I'm not a gourmet chef, by any means, but I am a solid home cook. I mastered staples like roast chicken and pastas when I was still a teenager and have built up a decent repertoire of asian, french, italian and classic american dishes. I make my own soups, sauces and broths.

Well, most of the time.

We all take short cuts now and then, and the truth is, store-bought bullion is my most common cheat. In my defense, we have a tiny apartment and a wee freezer above our fridge. I just don't have the space (or the initiative) to make a lot of broth for future use. I use cubes, cans and boxes. What can I say? I'm lazy.

But that doesn't mean I don't care about taste. And one packaged broth tastes WAY BETTER than any other I've tried, ever:

Swanson clear chicken broth.

It's just the best. Unlike cubes, it's not too salty. It's cheaper than (and tastes more authentic than) Campbell's.

It's made properly, so it's clear and light, but has a strong, natural flavour. Whitish beads of fat tend to be visible when you open the can, but in my opinion, they just contribute to the "this seems homemade" quality.

I use this broth in EVERYTHING from risotto to gravy to soup. It's the handiest, most useful thing I have in my pantry. No other broth compares.

Okay, so this isn't exactly a review. It's more like a recommendation. It's a recommendation to buy a betta fish for the next little kid on your gift list.

Shown at the left is a picture of one of my first bettas.

His name was Princess Fancy Pants. Because he was... well, fancy. All pink and purple and pretty.

But most importantly, he was incredibly easy to care for.That's why bettas make such good little-kid pets.

This past weekend, Nathan and I bought two new fish for two very cute little girls. We got a red one for his little cousin Ella, who was turning six, and a teal one for my neice Katherine, who was turning four.

Don't worry, we asked their parents first.

Anyway, I highly recommend you go right out to get a betta. And if you do, here's what you need to know:

Creative Commons licensed red betta by Chlorine26 from Flickr.

How to Buy and Care For a Betta of Your Own
A good betta, complete with habitat and food (which, as a gift-giver, I think you should provide) will cost a minimum of about $20. The fish itself will cost about $5. They're available at all major pet stores. And while I'm not crazy about supporting the pet store industry, buying a fish from a pet store means rescuing a little guy who is living in a tiny beer cup and a couple of inches of dirty water. It's hard to squelch the desire to rescue a creature in such a bad situation.

Next, you'll need a home or habitat. I like a traditional glass fish bowl, but any large glass vessel will do. A big ol' vase, for example. Get one at Goodwill if you want. Or at the dollar store. That would be fine. You'll also need food, a tap water treatment solution, a bit of aquarium gravel, and a plastic aquarium plant. (Or a real plant, but that will result in more work.)

Approximate Prices
Betta Fish - Approx $5 (with good care, he should live 2+ years, easily)
Tap Water Treatment Solution - About $5 (a tiny bottle will last well over a year)
Betta Pellets - About $5 (will also last well over a year)
Freeze-Dried Blood Worms (alternate food) - Less than $10 (will last for years)
Aqua gravel (any colour) - Less than $10
Habitat or Vase - $0.99 + (depending on what you go for)
Plastic Plant - $2.99 to $10 (depending on what you get)

Strong Little Guys
Bettas are very hearty (unlike goldfish), and they come in a huge variety of colours (red and blue being most common). They are able to breathe both through their gills and by taking gulps from the air like a mammal. That's why you can house them in bowls instead of proper tanks. They are also very tolerant of odd feeding patterns. If you need to go away for a weekend, don't worry about it. You won't need a betta baby sitter. That's why they're great for kids.

Be Kind
That said, a fish is a living creature and deserves good care. I like to give my bettas five pellets a day. I fast him one day a week (usually Sunday), because he tends to become constipated and fasting helps. And I give him a treat of freeze-dried blood worms every once in awhile, just because the pellets can get pretty boring. I change his water every 3 - 4 weeks.

There are lots of other bits of care information online, and if you decide to buy a kid a betta I advise you to do some reading first, but even if you don't, I highly recommend this pet.

Betta are awesome.

I hate my Nigella Lawson measuring cups. I know hate is a strong word, but I mean it. I hate 'em.

They were given to me as a gift about eight years ago. And at the time, I liked the look of them. (They were designed to look pretty, after all. Nigella herself has said that she designed them to stand apart from all the bland, stainless steel, functional measuring cups in the word.)

Fine. But after eight years of trying to cook with these things, I don't even like the look of them anymore. For one thing, they NEVER sit in the neat and perfect stack as shown. Never. They're always willy nilly. Willy nilly is their natural state. And when stacked, they're even less functional than usual. Only the top-most cup (teeniest) cup is easy to access. It takes two hands to dig down to the one you likely need. And they're heavy. And they're breakable, so they force you to worry about chipping them when you're busy trying to think about cooking. It's annoying.

Finally, the handles are pretty useless. I don't have fat fingers, okay? My fingers are perfectly svelte, but they don't fit through these handles. So I can only assume the handles are entirely for show.

Sigh. But they were a gift. Not from something I like or am even in touch with anymore, but still. It seems silly and wasteful to buy more measuring utensils when, with a little effort, these DO do the job sufficiently. I mean, it's not like the measurements are off or wrong or anything. The cups just annoy me.

Nigella, I have no problem with, by the way. I've even positively reviewed one of her recipes. (Chopped ceviche. Yum.) I don't hate her. I just hate her measuring cups. If you're serious about cooking (or if you cook on a regular basis) use regular stainless steel measuring cups with substantial handles. You'll thank me, I promise.

So there.