I am so tempted...

So, the holiday season is ended, and while I love Christmas whole-heartedly, I must admit to feeling some relief in the seeming austerity of a living room without a tree and garland.  Now the pressure is off, and I get to sit back and enjoy the many wonderful kitchen and food related gifts I was lucky enough to receive.  This years haul included a gorgeous pasta pot, an adorable bouchon baking pan, a potato ricer, an orange mini food processor (to match the orange stand mixer, hand mixer and toaster I already have), a set of cheese knives, appetizer plates, and cute red ramekins that are still awaiting inspiration for their initial use. I am grateful for all of it.

As if that weren't enough, I find myself in possesion of gift cards to Williams-Sonoma, Sur la Table, Amazon and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  Obviously, I have spent many hours in the past two weeks browsing online and in stores pondering how best to spend my funds in the pursuit of culinary happiness.  I must admit to being tempted by many, many things that I am sure I don't need and probably don't have room for, but they are just so cool.  Since last summer I have been coveting one of those single cup coffee makers that use the K cups.  Like the Keurig, but not that one.  I have narrowed my choices to the Cuisinart or Breville models which take up a huge amount of counter space, need to heat up for 20 minutes before they "instantly" make coffee, and make a pretty watery brew.  But they are so cute! Those K cups make me irrationally excited, especially when there is a variety in the little metal carousel.  Just from the past couple of sentences, I am sure you can tell that the ongoing war in my head is unlikely to end any time soon.

So, setting that aside, my thoughts turn to the other sparkly, shiny appliances that could be bought.  Maybe I need the orange ice cream maker.  So what if our ice cream maker is only two years old and has been used maybe two dozen times? Okay, fine, maybe the ice cream maker isn't really necessary, so how about the orange colored Cuisinart juicer? Just because I have never juiced anything other than an orange, don't really like juice and have absolutely no use for the machine isn't a good reason not to get it, is it? I could go so last year and buy a sandwich press or a pressure cooker, but the legion of food magazines I subscribe to have already moved on to better, newer machines.

Even I am a little afraid to try sous-vide at home.  It is strange and unnatural and I can't wrap my head around it, plus the machines are still a little "industrial" for my taste. Oooh, how about one of those soda making machines! They are everywhere lately, and Food and Wine had a recipe for ginger and lemongrass soda just this month.  I know I don't drink soda, but maybe I would if I made it myself and I knew that it wasn't straight corn syrup.  Yeah, a soda maker, that's totally useful! I am sure that as a food and technology junkie, I am the target market for this life-changing product.

And so I find myself wandering store aisles, clutching a fistful of gift cards, wondering if I should make the purchase or wait for the next great thing, paralyzed by an overwhelming amount of choice.  I will probably return to these stores many more times over the coming months, hoping this is the time I will be brave, I will make the buy, I will go home to gastronomic delights previously impossible to make.  Until then, at least I enjoy the shopping.