Archive: Gifts
A Memo to Santa
I'm really not one for gifts. Ask my mother -- it drives her crazy. This is one of the main reasons the O'Donnel family has gathered in Key West this week -- the sunny, 80-degree weather while the rest of the country runs for ice-storm cover is the best Christmas gift of all. We made a pact that there would be no gift exchange this year -- and instead would exchange the gift of each other's presence. So far, it's working out, and we're having a ball, eating dinner together for the first time in six years, laughing out loud and playing Scrabble out on the patio, a game at which certain unnamed family members like to cheat and create words not yet in the English dictionary. Mister MA and I also made a similar pact, but he often bends the rules because he loves buying gifts. What can I...
By Kim ODonnel | December 12, 2007; 10:03 AM ET | Comments (8)
Mighty Appetite Wish List
I'm really not one for gifts. Ask my mother -- it drives her crazy. This is one of the main reasons the O'Donnel family has gathered in Key West this week -- the sunny, 80-degree weather while the rest of the country runs for ice-storm cover is the best Christmas gift of all. We made a pact that there would be no gift exchange this year -- and instead would exchange the gift of each other's presence. So far, it's working out, and we're having a ball, eating dinner together for the first time in six years, laughing out loud and playing Scrabble out on the patio, a game at which certain unnamed family members like to cheat and create words not yet in the English dictionary. Mister MA and I also made a similar pact, but he often bends the rules because he loves buying gifts. What can I...
By Kim ODonnel | December 12, 2007; 09:03 AM ET | Email a Comment
Culin-thropic Holiday Gifts
'Tis the season for giving and gifting -- so today and perhaps tomorrow, I'll share a grab bag of ideas that may come in handy over the next few weeks. As fellow cooks and food-centric folk, you understand the altruistic power of a home-cooked meal and how it can warm the cockles of even the grinchiest of hearts. The sharing of food is an expression of love, whether you are giver or recipient, and it is transcends all other forms of communication because it is a universal language and it connects us all, from trailer to mansion, desert to tundra, Alaska to Zimbabwe. The idea of cooking for someone you love (or even just met) has been shared in this space before, and one that I encourage all of us to entertain as often as the muse allows. But there are other ways to spread the good vibrations -- and...
By Kim ODonnel | December 11, 2007; 09:12 AM ET | Comments (1)
