things
- thermapen
- misen chef's knife
- just about anything on this list: http://www.seriouseats.com/gifts (wooden spoon, bench scraper, baking steel, marble slab)
books
- the food lab's book
- ansel adams: the camera
- the nature of code
- books of any webcomics i like: questionable content, problem sleuth, dresden codak
- I'd really like a reprinted hardcover version of an old-school (near-prohibition-era) bartending book, but I haven't quite found one I like yet. Maybe pdt cocktails?