‘Tis the season for the brain to turn to mush. Last night I stopped by a large department store to return an item. Since I was already in the store, I decided to try to be efficient and do some last-minute shopping for stocking stuffers. But, instead of being smart about my trip, I found myself just wandering through the store in a daze, and finally gave up and left with nothing in my hands. I decided to go home and get organized with a list. Just like grocery shopping, all smart shopping is better done with a plan.

When I began thinking about my list and who is on it (and who is naughty and who is nice!), I realized that in my family we do quite a bit of cooking. I decided to start my list-making with kitchen gadgets. Alice Henneman’s has a list of 30+ Time-Saving Kitchen Tools for cooks which has some great ideas. I found some good gift ideas for the people on my “nice” list plus some items I would like to add to my own collection of kitchen tools: a new French knife and more food clips, for starters. Am I too late for a letter to Santa?

If you have ideas of kitchen tools you would like, or stocking stuffers for others, please leave them in the comment section.

Easy egg dishes are perfect for a simple Christmas morning brunch. Check out It’s a Meal Strata. It is very tasty. To save time, I cook the vegetables the day before and then while the oven is heating, stir the strata together.

-pointers from Peggy