Gift Ideas for Valentine's Day (or for Yourself)
Updated: Feb 13
We'll be featuring various gift ideas over the next few days leading up to February 14. Starting it off, something to warm everyone up during these chilly days.
Awesome, Eh
We've been getting a lot of the white stuff in the Northeast and that has meant a lot of shoveling in our mukluks. So we want to underscore: they are fantastic. Warm, dry and better than many boots we've tested over the years--and an awesome Valentine's Day gift.
Mukluks, for the uninitiated, are the traditional footwear created by indigenous peoples who are expert at surviving the cold northern reaches of Canada. You can get these mukluks, in an updated form, from Manitobah, which is based in Winnipeg. The boots we have been testing and fallen in love with are the Tundra Mukluks, a lace-up pair with waterproof leather and a glue-like rubber sole the company calls "Glacier Grip." The shearling lining makes these some of the most comfortable boots we've ever worn, as does the natural moccasin fit, which means there is no left or right foot. The more you wear them, the more they conform to your particular feet. (Tip: I put a hidden L and R mark inside the boots when I'm breaking them in.) They are so good, the mukluks almost make me want to go out and shovel more snow. (NB: their slippers are also great!)
We spend much of this time of year ensconced on the couch, enjoying the warmth of large Defiant wood stove and a view of the snowy outdoors. It's all rosy and idyllic, save for one problem: it's dry as a desert.
Fortunately, there is a simple country solution: a cast iron pot full of steaming water that sits on the wood stove. But the old one we've been using to humidify has rusted and become stained, an eyesore that mars the cozy winter living room glow. Enter the G Good Gain Wood Stove Steamer, a perfect Valentine's Day present that encourages snuggling up together. The cast iron steamer has a smooth red ceramic finish that adds a nice dash of color to our furnishings, and it holds plenty of water, 2.5 gallons, so you don't have to keep refilling it. And when you do have to refill it, it's easy to pour more into the wide opening (versus our old pot that you had to bring to the sink using welding gloves).
One additional tip: add potpourri to the water for an even more romantic effect.
The original stalwart of slow cookers, the Crock-Pot has deservedly maintained a solid reputation as a reliable, durable performer for generations. This model has a digital timer to help make it easier to program. You can set the timing from 30 minutes to 20 hours, plenty of flexibility no matter how late you like to sleep in. Most slow-cooker recipes are also tailored to the 6-quart size, so you don't have to make adjustments.
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