Christmas Gift to Myself

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are well and enjoying the festive season so far.

I have been taking it easy. Doing a little of this and a little of that. DH has been working a lot and is fighting off a cold. I seem to have finally gotten over the cold I've been struggling with. I hope it good and gone now though with DH fighting one I have to be careful.
  

I don't have big parties or too many events to attend this year. I've already attended Handel's Messiah and the annual Christmas Festival of Lights at the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens. Other than that I've been catching up on appointments and meeting friends one on one if they are free. It's a nice balance of quiet time alone with a lot of reading in between household routines, shopping and Christmas errands and the more social aspect of attending festivities and meeting with friends.  I'm more or less ready for Christmas but still have to buy the turkey, hopefully on Thursday and I'm also hoping to see a family member before the big day. 

So the title of this post is Christmas Gift to Myself. Do you ever gift yourself at Christmas or any other time? I will often buy myself something at Christmas that I may have wanted to get throughout the year. That way I get what I want and I usually get it on a sales promotion. 

I don't remember if I purchased anything last year.  But the year before that I purchased an Instant Pot (IP) and it has become one of  my favourite kitchen appliances. I actually had an IP for a year or two before that but it got damaged in a kitchen incident and needed replacing. When I bought the last one I purchased a slightly smaller one to take up less counter space.

This year I bought myself an air fryer/oven combo. I have been looking at air fryers for some time. In the end I liked the idea of a combination appliance that has several functions just like a real oven but much smaller. I purchased the model in the photo below. It's a ChefMan brand and I got it for less than 50% of the current Amazon price.  I actually purchased a second gift for myself.  Am I naughty or what? LOL. That one I'll unveil one day in the new year as it's related to my new word for 2024.

I'm pleased with it so far. I made baked chips on two occasions. The first time they weren't so good but after I figured out how to use it (I don't read instructions, lol), the chips were much better.  DH was so surprised that he didn't notice any difference in taste.

These chips were cooked using the bake function.

These chips were cooked using the air fryer function.

The pork chops, onions and apples were fried on the stove top.

I want to try roasting a whole chicken in the counter top oven soon.

Have you ever bought yourself any Christmas gifts and if so, what did you buy?

Thanks for stopping by! 

I'm sending you my best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.

🎄🎅🤶