When I was young and believed in Santa, I always figured that he skipped our house because we didn't have a chimney. I mean really, it's not like he could just walk right through the door. Those have locks, silly. But now I'm a believer of Secret Santas. Secret Santas are people you may or may not actually know (that may or may not actually have reindeer in their lawn) that take the time to make your day a great one via postal mail.

This year my Secret Santa reached out to me with a lovely message and a few questions to gauge my interests. That alone was a pleasant surprise. Now before I get to the goods, let me indulge in some narcissism and talk about myself. (I kid.) So I'm a graduate student. I'm living on my own for the first time and thus have to pinch pennies. Even though I'm technically an adult, I still feel like a child masquerading around as an adult. But I guess there's excitement in having so many firsts in your life. I fiercely like to cook relatively healthy dishes and mainly plan my meals based on what's on sale for the week. When I'm pressed for time I tend to revert to peanut butter on homemade bread or salads. And here's where I'll admit that while I enjoy cooking, I can fall into a comfort zone after mastering a dish. That is, I'll end up repeating that dish until I grow sick of it. This is where my Secret Santa comes in.

When I first opened my package and saw the title, a grin spread across my face. I quickly flipped through the book and it was quickly evident that this wasn't like most other cookbooks riddled with photogenic dishes. This was a real book. With words. (Yeah, yeah, roll your eyes at my redundancy.) I ended up sitting on the floor reading through the first chapter before remembering that I ought to post my gift in the gallery before RedditGifts lovingly bombards my email with reminders to do so. So why is this cookbook a big deal? For one, I love reading. There's something magical about getting lost in someone's voice that you don't want to put the book down. Secondly, I have a thing for physical books. I like the way they feel, the way they smell... If I could, I'd marry a book. (Not really. Don't worry, mom, that's not my fetish.) And finally, I'm a noob. This cookbook teaches noobs. Not just in a put-this-much-of-that-in-this-and-cook-for-that-long kind of way, but also the fundamental stuff. The sort of things that I never knew about and didn't even know to ask about (like where all those chunks of meat actually come from on an animal).

So that's why this gift is such a big deal. It's hella thoughtful, actually useful, and something that I didn't know I needed until I received it. Not to get overly sentimental, but I'm extremely grateful and look forward to expanding my cooking repertoire. Thank you, Santa W. You da real MVP.

EDIT: Visited post office today to find another package from Santa. The amount of excitement I possess is astronomical. I've been wanting to make muffins and looking for a surface to roll out my dough and just wow. You've made my year. Can I hug you? I'm sending Santa a virtual hug.