I took Rob to an orthodontist appointment yesterday, and the orthodontist said to make the next appointment in 8-9 weeks. The receptionist said, “All right, so that brings us into January….” Do you realize what this means? In 8-9 weeks, the holiday season will be over. OVER. We do not have much time. Except for panicking: we have plenty of time for panicking.
I’m going to start by unloading a list I’ve been keeping for awhile of gift ideas that don’t seem to fit with other lists.
My sister-in-law bought me a bag of Choffy: she thought to herself, “Ooo, fun product! I want to try it! Who would want to try it with me?” ME. I DID. This is ODD STUFF. Picture coffee beans, and how they’re ground up, and then you make coffee out of them. This is the same thing, BUT WITH CACAO BEANS. The same beans used to make chocolate. Just let that sink in for a minute: it’s like making coffee, except you use GROUND-UP CHOCOLATE BEANS.
It takes a little getting used to, because if you’re like me you will be expecting hot chocolate, and it’s not hot chocolate. It’s more like….coffee. Made of chocolate beans. There is a definite chocolate flavor, almost like eating baking chocolate. But the liquid isn’t thick/creamy like hot chocolate, it’s thin/translucent like coffee, and it’s not sweet. My sister-in-law likes to add sweetened vanilla creamer, which is DELICIOUS and makes it more like a very dark hot chocolate. I like it that way, but I also like it with just milk, or plain. I also like to make a pot of coffee with half coffee grounds and half Choffy.
I think it’s best when made in a French press (though I’ve also made it in the regular coffee pot), so a good gift idea would be a bag of Choffy and a French press.
I asked my sister-in-law if my guitar-strumming brother would want one of these ThinkGeek guitar-pick punches for Christmas. She said yes, he would have—except that he’d already bought one for himself, and had liked it so much he also bought one for each of his musical friends. It lets you make guitar picks out of old credit cards or old customer cards or whatever. Cool AND fun AND reuses a very small amount of plastic!
Paul bought me two pounds of pens from American Science & Surplus as a gift, and I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. It’s an assortment of advertising pens that didn’t get printed quite right (typos or ink-quality problems), and I got some from a funeral home, some from a horse-riding place, some from a church, some from a bank. I put them on my wish list again this year, because we lose pens like crazy and I love being able to just reach into my big bag o’ pens to get a new one.
Please don’t get me an anatomy coloring book for Christmas; I would be so grossed out. But doesn’t it seem like a cool idea for SOMEONE?? There’s also a veterinary version.
My BIL roasts his own coffee beans. I can see I need to buy him some raw cacao beans, STAT.
Nowheymama | November 9th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
OK, that choffy stuff looks delish! I also want to buy myself the pens.
Devan | November 9th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
I’ve now made it my mission to try some choffy.
Saly | November 9th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
I took gross anatomy in school and the colouring book was one of the textbooks for the course. Seeing it listed here brings back memories. Mostly of smelling like formaldehyde and spending an entire semester memorizing the origins & insertions of muscles. (Not all GOOD memories, is what I’m saying…)
Carmen | November 9th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Hmmm, where does one buy Choffy? Only from that one website?
Misty | November 9th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Oh, my, I just couln’t resist the impulse purchase on this one and ordered a bag of the Choffy. I can’t wait to get it!
Swistle have you ever done a list of gifts for the family holiday exchange? I kind of poked around your archives but didn’t see one. We do a Christmas gift exchange in our family, and the gift is supposed to be appropriate from anyone from my 80-something grandparents down to my 20-something cousin and everyone in between (basically once you are out of high school, you’re in the exchange). It stumps me every single year. And we don’t draw names in advance, so you can’t shop for a specific person in mind. Aieee! Though I may just order more Choffy if I like it when it arrives!
Kristin | November 9th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Misty- I think so, although I’ll bet it’ll soon be available elsewhere—or that other versions will be.
swistle | November 9th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Kristin- Ha ha! That DOES sound impossible! Let me see if I can think of anything!
swistle | November 9th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
I love Choffy.
Also, Kristin: we had a gift exchange at work a couple years ago, where one did not know the age or sex of the recipient, and someone brought those Eagle Creek travel sack things & I thought those were a great idea.
Frondly | November 11th, 2011 at 7:44 pm
pinned the pick-punch to my Pinterest present page! Perfect for my partner!
(Okay, normally I would have used board instead of page and husband instead of partner, but can you blame me?)
Karen L | November 12th, 2011 at 6:30 am
I picked up a coloring book like that on clearance at the school supply store and I LOVE it!! It’s got about a 2-paragraph education that goes with each coloring page. Super fun and I get to count it as science for my 2nd grader!
vegas710 | November 12th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Ha! We are considering the anatomy coloring book for my 4th grader who intends to be a scientist specializing in anatomy, although what she will do with such a specialty is beyond all of us.
Good to know to not also send a copy to you!
Anonymous | November 12th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
I love your lists, Swistle! And less than 8 weeks- aack, aack aaaaaccckkk! Please do many many more of these posts. Maybe even something for a family of 6 kids, ages 2-12 …
Kris | November 15th, 2011 at 2:51 am