Finding the perfect gift can be daunting. The only way to truly ensure you get it right would be to ask the recipient what they want, but that wouldn’t be much fun for either of you. Luckily, there’s another tactic to help you earn a “gift whisperer” reputation: seeking out unique, practical, game-changing gifts that will truly surprise and delight. But that’s about as easy as it sounds, which is to say it’s not easy at all. So, we’ve done the legwork for you. Start making your list with this compilation of some of the most innovative, functional and fun gifts of 2024. There’s something for every budget. This image provided by FinaMill shows the FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder Set. The new FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder set elevates the pedestrian pepper and spice mill in both function and style. Bear with me: The new FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder set elevates the pedestrian pepper and spice mill in both function and style. Available in three colors (Sangria Red, Midnight Black and Soft Cream), the rechargeable-battery unit grinds with a light touch rather than hand-tiring twists. That’s easier for everyone and especially helpful for those experiencing hand or wrist issues such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or tendinitis. And it’s fun to use. The set includes a stackable storage tray and four pods that can be easily swapped as needed: The GT microplane grater for hard spices, nuts and chocolate; the MAX for large spices and dried herbs; the ProPlus for smaller and oily spices; and the Pepper Pod for, well, pepper. $110. This image provided by Pull Start Fire shows the matchless fire igniter in use. Made of 89% recycled materials, the food-safe, eco-friendly, 3-by-2-by-1-inch fire starters will light a fire quickly without matches, lighters or kindling. Campers and backyard firepit lovers who have experienced the heartbreak of wet wood will appreciate having a three-pack of Pull Start Fire on hand. Made of 89% recycled materials, including sanding dust, wax and flint, the food-safe, eco-friendly, 3-by-2-by-1-inch fire starters will light a fire quickly without matches, lighters or kindling. Just loop the attached green string around a log, incorporate it into a wood stack, and pull the attached red string to ignite. Each windproof, rainproof block burns for 30 minutes. $29.99. This image provided by Souper Cubes shows No Mess Utensils held upright on pot edges. The No Mess Utensil lives up to its name. The utensils, a serving spoon and a ladle, have innovative, S-shaped handles designed to rest on the edge of a pot. The No Mess Utensil Set from Souper Cubes , a company known for its portioned, silicone freezer trays, lives up to its name. The utensils — a serving spoon and a ladle — have innovative, S-shaped handles designed to rest on the edge of a pot, keeping them upright so they won’t slip in. The design also eliminates the need for a spoon rest or, worse, placing dirty utensils on the kitchen counter or stovetop between stirs. A silicone coating in a choice of Aqua, Charcoal, Cranberry or Blueberry keeps handles cool to the touch. $24.99. This image provided by FeatherSnap shows a female cardinal bird perched on a FeatherSnap Wi-Fi Solar Powered Camera Smart Bird Feeder. Equipped with an HD camera, the dual-chamber feeder enables up-close livestreaming of avian visitors, as well as species-logging via the free mobile app. The FeatherSnap Wi-Fi smart bird feeder could turn anyone into an avid birdwatcher. Equipped with an HD camera, the dual-chamber feeder enables up-close livestreaming of avian visitors, as well as species-logging via the free mobile app. An optional premium subscription ($59.99 annually or $6.99 monthly) includes unlimited photo and video storage, AI identification with species-specific details, and the opportunity to earn badges for logging new visitors. Turn on notifications to get alerts sent to your phone whenever there’s activity at the feeder. $179.99. This image provided by FUJIFILM North America Corporation and FUJIFILM Corporation Tokyo shows a smartphone printer. Fujifilm Instax's Mini Link 3 smartphone printer offers a touch of nostalgia without sacrificing technology. Just load the printer with film and connect it to your Android or iOS device via Bluetooth to print wallet-size photos. Fujifilm's Instax Mini Link 3 smartphone printer offers a touch of nostalgia without sacrificing technology. Just load the 4.9-by-3.5-by-1.3-inch printer with Instax Mini instant film and connect it to your Android or iOS device via Bluetooth to print wallet-size photos. If you want to get fancy, you can adjust brightness, contrast and saturation, or apply filters, including 3D augmented-reality effects, via the free Instax Mini Link app. It can also make collages of up to six images, or animate photos to share on social media. Available in Rose Pink, Clay White and Sage Green. $99.95. This image provided by easyplant shows a Marxii Calathea plant in a small, beige, self-watering pot. The appropriately named easyplant is one of the best gifts you can give your houseplant-loving friends, regardless of their experience level. The appropriately named easyplant is one of the best gifts you can give your houseplant-loving friends, regardless of their experience level. Select a pot color, size and plant (or get recommendations based on sunlight requirements, pet friendliness and other attributes) and fill the self-watering container’s built-in reservoir roughly once a month. Moisture will permeate the soil from the bottom as needed, eliminating the often-fatal consequences of over- or under-watering. It’s also a literal lifesaver come vacation time. $49-$259. This image provided by Nama shows the M1 plant-based milk maker. If you've got a no-dairy friend on your list, a plant-based milk maker could save them money while allowing them to avoid unnecessary ingredients like sugar, stabilizers, thickeners and preservatives. If you’ve got a no-dairy friend on your list, a plant-based milk maker could save them money while allowing them to avoid sugar, stabilizers, thickeners and preservatives. The Nama M1 appliance both blends and strains ingredients, converting nuts, seeds, grains or oats into velvety-smooth milk in just one minute, with zero grit. And for zero waste, the pasty leftover pulp can be used in other recipes for added nutrients. The device also makes infused oils, flavored waters and soups. And, importantly, cleanup is easy. Available in white and black. $400. This image provided by QelviQ shows a wine bottle chiller. For friends who prefer stronger beverages, the QelviQ personal sommelier uses "smart" technology to ensure wine is served at its ideal temperature. For friends who prefer stronger beverages, the QelviQ personal sommelier uses “smart” technology to ensure wine is served at its ideal temperature. Unlike traditional wine refrigerators, this device doesn’t take up any floor space. It also doesn’t chill wine to just one or two temperatures based on its color. Instead — paired with the free QelviQ app — the tabletop chiller relies on a database of more than 350,000 wines to bring a bottle to its specific recommended serving temperature in as little as 20 minutes. It also suggests food-wine and wine-food pairings. Plus, the appliance serves as a great icebreaker to inspire dinnertime conversation. Available in Exciting Red, Dashing Black and Dreamy White. $495. This image provided by Uncommon Goods shows a 2-piece LED Grilling Tool Set. Uncommon Good's 2-piece LED Grilling Tool Set puts illumination into the handles of its stainless-steel spatula and tongs. Grilling food after dark — and ascertaining its doneness — can prove challenging without outdoor lighting, and it’s nearly impossible to cook while holding a flashlight. But as is often the case, the simplest of solutions can make the biggest of impacts: Uncommon Good’s 2-piece LED Grilling Tool Set puts illumination into the handles of its stainless-steel spatula and tongs. After use, the lights can be removed and the utensils run through the dishwasher. $40. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. For the holidays: Get inspiring home and gift ideas – sign up now!SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks were struggling a week ago, coming off their bye having lost five of their last six games. That included a gut-punch overtime defeat at home against the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 3. The outlook for the last-place Seahawks (5-5) was beginning to look grim. They suddenly have renewed optimism this week after an uplifting victory over the San Francisco 49ers that snapped a six-game losing streak against their arch-rival that dated to 2021. Seattle will play the first-place Arizona Cardinals (6-4) on Sunday for a share of the NFC West lead. How quickly things change in the NFL. “We’ve earned the opportunity to be fighting for the lead in the division going into the home stretch,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “So that’s the way we’re treating it. It’s very much like a playoff mindset for us at this point.” The win over the 49ers, which was capped by a 13-yard touchdown run by quarterback Geno Smith with 18 seconds left, put the Seahawks in a much better place mentally than they’d been in over the previous six weeks. They're hoping it's just the start of something even bigger. “It can just spark something that you’ve been looking for this whole year,” wide receiver DK Metcalf said. “I know we started off very hot with the first three games, but, you know, when adversity hit, it’s all about how you respond. I think we responded the right way, and it’s going to carry us throughout the rest of the season.” While the Seahawks are feeling better this week, the Cardinals have plenty of reason to feel optimistic, too. After starting the season 2-4, Arizona has won four straight to put itself in first place in the NFC West. The Cardinals have a defense that is making big strides under the leadership of veteran safety Budda Baker and a top-five running game behind the dual threat of running back James Conner, who has 697 yards rushing, and quarterback Kyler Murray, who seems to be hitting his stride in his sixth NFL season. Murray has 2,058 yards passing with 12 touchdowns, and has rushed for 371 yards and four scores. Second-year head coach Jonathan Gannon has been impressed with Murray’s improved decision-making as Murray has thrown just three interceptions through 10 games. “There’s times that he probably wants to try to thread it a little bit, but understands when to pick and choose his spots,” Gannon said. “I think he’s done a phenomenal job with that and there are a lot of times throughout the game where you could say we like to put it in the quarterback’s hands, and you trust him to make the right decision for that point in the game.” Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will see a familiar face on the other sideline Sunday in rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., who was Smith-Njigba’s college teammate at Ohio State in 2021 and 2022. The pair each caught three touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ wild win over Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl, with Smith-Njigba having 347 yards receiving on what was a 573-passing yard day for C.J. Stroud, now the quarterback of the Houston Texans. “Late his freshman year, he really just stood out,” Smith-Njigba said of Harrison. “You could just see the growth and kind of who he is becoming. ... He’s passed a lot of people’s expectations, of course, but I knew he was going to be elite later on freshman year.” Murray is coming off one of the best games of his career after completing 22 of 24 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown against the Jets two weeks ago. He also ran for 21 yards and two TDs. Murray currently ranks No. 3 in the NFL in quarterback rating behind Cincinnati's Joe Burrow and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson. That has put him in the MVP conversation, particularly since Arizona has won four straight games. “I don’t play the game for the validation of others," Murray said. "But as a player, of course, sometimes the recognition and the words being said feel good. But it doesn’t satisfy me.” The most surprising part of Arizona’s four-game winning streak is the rapid improvement of the defense, which has allowed just 9 and 6 points, respectively, over the past two games. No touchdowns have been allowed – just five field goals. It’s just the second time over the past 30 years that the franchise has allowed 10 points or less over back-to-back games. Baker, a Bellevue native and former University of Washington football star, is the unquestioned leader of the bunch – he already has 100 tackles over 10 games - but the team also has a strong core of linebackers in Kyzir White, Mack Wilson and Zaven Collins. Metcalf and Baker have gone up against each other many times before, most famously when Metcalf ran Baker down on an interception return in 2020. “You really can’t prepare for a guy like that because his engine never stops,” Metcalf said. “He’s always going to be around the ball. He’s always going to affect the game with just his play effort and play style. ... Just got to try to minimize his playmaking ability as much as we can on offense.” AP Sports Writer David Brandt in Phoenix, Arizona, contributed to this report. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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Aboard the boat, Milliman’s schedule is pretty regimented. “For me, it’s BLD, BLD, BLD — breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner,” he says. TRAVERSE CITY — You never know where life is going to take you. It took Jim Milliman to the Mississippi River, where he’s been working on a tugboat since spring 2022. Longtime Traverse City area residents and food aficionados will remember Milliman as one of the breakthrough chefs who came on the scene in the 1980s and 1990s and contributed to a transformation of the local food landscape. He first established Hattie’s in Suttons Bay in 1987, operating it for 18 years before going on and starting Hanna in downtown Traverse City. He kept Hanna going until the economy started faltering around 2008. “I knew there would be devastation, so I decided I wanted to be on a list of one restaurant for sale and not 30 and decided to sell,” he recalls. Milliman worked as an adjunct faculty member of Northwestern Michigan College for a while and also spent a winter working at a restaurant in the Caribbean at one point, eventually going to work as a business consultant for Gordon Food Service. One of his responsibilities during the 11 years he spent there included taking on a role that was not unlike that of Robert Irvine of The Food Network’s “Restaurant Impossible” but without the bluster, helping customers solve problems that were impeding their success. “Basically I’d go into places that were struggling and help them take steps forward,” he says. “I had some really nice success stories.” Milliman relocated to Nashville, Kentucky during that time. When he was laid off because the restaurant industry ground to a halt during COVID, the now 72-year-old could have retired but didn’t really want to. His son suggested that he should try something completely different — like see if there might be some kind of a chef opening at a place like the McMurdo Station in Antarctica. While Milliman thought that was a little far, the lifelong boater discovered that there were culinary opportunities on tugboats. Jim Millman works for the Nashville-based Ingram Barge Company. He works a four weeks on, four weeks off schedule aboard the tugboat Martha Ingram that has him traveling the Mississippi River from Kentucky to north of New Orleans and back again. That’s what brought him to the Nashville-based Ingram Barge Company. He works a four weeks on, four weeks off schedule aboard the tugboat Martha Ingram that has him traveling the Mississippi River from Kentucky to north of New Orleans and back again as the tugboat pushes barges carrying everything from coal to chemicals. “This whole project is about working part-time,” he says. “I remember a doctor at Munson (Medical Center in Traverse City), who has sadly passed away. But when he retired he said ‘What’s so neat is I have control of my time,’ and I’ve never forgotten that. This allows me control of my time.” To a point. Aboard the boat, his schedule is pretty regimented. “For me, it’s BLD, BLD, BLD — breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner,” he says. “There’s a total of eight of us on the boat, so it’s not a lot. They work six hours on, six hours off from the captain on down. They’re very hard working.” Milliman puts in about 11 hours each day he works, getting up at 3:45 a.m. to prepare and serve breakfast by 5. He goes back to bed for two hours before rising to make lunch, which runs from 11 a.m. to noon and per company policy is equivalent to a hearty meal versus the more typical sandwich or salad. There’s a little free time in the afternoon, with dinner from 5 to 6 p.m. “Both lunch and dinner are more like dinner,” he says. While many who followed and loved Milliman’s work as a chef might imagine having him cooking for them 24-7 to be a foodie dream come true, the tugboat crew is a more meat and potatoes type of crowd. “The tastes on the boat are maybe just simpler,” he says. “So a box of scalloped potatoes is better than trying to do it from scratch. I view my job as that I am here to serve them, I’m not here to serve them Hattie’s or Hanna’s food. I’m here to make sure they have food to eat ... if you could do meat and mashed potatoes every day, that would be fine — and pizza.” He does some signature meals, Taco Tuesdays being one. “We’re not supposed to serve sandwiches, but I’ll do unique sandwiches like a Reuben and patty melt,” he notes. The crew appreciates what he does, Milliman says. While he’s not making beef and chicken stocks from scratch, for example, he does occasionally attempt to get them to try new things. “So I made coconut curry lentils (and the response is) ‘What’s a lentil?’ he laughs. “I tell them to just give it a try, it’s a bean. ‘But it doesn’t look like a bean,’ (someone will say).” He plans menus out by the week and orders groceries from companies along the way, often grocery stores on the Mississippi that have a marine division to serve river traffic. They’re typically large orders. Everyone on the boat pitches in to load the groceries, then Milliman spends a few hours putting it all away. Milliman reads a lot. He’s always liked to write, too, which is one of the ways he passes his time on the tugboat. In fact, his current work has helped inspire the 16 and counting “Chef on a Tugboat” blog entries he’s posted at medium.com . “While I’m out here cooking, I’m also collecting ideas and thoughts and trying to translate them to the written word,” he says. He’s not sure how long he’ll continue to work on the tugboat. Meanwhile, he’s getting involved in a nonprofit in Nashville that works with teenagers who have been incarcerated to teach them culinary skills. Milliman would eventually like to come back to Michigan and bring his own boat back with him to sail on the Great Lakes. “I miss the adventure of Michigan,” he says. “In Nashville, it gets so galdarned hot.” And he continues to write. As he says in one of his blogs, “Someday full retirement will commence. For now I write and cook ... and sleep.”Qatar PM sees 'momentum' on Gaza talks after US election
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