HOLIDAY PRESENTS OH ELEVEN

i got a galley copy of the Will Hermes book, but put it on my xmas list anyway because the cover art was so nice

xp I'd bet that's true, but it must have had to do with LC being European and therefore prestigious to Americans, somehow? Also getting to the market WAY before Lodge--I just had a look at the latter's website, and it's not very well-designed, items don't come in all colors, and there aren't many colors to start with. They could have identified and gone after the yuppie market years ago but their site won't even let you click on photos! Having a poor website for your retail item is just throwing money away.

le creuset french oven

never heard of it, but i pay about negative 46 attention to the french oven scene

It's never occurred to me to look at Lodge's own website -- I always check prices at Amazon.

the outlet prices are pretty damn good - mine was around $130 for a 4.5 qt round oven. the 7 qt one was even cheaper than that, but it was a bit too big for me.

i got some things.

like the pkd exegesis
h.p. lovecraft letters vol. 1
dream quest of unknown kadath 1st standalone printing
comics like black hole, fat freddy's cat, and modesty blaise.
i got a jacket for my birthday.
i got some socks
and swedish fish
and a game about being a werewolf?
and some eco-friendly playing cards
star trek mug
star trek t-shirt
star wars boxer shorts

will someone plz sing the praises of le creuset and what makes it so nice?

enameled cast iron v easy to clean, super beautifully conductive, everything browns and cooks and braises so well and colors make them v pleasing to look at.

I love reg cast iron & stoneware too, but LC is just kind of classic. Makes my kitchen feel older, and reminds me of my grandma and all her ye olde utensils & cookware

chocolate
a shirt
more chocolate
a sweater
carcassonne
and also one garden centre voucher with which I'm gonna buy me a god damn pond

carcassonne?

I think the benefits of LC are the same as those of all enameled cast iron cookware. But some of the other available brands are clearly knock-offs of LC at lower price points, and after applying high heat, browning, washing, etc, the enamel gets damaged and cracks or flakes. LC, otoh, used to have a life-time warranty where you could return any piece with damaged enamel to them to be re-coated for free. (I imagine, like other luxury/top-quality products that have gone mass market, that the lifetime warranty is either invalid now or has some many limitations that it might as well be?)

http://www.irawoods.com/Le-Creuset-Warranty-Information

Staub is pretty good upmarket French cast iron cookware, too. My LC dutch oven is pretty old and as perfectly functional as ever. I've been in kitchens in France where some of the LC cookware dated back to the 50's or older.

carcassonne?

it's a board game sorta thing. think it's german? basically you have to lay tiles down to build roads and cities and stuff. looks simple enough to play with the kids but also looks like you can also get deep enough into strategy if you want to play more seriously

not the city in france then, ok

Jumper
Two scarfs
Loads of chocolate
Bodywash, face scrub, stuff like that (some nice, some meh)
Journal
Book with all the photos of Alfred Stieglitz and his Camera Work magazine from 1900-1920s (win)

why did they stop calling them dutch ovens?

they started making them in france

Don't they call them Dutch ovens in the US anymore?

whiney calls them british ovens

They do prepare blood sausages best tbh

I always thought "Dutch oven" was strictly US terminology.

It is, although wikipedia taught me tonight it was a British person in 1704 copying the Dutch pans and exporting them to America where they became known as Dutch ovens. Plus, "The name has lived on for more than 300 years".

sweater
chamois shirt
pizza stone (!!!)
mess o books - the singapore grip, my early years by churchill, letters of sacco & vanzetti, rashomon & other stories
tiny bottles of maker's mark & hennessy
socks

PS3 Skyrim
an Edna Crabapple + desk + accesories Simpsons toy (sort of an in joke)
set of coffee mugs that stack up to form a stylized geisha image down their sides
espresso glasses (man, I know I drink coffee but geez guys)
ABC Shop giftcard
small bar of Lush solid shampoo from Lush-employed friend
various bottles of wine, if bringing them to xmas eve party counts I guess

letters of sacco & vanzetti

Ohhh, great gift, great book!

black beret (!), paisley shirt, pair of grey cord trousers. couple belts. also a cookbook by "revolutionary" chef alice waters. and one of those vacuum-seal things for open wine bottles. all very practical and appreciated.

pizza stone (!!!)

Nice!