My Mom just got home.

"The books you ordered are in the car. The box is a little banged up," she said.

Me, having just taken my nightly morphine: "I didn't order any books." Yes, I am that brain dead, and frequently.

Moments later she brought the box down. It was big. Maybe it's the boots I ordered?

I pull one flap back. My local Amazon packer must have been on his first day using tape unsupervised.

But what's this? A cookbook about New Jersey!

~Light bulb~

It's from my cookbook Santa! Yay!

I'm a chef. I own a lot of cookbooks, even though I have this dream of going paperless. I can honestly say I don't have a cookbook that's all about New Jersey. Cool.

But there's another book in the box. It's bubble-wrapped really carefully. Under the bubble wrap it's shrink-wrapped really carefully.

I know what it is even as I pull the shrink wrap from the pristine cover. It's The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by our own J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. The James Beard award-winning J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.

This is the book I wanted. It's the one I gave to my giftee, the best guide to technique a home cook can have in his pantry.

/u/beaglemama, you're my hero. And not just because you're a mother to beagle(s). You are also a super-awesome Santa. You gave me the perfect gift, exactly what I wanted, my favorite color and just the right size!

Thank you!