wait for the weather to break so we can go camping! We’re learning how to bake in cast iron dutch ovens.

What’s your favorite cast iron item?

I really, really want the iron wok!

A favorite is Lodge Cast Iron.

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