You know all those really lame articles that show up on Yahoo and the like about what to buy--or what not to buy--for so and "important" person who you clearly must not know well or care about much because you're reading a Yahoo article about what to buy them. Yeah, you know the ones. And how they're always either eliminating every generic or potential gift you could possibly think to give someone (no jewelry, no kitchen appliances, no perfume, no sweaters, etc.) or suggesting these super ridiculous things like really really expensive marshmallows or scarves or diamond earrings, or, well gift cards or something (or maybe that one was on the 'don't buy' list--oh, I do get so confused by it all).
Anyway, this season I have a tip of my own to share. Farro. Wikipedia defines it as a specific species of wheat in whole form. You can't buy it in Evansville. I'd never even heard of it until my sister sent me a recipe she and her family love, only I had to sub in barley because farro was not to be found. And then the last time we visited her, she gave me this big old bag. Well, this month I finally got around to using it and I realized what's been missing all my life. It's so good. It's better than barley and better than wheat and, like, 800 times better than brown rice. It's a toothsome and kind of sweet and--this is going to sound weird--almost creamy--at any rate, it has a rich, lovely mouth feel and taste. It cooks up in 15 minutes (at least the type she gave me does). I LOVE it. And you will too if you love grains at all. Also, it is a whole food. And a traditional food. And sometimes an Italian food. And I think we all know that that makes it automatically cool.
Not to sound bossy or anything, but seriously buy some. For yourself and those you love and those you barely know, but have to get a Christmas gift for anyway, because there are rules about these things apparently:
(P.S. Although it looks and sounds lovely and classy, I should let you know I haven't tried this actual brand of Farro because--did you miss the part about my sister giving me a bag?--but I intend to after my bag runs out because--did you miss the part about it being unavailable in Evansville?--yeah, that's why.)
This type, which my sister got me at Costco (or somewhere surprisingly everyday-ish like that), I know is awesomely good. It's not yet for sale on Amazon, but we should all go request that it become available:
And if you think I'm nuts and you're totally going to go out and buy a sweater or some expensive marshmallows for your boss, okay whatever, but maybe you should check out Dave Barry's suggestions for the year. I'm quite sure that's what I'll be doing tonight instead of wrapping gifts or practicing the songs I'm supposed to play for church on Sunday or any of a number of things I ought to be doing instead. (I love you, Dave, and I'm totally voting for you for the Republican nominee.)
You might like this one too. (P.S. Do you think Dave would be offended if I named a chicken after him this spring? I'd like to pay tribute and I'm out of sons.)
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