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Christmas present suggestions

December 12, 2022 Leave a Comment Filed Under: Books, Christmas, Christmas Gifts, Christmas Presents, Food, Gardens, Interiors, Shopping, Travel

Homeware:

Tala food tins

Tala started in 1899, producing Victorian kitchenware. These tins boast classic food packaging designs. I love them. Flour £7, Self-raising flour £8.95, Caster sugar £7.58, Icing sugar £6.99, Cocoa powder shaker £7.91. Or a set.

xmas gifts 2022 pic- Kerstin Rodgers - 3
xmas gifts 2022 pic- Kerstin Rodgers - 8

Label printer

I like to make lists and I like to make labels. Here is a beautiful label maker, the Niimbot B21 (Dymo you need to up your game) by Jingchen. You download an app and create your labels, which are then printed out on this sage green retro style machine.

Keep your glasses handy

Found this brand of glasses chain at the airport. I’m at that age where I don’t need glasses all the time but am short-sighted and need them for driving and er, properly seeing stuff. They are strong and vibrant. £20 from Cotivision.

xmas gifts 2022 pic- Kerstin Rodgers - 7
xmas gifts 2022 pic- Kerstin Rodgers - 2

Copper water jugs

You can buy these Ayurvedic pure copper jugs £20.18 (they become ‘charged’ with the properties of copper) or even cheaper from Indian shops in the Alperton or Wembley areas in London. They age nicely too.

Peugeot salt and pepper grinders

This brand known for cars applies similar technology to kitchenware. I’ve often lusted after the classic chrome pepper and salt grinders but these lacquered versions are a delight.

Forest Green pepper grinder £27.99

Saffron Yellow salt grinder £27.99

Striped plates

GreenSideplate.jpg
Pic Kerstin Rodgers

Slightly obsessed with all things striped right now. I found this yellow striped plate on the left in Minori, Italy this summer. Dragged it all the way back to blighty then discovered it was produced by a British firm Summerill and Bishop. So cute for food styling.

21cm avocado green striped side plate £52

28cm lemon yellow striped dinner plate £58

Travel

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Oh how I lust after these stripey vintage look suitcases. Admittedly not cheap but not as expensive as the ones from Globe-Trotter. From Hey Chesto £395

Books

Cooking with Trees by Kerstin Rodgers
xmas gifts 2022 pic- Kerstin Rodgers - 5

Books on Trees:

I’m crowdfunding my own tree book – full of recipes using tree derived ingredients, so very much food focussed. It’s called ‘Cooking with Trees’ and will be published by Unbound. You can pledge to buy a book to help get it published, from £35 for a signed hardback book. Pledge here. (Thank you so much).

Other books on trees I recommend that are already published include Trees by Paul Smith and Tree-Spotting by Ros and Nell Bennett. The first is a large coffee-table book that is beautifully designed showing intricate bark and leaf patterns, timber houses, the science, the eco-systems and the diversity. The second is a smaller, handier volume, but nonetheless equally beautiful, written by a (botanist)mother and (designer)daughter team, a guide to British trees.

Gardening:

xmas gifts 2022 pic- Kerstin Rodgers - 9
xmas gifts 2022 pic- Kerstin Rodgers - 4

Plants from Mitzi and Maud such as this Calamondine citrus plant which produces tons of fruit. Right now they are selling kumquats £60

Brilliant and readable book by Adam Alexander on the heritage and history behind certain vegetables, The Seed Detective.

Food gifts

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Fruit Cheeses:

You could do worse than buy one of my home-made fruit cheese made in vintage moulds (mould not included). They come in different sizes from small, medium or large. Most are apple/clove flavour but I have a couple of quince membrillo ones too. They take ages to make and dry out hence the price. Perfect for a decorative Christmas cheese board. They last forever too.

Small £5 (email me)

Medium £20

Large £50

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Maldon Sea Salt 

The best sea salt. Use for finishing only, not in cooking water unless you are very rich. Crumble over salads, pasta, fruit, vegetables, bread, olive oil, anything. Cameron Diaz says this was the best present she ever got.

Large tub £18.86

Barry’s Tea

The best tea from Ireland. Red-orange hued, bright, tannin but not overpoweringly so, clean flavour. Six boxes should last you a bit.

6 packs of 80 teabags. £36.64

Foodie fashion

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I love Kate Spade‘s style and the label has many food-themed accessories. I just wish I could afford them! These are in the sale right now.

Tomato coin purse £59 and Tomato canvas tote £209!

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuv Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuvio,the Christmas 🍅, which lasts up to a year fresh. It’s given boxed as gifts around Christmas being the only local fresh tomato available. It dresses all the Christmas pizzas and pastas. It’s grown on volcanic Vesuvius soil and sparsely watered. As a result it has thick skins, and a sweet intense flavour. #tomatoes #italy #naples
Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick laye Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick layer of dust over my kitchen. This will be my dining room/photography studio. Done on a whim.#unplanneddemolition
Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a n Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a nest of apricot tulle (found at portobello market). Isn’t she lovely? #granfluencer
Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is defin Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is definitely a week for soups. My friend @jimfrommanc is staying & needs his hot lunch.
Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Ven Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Venice the fresh food market sells bouquets of colourful chillies. I’ve still got mine, drying in an enamel jug. #travelandfood
The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read all about it: https://msmarmitelover.com/2022/12/christmas-in-naples.html  Got a couple of bunches hanging in my kitchen. #naples #campania #tomatoes🍅 #travelphotography
Opheliagram. This morning I photographed her in an Opheliagram. This morning I photographed her in an Italian outfit I bought in Naples on a William Morris playmat which looks great and is practical for tummy time. So many things are different about parenting now. Parents use apps to track feeding, pooing, weeing etc. You don’t bathe them anymore for the first few weeks because you want to leave the vernix ( the white waxy stuff they are covered in at birth) on their skin as long as possible. Nappies now have a line on them that turns blue if they’ve done a pee. White noise apps to help them sleep. New technology guides new parents. As well as ancient probably prehistoric customs being rediscovered. #granfluencer #grandaughter I’ve tagged in @siennamarla and @jamescalmus as the authors of this baby.
I made two dishes from one pack of white beans las I made two dishes from one pack of white beans last night. Soak, then cook with 2 stock cubes, water & a fan of bay leaves. When soft & cooked, scoop some into a soup bowl with plenty of stock, add white wine, fresh basil and or a scoop of pesto and a squeeze of lemon for soupe au pistou. Garnish with Parmesan. Today I cooked the pot until the liquid had almost disappeared and added a block of feta. I baked this in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, added @pomoragoodfood new olive oil, salt and pepper for a gigantes plaki (but with smaller beans). Eat more beans!
What to make when you have lots of leftover egg yo What to make when you have lots of leftover egg yolks after making a pavlova? Zabaglione, that classic Italian trattoria dessert made from egg yolks, sugar & tons of masala sweet wine. Whisk it up over a bain-marie or be a bit cheaty & add a teaspoon of cornflour. Strong wrists needed. #italianfood #christmasdesserts #leftovers #cooksmart
The unpackaged vegan meats. My panel of 4 ( from c The unpackaged vegan meats. My panel of 4 ( from carnivore, to recent vegetarian, to long-time vegetarian to never eaten meat (my daughter)) tasted 18. It was quite a bushtucker trial. Carnivores & vegetarians liked very different things. Full report in next weeks @hamandhigh #veganuary #vegan #vegetarian #tastetest #fakemeat #plantbasedmeat
Fake meatathon tasting taking place as my veganuar Fake meatathon tasting taking place as my veganuary column for @hamandhigh So many companies doing this now. As a longtime vegetarian I don’t want anything that tastes too much like meat. But new vegetarians and vegans may want something that tastes close as damnit to meat in order to stave off cravings? Which category are you in? Have you any favourites or dislikes? Is this just another example of ultra-processed food? Let me know in the comments #vegan #vegetarian #meatfree #veganuary
Pasta buselli al cedro. Cedro or citron is a fragr Pasta buselli al cedro. Cedro or citron is a fragrant citrus & one of the founding citrus (along with pomelo and mandarin) that created all the other citrus fruits you know about. Usually candied, it is also used in this unusual neopolitan recipe in which you soak the zest in the pasta water overnight before cooking. Post up on the blog later today. Board a Xmas present from @siennamarla #pasta #naples #cedro #citrus
My london garden ce matin My london garden ce matin
My Sacher Torte (1 word or 2?) with a difference- My Sacher Torte (1 word or 2?) with a difference- bergamot marmalade in the middle. In the @hamandhigh this week. It’s bloody delicious. #chocolatecake #feelaustria #untoldstories #vienna #sachertorte
These are Mela Annurca apples, ‘mel’anurca’ These are Mela Annurca apples, ‘mel’anurca’ in Neapolitan dialect. They are a Christmas apple, in season now. I bought this little model basket of apples in San Gregorio di Armenia street in Naples where every year neopolitans buy something to add to their ‘presepe’ or nativity scene. Often scenes from markets to add to the expensive, anything from 500 euros to 5000 euros nativity crèches. Around Christmas this street is packed (watch out for pickpockets) with locals and tourist picking out their addition to the scene. Melanurca apples are picked in September then laid on the ground to ripen, turning them every day by hand, to ensure all sides transform from a yellow green into a Wicked Witch red. They are very healthy, particularly for your hair, according to scientists at the university of Naples. #naples #neopolitanchristmas #melanurca  #food #travel #sangregorioarmeno #presepenapoletano #nativityscenes
The Christmas tomato 🍅 or piennolo di vesuvio, The Christmas tomato 🍅 or piennolo di vesuvio, a local tomato that is sold around Christmas in Naples. It is grown with very little irrigation and lasts fresh up to a year. Hence it is used for tomato based Christmas dishes. This tomato has a thick skin and is really intense in flavour. It hangs outside grocers, on balconies, in kitchens, having been braided by ladies into bunches of 1.5 kilos. Each costs 15 euros. I went to visit the farmers and the ladies skilfully tying the tomatoes into clusters, using the vines to fasten them, like cherries. Boxed, these are given as gifts. Reel on the way! #naples #christmas #tomatoes #travel #food
Travel: how I pack. I choose one colour as well as Travel: how I pack. I choose one colour as well as black and white and stick to that palette. For Sicily & Naples I’m doing red, white & black. I’ve bought @coti_vision red glasses chain, a red beret & a black one, a pair of red @snagtights & a black pair, a red hair clasp, a red & white pair of shoes (25 euros, leather from Naples), a red & white dress, a black & white striped dress, and so on. Do you roll? Do you flatten & spread? Do you fold? How do you pack? A few days before I leave I leave my suitcase open in my bedroom and every time I think of something I need to take I sling it in there. ( like adaptors) Last thing is wash bag ( I have a hanging one which is useful) and coat (red for this trip). Basically I colour code my life. When I did the Camino everything was blue & yellow, the colours of the Camino. When I went to Ireland I took all my green clothes ( I don’t have many). If I go on a boat trip I pack blue and white. #packing #colourcoding #travel #mysuitcase
Ruota di pesce spada. A glorious oven baked Sicili Ruota di pesce spada. A glorious oven baked Sicilian fish dish, baked on onions, studded with garlic cloves wrapped in mint leaves, then more onions, capers, olives, oregano & rosemary. Use a thick central slice of swordfish (where can I get that in london?). I’m tasting grillo & Nero d’avola wines @tenutorapitala about an hour inland from Palermo. The owner is the last count Bernard de La gatinais. He has 3 daughters. He’s French (Brittany) and Sicilian. He spoke about how difficult it has been for wine growers since lockdown- so many restaurants closed. Now they are grappling with high energy & fuel costs. ##winesofsicilia #siciliaDOC #wine #travel #sicily
I love Venice. I love Maneskin. I love Italy. I lo I love Venice. I love Maneskin. I love Italy. I love boats and water. #biennalearte2022
London cure smoked salmon from @formanandfield wit London cure smoked salmon from @formanandfield with mikawa citrus (cross between mandarin & pomelo) and home pickled green peppercorns on a plate I bought in minori Italy. #londonfood #citrus #sundaylunch
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