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One half of the Dynamic Duo I want.

World peace, eternal happiness and a million dollars. OK, everybody wants that, but my culinary wishes are not the usual.

1. A Bunn Coffee Maker. With kids, time is at a premium and this is fast. Three minutes to done is my kind of coffee and the unbreakable stainless carafe is priceless.

2. Truffle cutters. These can be used for more than just truffles. Small, cute, perfect for decorating individual pastries or appetizers. I can just envision the kids finding these and thinking they'd be fun to use with play dough.

3. A Croquembouche mold. Croquembouche is a French pastry dessert shaped very much like a Christmas tree. Perfect little profiteroles (er, cream puffs) are put together in a cone shaped masterpiece and surrounded with spun sugar. This can easily be made without a mold, or a mold can be made with chicken wire and tin foil, but a real mold would be a conversation starter for sure.

4. An olive wood mortar and pestle has been on my list for some time now. I can just never seem to make a decision about which one I like. Being gifted one would save me that angst, don't you think? I'd also love a molcajete and a suribashi.

5. A year's supply of olive oil--Provencal, mais oui. What isn't fantastic about olive oil?

6. An olive tree. Olive trees are ancient, some trees are centuries old, and beautiful. They stand for so much that I love. I think an olive tree would be the perfect gift.

7. A Meyer Lemon tree. Highly prized for it's sweeter fruit, like a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, and thinner skin, these are perfect for many dishes and lend themselves more easily into many dishes than the usual lemon. They don't get too tall, 6-10 feet, and it's citrus; who doesn't want a citrus tree in their life?

8. A KitchenAid mixer--the red one, you know what I'm talking about because you want one too! I already have a KitchenAid blender--deep red and sturdy. I was able to buy it refurbished for a whopping $25. Now, if I could only do so well with the mixer.

9. A pound of Madagascar Vanilla beans. I would put these in everything, starting with my sugar bowl. A vanilla scented life would make me smile.

10. The remaining stock of Starbucks Rift Valley blend coffee. It was limited edition and is no longer being carried at my usual grocery store. I bought 4 bags when they reduced it for quick sale and they haven't restocked. It's all that coffee should be.

11. Sabatier knives. I know the world is stuck on the "other guys", but I have always loved the heft and balance of a Sabatier. It's the only knife I ever held that I didn't want to put down. I covet my own very-affordable Sani-Safe chef's knife that I bought 14 years ago for $12--it has a wonderful carbon steel blade that sharpens very agreeably, but if I were ever to change, it would be to the Sabatier Mexeur et Cie line for it's carbon steel blades.

12. Every book ever written by Peter Mayle and M.F.K. Fisher. There isn't anything else I can possibly say about this one.

Find more stories and tips for the holidays at Family.com's Yule Blog