I Wish I May, I Wish I Might…

As Scott and I seem to be on a roll moving every year like clockwork, we’ve pared our kitchen wares down to the essentials.

Gone are four different types of whisks, extra pans and cutting boards, and the like. I’m already keeping our next move in mind, as I mentally inventory the cabinets each time I reach for a coffee cup or plate, wondering which bowls could really be chucked in the next inevitable move (Yes, Scott, I’m talking about your chipped pasta set from Pier One. You know I am right, so don’t even try to play).

I used to go into places like World Market, Pottery Barn, Target, TJ Maxx (all hail the Maxx!) and other specialty home goods stores and go nuts in their kitchen sections, snatching up cute dessert plates, funky silverware, cocktail and bar ware, and red tag items that looked like they might be useful or the very least so incredibly fabulous just being in my possession.

Now I don’t even make it to the checkout counters at these places, instead lusting after the items on the shelves and discount bins and dutifully reminding myself that though these precious little items might be wonderful to own, they’d just become more junk I have to wrap and shove into boxes and bitch about unpacking later on.

Despite this inner tug of war, here’s my confession of the day: I still want stuff.

Me, married to the ultra-minimalist - the man who gives lip balm and body lotion as gifts (hello, future blog material!) – does want things. Which is so hypocritical, considering this Christmas I’m giving to friends and family some pretty paltry presents – stuff Scott and I made ourselves and no, I am not telling what they are. If you receive one, just smile real big, nod graciously, say “Thanks,” and then make fun of us later behind our backs. That’s exactly what I would do, too.

So…here ‘tis: My Wish List
- Lodge Cast-Iron Frying Pan – I’m Southern and skillet-deprived. How in the hell did THAT
happen?
- Le Creuset anything or
- All-Clad everything
- A KitchenAid Food Processor, in Empire Red of course. I’m presently using my blender for
any recipe that calls for chopping/mixing in a food processor but I recognize the blender has
limitations.
- A baking sheet that doesn’t brown up and look awful after the first use.
- A real toaster – we have a Black & Decker toaster oven that takes up 45 percent of our
counter space, doesn’t really toast both sides of anything you put in there, and that is so not
cool.
- Vintage oil cloth tablecloth. A fruit or flower print is best – like this one.
- More Cookbooks. I’m not discerning – I’m a whore for them. Well, I gave my Rachel Ray one
to Goodwill – sorry Ray-Ray. Maybe I am slightly picky.

And whew…there it is. Not too bad, right? I don’t expect any of these things under my Christmas tree. I just dream about them at night the way some people dream of lotto wins, Caribbean cruises, or liposuction.

Yeah, I just typed liposuction. Sick.

Anyway, Merry Christmas - Hope you get what you dream for, sugar plums and all!