Buy Your Spouse an Appliance as a Birthday Gift – If You Dare

My friend's husband, Dan, has passed "How to Buy Gifts for Your Wife 101" with flying colors. He knows that under no circumstances, ever, do you buy your loved one a home appliance as a gift, (especially on Valentine's Day), even if she really needs it! No matter if every times she vacuums, the silly thing leaves a trail of dirt behind, although the bag has been emptied a zillion times.

However, Barbara, his wife went through the first two years of their marriage returning frilly nightgowns, expensive sweaters she would never wear because she didn't want to ruin them and shiny gold trinkets that would surely clash with her uniform of an old pair of jeans and one of Dan's castoff T-shirts she wore while she made dinner or cleaned up the kitchen. After much persistence, though, Barbara finally convinced her husband that yes, it was really true, her idea of a Christmas present, birthday present or any other kind of present was indeed a brand new whiz bang kitchen gadget of some kind-any kind.

Barbara loves anything to do with food preparation. She enjoys cooking and baking. She gets passionate about planning a special dinner and paying attention to the smallest details. Give her a new recipe with at least 10 ingredients and requires several complicated steps to make, and Barbara is a very happy person, basically because (the theory is) the more complicated the recipe, the more gadgets she will need to use in its preparation. Walk into her kitchen and it is wonderland of modern technology. For someone who doesn't even own a microwave or a dishwasher (I know, I live in the Dark Ages) I marvel every time I visit Barbara, at the vast array of appliances she owns and how she finds a place for everything.

Of course, she has all of the usual suspects: a microwave, a toaster oven, a toaster, a juicer and a coffee maker. She has a sleek stainless steel espresso machine squirreled away for those times when she feels a freshly baked batch of chocolate peanut butter squares would be best served with a cup of "fancy" coffee.

In the summertime, her blender is overworked and underpaid. It's state of the art, includes a warp-speed button and needs someone with a PhD in Kitchenology to operate it. But the concoctions Barbara creates with her blender are truly works of art. Especially when she converts shakes into adult versions by adding an extra magical ingredient inappropriate for children.

One Christmas, when I was in a bookstore shopping for gifts, I spied a book/video combination about food processors. The video was a how-to guide and the book was a collection of recipes. As soon as I saw it, I thought that it would be the perfect gift for Barbara. It never occurred to me that the Queen of Kitchen Appliances wouldn't own one, but just to make sure, during one our lengthy phone calls, I mentioned that I was considering buying a food processor and what kind did she have? Much to my surprise, Barbara said she really wanted one but didn't have one yet. I did get her one that Christmas, a perfect companion to the book/video. She still claims it is one of the best presents she has ever received. If it was anyone but Barbara, I'd have my doubts.

But, just in case you do have someone on your Christmas list whose idea of a perfect gift is a rice cooker, a slow cooker or a deep fryer, you're sure find the ideal gizmo at Cymax Stores that will impress them.