Like the rest of the universe, I am deeply entrenched in the land of Christmas shopping.

Well, not the whole Black Friday thing. There is not enough liquor in the world to make me impaired enough to deal with that kind of insanity.

However, I am in the home-stretch of gathering up ideas for the last few people on our list. The shopping part is easy enough; it’s the coming up with gift ideas that I struggle with. Unless you know specifically what a person wants, finding a gift that has broad appeal can be challenging.

So, as I continue on my gift-idea quest, I thought I’d share some of the things I think have great gift potential.

Today, we have kitchen stuff. Why? Because I like kitchen stuff.

First on my list is this magnetic knife strip:

I have one of these, and love it. You simply mount this magnetic strip to a wall, and stick your knives to it for easy storage. They stay visible and super-accessible. Also, you reclaim valuable counter-space, because you don’t have a gigantic knife block hogging up the place. These strips usually run $20-$25, and are a nice treat that the average person may not splurge on for themselves.

Another neat gift is this:

This palm vegetable peeler is $6 well-spent. I am about the clumsiest person alive, and have yet to peel potatoes with a traditional vegetable peeler without taking some skin off my own hand. In fact, I used to hate peeling potatoes so much, I did not cook them for years. Now I do, and my husband is happier.

Everybody probably knows about Silpats:

But at $20 a pop, not many people buy them for themselves…that is, not many people living on a tight budget buy them for themselves. If you know someone who loves to bake, I am sure a Silpat or two would be a welcome luxury.

And, of course, my last pick is my much-loved Living Cookbook software:

If you want to know why I love it, read this. However, should you decide to gift this, I encourage you to see the demonstration videos that the developer has on their website. I would never have figured out half of the cool stuff this software can do otherwise.

So, there ya have it. Some ideas for Cyber Monday…just don’t let the boss catch ya shopping on the job.

Because that would be bad.