If you have anyone in on your Christmas shopping list that you don’t know what to get them, a Cloud 9 Living gift certificate is the perfect gift.  This is like no gift certificate that you have ever have given or received.  Instead of getting something, your person gets to chose an experience, and there are over 1,700 experiences to choose from using their gift certificate.  You can choose everything from dinner cruises to cooking classes to racing Nextel Cup Style Stockcars to hot air balloon rides.  There is truly something for everyone.  You can buy certificates as low as $40 all the way up to $100,000.  80% of the experiences are under $500 and 50% of experiences are under $200.  Cloud 9 Living has partnered with companies like Land Rover, BMW, and ESPN Golf School to ensure that you have an excellent experience.  Some more experiences you can pick from include the CSI Experience (now, my birthday is in March if anyone would like to get me that), drive a stockcar, walking food tours, helicopter tours, bull riding lessons, segway tours, chef for a day, trapeze lessons, etc.  Some of the VIP experiences include star in your own film, formula one racing, golf with a PGA Pro, and flying a Russion MIG.

If you want to give a gift that noone will forget, Cloud 9 Living is the way to go.  Instead of “stuff”, you are able to give an experience of a lifetime.

Another cooking blog I came across that you need to check out is Cooking With Kimberly.  The first thing that will catch your attention with this blog is her beautiful header.  There is so much food in there that I couldn’t even name it all.  It is a great attention getter.  Some of the other things you really need to check out is some of her advice posts.  I personally enjoyed the one on how to peel an onion.  I’ll be honest, I never thought of doing it this way.  It is defintely something I will be trying the next time I have to make something that has onions in it.  Her category listing also makes it very easy to find what you are looking for on her blog (makes me want to recategorize my cooking blog!).  She even has cool food gifts! If you are looking for a great cooking blog to check out, this is your one stop shop!  There is a little something for everyone (except if you are looking for instructions on speaker mounting — that one you’ll need a home improvement blog!).

I am always on the lookout for other cooking blogs and they are much easier to find than say a bus for sale. I am always on the lookout for a great recipe for my family to try. Select Visions does not disappoint.  I found recipes for Spinach Mushroom burgers and a link to Pepsi Chicken that I know we are going to try!  If you want a place to check out for recipes for your family, Select Vision is your stop.

One of my favorite recipe blogs is Lori’s My Wooden Spoon. It is a great place to go for a Key Lime Pie recipe or some of the greatest contests ever. She is always willing to lend a hand and answer any question you may have. She has the best pictures when she shows you how to make the various recipes. I wish I had the time to do that with my cooking blog (I think two little ones hanging off me makes it a tad more difficult). She also has the funniest tag line ever: Where it’s perfectly legal to use a little pot. I giggle every time I see that (is that wrong?). I also love that with her recent contests she is also giving a wooden spoon as part of the grand prize. It is just so fitting. If you want to read a great cooking/recipe blog, My Wooden Spoon is your one stop shop.

This is my brand new microwave. Isn’t it awesome? It is a one of those over the range microwaves that allow you to run a fan and have some extra light over your stove. It has 1,000 cooking watts, 10 power levels, electronic touch controls, and a precision cooking system. This has been the best microwave I have ever owned. To make my top ten list, it has to make popcorn without burning it. This seems to be a hard test. I have never owned one before that actually didn’t burn my popcorn. Granted, this kind of popcorn isn’t as good as popcorn made with popcorn machines, but I don’t have time for that. This ones passes the test. It is awesome! Almost all the kernels pop, and it isn’t burnt! Mounting this one wasn’t difficult either. I think it took Bill and my brother in law about fifteen minutes. If you are in the market, this Maytag is one you should get!

The one gift that I thought I would never want, because we would never use it is our George Foreman Grill. Honestly, I never dreamt in a million years that we would use it as much as we do!  It makes dinner so much easier and healthier.  I love that you can see the fat draining off your food.  However, your food remains just as tasty if not more so.  We often season our steaks and burgers right on the grill.  It doesn’t heat up your entire house, and cleanup is a breeze.  All you have to do is take a wet cloth to it.  We have made things like hot dogs, brats, steaks, chicken breasts, and hamburgers on there.  I even know people who have done bacon!  This is a must have in everyone’s kitchens!