ATOT SECRET SANTA 2016 GIFT THREAD

[msi1337]

Here is the thread to show what you got for the ATOT Secret Santa 2016!

I will start with what I got! First and foremost, thank you so much to my SS. Very cool stuff!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

So my SS gave me a present for every day starting today till the 25th

Hints I have so far for SS.
-Night Crew
-Knows about Old's basement

Dec 14 - Horseball (Probably will be used during Alumni Days at the fraternity house)
Dec 15 - Thermos (I've actually wanted one for a while now)
Dec 16 - Book on Bitcoin (I haven't read a book in ages but I will read it)
Dec 17 - RFID blocking wallet (Needed a new wallet for a while now so gonna put it to good use)
Dec 18 - Miracle Berries (Always wanted to try these)
Dec 19 - Totally forgot what I got, will update when I figure it out
Dec 20 - Foot Hammock (I'll try to use this at the apartment)
Dec 21 - Tiny Drone (I'm gonna be using this to mess with people)
Dec 22 - Earmuffs (Currently wearing them)
Dec 23 - Frisbee
Dec 24 - Lifer Shirt (lit)

Today an additional package came meant for Dec 25. Holy shit there's a lot of stuff in here.
Dec 25: Metric ton of candy and homemade goodies (literally a metric ton of candy)

 

[jlee]

Mine came in today - a friendly card and a nicely wrapped copy of Fallout 4 for PS4. Thanks SS!

 

[Brainonska511]

My secret santa gave me some Ugandan biographies - well, not really. More like a Stiriling engine car. Haven't tried it out yet, but I will soon. Thanks secret santa!

 

[Crono]

Santa got me a fantastic assortment of gifts.

My Santa may be psychic: I needed a pocketable flashlight (usually use my phone, but temporarily using a Moto E with no flash); my new wallet no longer has room for my old, foldable card knife; and I've been missing having a bluetooth speaker (someone either took or sold mine during a tag sale - shower unit is perfect since I do listen to a lot of music/podcasts everywhere, including the bathroom).

I honestly would have been happy with just the tea and/or coffee - I'm easy that way - but the treats and everything on top of that is really awesome. Gonna start reading the book while sipping on the tea to start with.

Thanks, Santa! :wub:

 

[Fritzo]

Thanks SS! Already tried one of the sauce recipes from the book- came out great! I'll also be able to restring my guitars while eating an unreasonable amount of Smarties

 

[Anubis]

Here is the thread to show what you got for the ATOT Secret Santa 2016!

I will start with what I got! First and foremost, thank you so much to my SS. Very cool stuff!

i think you should ask santa for a better camera in the future

 

[CraKaJaX]

Thanks SS! Already tried one of the sauce recipes from the book- came out great! I'll also be able to restring my guitars while eating an unreasonable amount of Smarties

lol. Those things seem so dumb to me, but every time I restring I'm just like ..... that would be SO NICE right now. And they're like a dollar on top of it all. Meh. Maybe I'll have one in my stocking this year.

 

[SKORPI0]

Received Dec 15th, thanks SS.

 

[shortylickens]

are ANY of you going to wait for christmas morning?

 

[Kaido]

are ANY of you going to wait for christmas morning?

Christmas Eve for me!

 

[Fritzo]

lol. Those things seem so dumb to me, but every time I restring I'm just like ..... that would be SO NICE right now. And they're like a dollar on top of it all. Meh. Maybe I'll have one in my stocking this year.

The dollar ones don't work- they wobble and you can't wind the strings with any accuracy. The nicer ones actually have a string cutter and a peg-popper (for acoustic guitars)

 

[Fritzo]

are ANY of you going to wait for christmas morning?

What are you...COMMUNIST????

 

[Anubis]

are ANY of you going to wait for christmas morning?

I got like 5 boxes here from my SS - most things were gift wrapped inside, only thing that was not was a Destiny keychain - everything else will be opened on xmass day

 

[Red Squirrel]

Here's mine! Magnetic picture frame and some chocolates which you probably won't want to see in their current state. (they were very delicious)



My SS said it was expensive to ship to me so had to try to keep the package small.

Also I may have screwed up when I sent mine. Did not realize it had to be kept secret even when the person gets the gift. Though I'm pretty sure it would have been easy to figure out anyway... There's not that many of us from Canada.

 

[shortylickens]

GOT A BOX!

Will wait until Sunday to open it. I'm not like YOU little bastards.

 

[msi1337]

The camera comment is so funny and so true! My turd HTC phone is the worst.

i think you should ask santa for a better camera in the future

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Also I may have screwed up when I sent mine. Did not realize it had to be kept secret even when the person gets the gift. Though I'm pretty sure it would have been easy to figure out anyway... There's not that many of us from Canada.

No screw up. It's sender's option if they want to reveal themselves or not. You are fine.

 

[shortylickens]

Yeah but in all previous years you always revealed all the senders, haven you not?

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Yeah but in all previous years you always revealed all the senders, haven you not?

Yes. They will be revealed after Christmas. Some people choose to reveal themselves beforehand, meaning those who open their gifts before Christmas get a head start.

 

[tailes151]

My Secret Santa really knocked one out of the park.

https://postimage.org/app.php

A set of Skyrim pint glasses branded after the in-game taverns (which I've been WAY too much time playing over the last month). The Santa themed Dragonborn card was perfect and a great touch.

Three different artisan shaving soaps in Winter Spice, Forest Pine, and Rose scents. All of them smell great.

A box of like 30+ individual tea bags of different flavors, which is great since I'm a big tea drinker in the office and get bored of the same 5 flavors day in and day out. Plus it came with some honey straws which is just the cherry on top!

Last but definitely not least is this amazing cookbook, The Food Lab, which treats cooking scientifically. The author is someone that I take recipes from seemingly all the time. It goes over everything from the basic to advanced sous vide methods. Really looking forward to diving into this and seeing what dinners I can make in the next few weeks.

To whomever my Santa is, thank you! You did an amazing job and I hope you (and your dog(s)) have a wonderful Christmas.

 

[Kaido]

Last but definitely not least is this amazing cookbook, The Food Lab, which treats cooking scientifically. The author is someone that I take recipes from seemingly all the time. It goes over everything from the basic to advanced sous vide methods. Really looking forward to diving into this and seeing what dinners I can make in the next few weeks.

That's a really good cookbook...I picked up a copy awhile back; I wish ALL cookbooks did the same thing...showed you the process visually, in pictures, and also showed you the finished product, along with a write-up of "why". Like on page 120, Kenji shows you the difference between scrambled eggs that were salted 15 minutes before cooking & eggs that were salted after cooking...the ones salted afterwards ended up leaking egg juice on the plate, whereas the ones salted in advanced stay nice & fluffy and bonded together. And then on page 121, there are 6 pictures showing each stage of the cooking process & the final process, so you can know that you're doing it right. I always hated that about other cookbooks like the Joy of Cooking, because there were no pictures, and they also assumed you were taught how to cook by Julia Child & thus magically knew alllllllllllllll of the techniques, so all they had to explain was the bare minimum instructions for the actual recipe instead of the how & the why (along with a drawing thrown in here & there, for good measure).

Also, if there's a particular recipe you're trying out, be sure to visit the website & do a search (top right corner, magnifying glass) for it, because they do a lot of updates with variations & expanded conversations on different topics. For example, page 474 teaches you how to make super-crispy roasted potatoes & pages 137-140 shows you how to make potato hash; here's an article on their website about how to make crispy home fries (with peppers & onions)

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...me-fries-red-onion-poblano-pepper-recipe.html

The recipe:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...me-fries-red-onion-poblano-pepper-recipe.html

Really nice to take the guesswork out of it & really understand exactly how to get the results you want by following the right procedure; in this case, it involves boiling the potatoes first & then roughing them up to get some texture on the outside (along with using animal fat over an oil), and in the case of the home fries for breakfast, adding vinegar to slow down the pectin break-down rate so that you have a much larger window to get perfectly cooked potatoes without over-cooking them. Might sound a little overly-detailed, but now I can make awesome homestyle fries that don't feel like I'm chewing leather!

Also on a tangent, Gordon Ramsey is offering a Master Class ($90 pre-order, which is decently cheaper than the local cooking classes which go for $130 - coming out early next year); check out his intro video, it actually looks pretty good:

https://www.masterclass.com/classes/gordon-ramsay-teaches-cooking

 

[Fritzo]

My Secret Santa really knocked one out of the park.



A set of Skyrim pint glasses branded after the in-game taverns (which I've been WAY too much time playing over the last month). The Santa themed Dragonborn card was perfect and a great touch.

Three different artisan shaving soaps in Winter Spice, Forest Pine, and Rose scents. All of them smell great.

A box of like 30+ individual tea bags of different flavors, which is great since I'm a big tea drinker in the office and get bored of the same 5 flavors day in and day out. Plus it came with some honey straws which is just the cherry on top!

Last but definitely not least is this amazing cookbook, The Food Lab, which treats cooking scientifically. The author is someone that I take recipes from seemingly all the time. It goes over everything from the basic to advanced sous vide methods. Really looking forward to diving into this and seeing what dinners I can make in the next few weeks.

To whomever my Santa is, thank you! You did an amazing job and I hope you (and your dog(s)) have a wonderful Christmas.

I NEED those glasses in my life!

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Will report back after Christmas Day!

 

[ElFenix]

My secret Santa got sick and had trouble getting gifts out, but one managed to make it through the nyquil haze:

Awesomesocks! Thanks Santa and get well soon!