This was my first round of Reddit Secret Santa and I'm so delighted! My Secret Santa picked up two gifts for us -- a puzzle cube for dogs (more on that in a second) and an incredible culinary book/bible/textbook/guide that I've already fallen in love with! I thought I was up on the great books about cooking but this one was new to me, and exactly right for the type of cooking I do -- I've gotten away from recipes but still need help figuring out what goes best with what, and the book is a detailed guide to pairing foods, spices, and flavors. It's absolutely perfect!

The puzzle cube for the pups is also more awesome than my Santa could have known. We're currently fostering a 7-month old rescue dog who was pulled from a rural shelter and then assigned to us for evaluation and care as she recovered from a very serious upper respiratory infection. She was a very sick pup!

With good food, good meds and the chance to be warm, safe and loved, the pup has fully recovered and shown herself to be an amazingly loving, playful and energetic girl. As a result, she's become part of the rescue group's Pets for Vets program, and on Friday (December 23), she'll be going home with a veteran who suffers from PTSD, and for whom she'll be trained as a lifelong emotional support and therapy dog. My Santa's puzzle cube will be going with her, since the pup loved it so much from the very first time we offered it to her.

So whether it's helping us feed ourselves well or helping a rescue therapy pup burn off some energy, build her brain and support her vet, our Secret Santa did a great job of finding the perfect gifts. Thank you so much!!