I have to take a quick moment to brag about the birthday presents I received this year. There were many beautiful and thoughtful gifts and I love them all. Thank you!
My birthday wish came true and I got a thermapen. Yes, A THERMAPEN. After screaming for a few seconds, I ran around taking the temperature of the air, the ground and generally anything that was soft enough to poke a needle into. The thermapen is ridiculously expensive, but the fact that it can take a temperature reading IN 4 SECONDS FLAT is truly amazing. It even came with calibration papers. CALIBRATION PAPERS! I love it more than anyone in their right mind should love a thermometer. I kind of want to carry it around in my bag and whip it out at restaurants. Okay, not really.
I also received the National Association of Meat Purveyors (NAMP) Meat Buyers Guide. Not only is it oh-so stylish, but it’s useful as well, with wonderful drawings of nearly every type of meat/poultry cut you can imagine.
My brother and his girlfriend flew in from NY for my birthday and brought a wonderful and amazing range of foodstuffs from their neighborhood: chili peppers, dried hibiscus, tamarind paste, purple corn pudding, purple drink, huitlacoche (!), Quesos Zurita Oaxacan string cheese, longaniza, mole, yellow hot pepper paste, unknown (and unlabeled) spices, chili candy and more. I’m going to have fun finding recipes for all these ingredients!
Lastly, I received some money from my dad and decided to follow my own advice. I bought a beautiful, beautiful, blue doufeu off eBay, which I expect to receive any day now. Oh yeah.
Man, I’m so jealous!! A thermapen!! Maybe I should do a post about one on my blog so that my wife will catch the hint!
Ha ha! You totally should… it worked like a charm for me ;)
Megan,
That’s all very nice stuff, blah blah, blah….
Now. Where do I get Meat Buyers Guide. Huh? Please?
Kevin—what do you mean I’m an enabler?
Ha ha! Yes, the Meat Buyers Guide rocks. I actually found a new version at Amazon, but it doesn’t look as cool: Meat Buyers Guide
Maybe try used book stores?
Meg—OMG. I totally HEART iheartbacon! I just read your note on my blog and was laughing out loud. Happy birthday, by the way! Glad to hear that you’re enjoying your new present. And if loving a thermometer so much is wrong, I don’t want to be right. It’s fun, no? Watch out, though, it can get addictive. My husband is making noises about an infrared thermometer next. Can you imagine the possibilities?
Ha ha! Thanks Conny. I’m really loving my new thermometer and I agree… if it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.
I see Alton Brown with his fancy infrared deal, but I wonder how useful it is to know how hot a pan is? If it took internal temperatures I’d be all over that. If you get one, let me know how you like it!