Top 10 Food Geek Gifts 2008

The Christmas shopping season is upon us and that means its time to find the perfect  present for the food geek in your life.  The list below include some of my favorite socket stuffers for 2008. 

 

Space Invaders Cutting Board

This is probably my favorite item on the list this year!  This very clever cutting board uses dark and light end-grain “pixels” to represent those pesky aliens from the classic video game Space Invaders.  Also, it gives you an excuse to make the PEW PEW noise when cutting vegetables.  Now, if they could only build a Leisure Suit Larry cutting board…

$129.99 from ThinkGeek

 

 

 

300-Watt Cruzin Cooler

If there is a better way to drink and drive, I’ve never seen it.  This motorized cooler travels up to 15 miles on a single charge.  That’ll get you far enough away that you won’t recognize anything when you wake up naked and covered mustard outside a Dunkin Donuts off the Jersey turnpike.  With a maximum load of 210 pounds (you plus your chilled Chardonnay), it won’t haul your lazy ass up any steep hills, but you should be able to smoke those Rascal drivers on the quarter mile.

$399 from Smarthome

 

 

Infinite Circulon Portable Induction Burner

Folks, we’re living in the future.  This induction burner is a portable, heatless, electric cooktop, which must have been sent back through time from the year 2025, at least.  Induction cooking uses a yet-to-be-discovered principle of electromagnetics whereby a strong magnetic field in the thingamajigie causes heat due to some electrical resistance voodoo in the bottom of your frying pan.  The result?  Heat with 90% energy effeciency.  Now, if we can only reduce our dependency on foreign olive oil…

$244.31 from Amazon

 

 

Good Chemistry Salt & Pepper Shakers

Proudly declare your geekdom with these sodium chloride and  Pe +(Pe)r shakers.  After all, cooking is chemistry, so why not make your kitchen look more like a laboratory?  Order a whole mess of these things and keep them neatly arranged in a crystal formation. 

$14.99 from ThinkGeek

 

 

Salt: A World History

Just can’t get enough Salt?  I sure can’t.  This book discusses the profound impact that salt and the salt industry have had on world civilizations since, uh, a lot BC.  From the production and harvest of salt, to salt’s use as currency, to our modern-day culinary love affair with the compound, this book is a fascinating read.  And, when you’re done, you can use the pages to kill snails.

$10.29 from Amazon

 

 

 

Geek Shot Glass

If 1 out of 10 geeks suffer from alcoholism, does that mean the other 9 enjoy it?  If so, its probably because they one one of these sweet geek shot glasses!  Use them for your next happy hour, all-night coding session, or anytime you’re drinking with the other Matheletes. 

 

$3.99 from ThinkGeek

 

 

 

Star Wars Cookbooks

That’s right, there are multiple Star Wars cookbooks.  And you can have them both!  Learn how to make Jedi Juice Bars, Dark Side Salsa, Boba Fett-Uccine, and more delicious meals to eat by myself in my mother’s basement, er, I mean, to cook for dates.  With women.  Real life ones. 

$14.99 from ThinkGeek

 

 

Deni LED Cake Tray with Lid

OMG, OMG, OMG.  This has got to be one of the all time most superfluous kitchen gadgets I’ve ever seen.  Which means it’s perfect for the food geek in your life.  Just place your cake in the middle, then use the buttons to select between 2 and 12 slices.  LED lights on the outer ring shows you where to cut.  And, if that isn’t reason enough to buy this breakthrough digital portioning system, it even plays “Happy Birthday”.

$39.99 from Amazon

 

 

 

Cuisinart Brick Oven with Rotisserie

I’ve been drooling over these toaster ovens since they first came on the scene.  With a .9 cubic foot capacity, this little oven is perfect for smaller jobs like pizzas, casseroles, and shrinky-dinks.  Plus, the ceramic brick-lined interior promises even cooking, and the 500-degree temperature means you can tandori the night away!  The built-in rotisserie is another reason to keep your big oven off.  We are in an energy crisis, you know.

$279.99 from Amazon

 

 

 

Sylvania LED Fiber Optic Lighted Table Runner

Are your Star Trek: The Next Generation-themed dinner parties lacking a certain flair?  You’ve got the costumes, the 3D chess set, even a sage, black ex-comedian to dispense advice and lend a friendly ear.  But something’s still missing… a fiber optic table runner!  Fret no more, Ensign Billy.  You may now boldly decorate as no man has decorated before.

$85.99 from Smarthome