The Ultimate Dream Apology Gift List, Plus Emerging Kitchen Trends

Cindy shares her first solo adventure at the Inspired Home Show (IHA) in Chicago, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how this event stands apart from typical markets — and why it’s such a big deal for kitchen store owners. You’ll hear about her favorite discoveries, chats with the actual makers behind beloved kitchen brands, and some exciting product trends coming soon to Berry + Basil.

But the true gold in this episode is just how relatable Cindy’s dream is and her response. Who hasn’t had a vivid dream where your partner did something terribly wrong (and so often out of character) and experienced the visceral emotions that follow? 

Lucky for you — and her husband — she found the perfect apology gifts. From gorgeous knives and kitchen shears to brownie bowl pans, candles, and tickets to a wine glass tasting, she offers plenty of thoughtful ideas for just-because gestures — or to get ahead of terrible dream actions, because that never hurts. 

Whether you’re curious about the latest in kitchenware or simply need a laugh and a bit of encouragement for everyday life, tune in and share with someone else who relates! 

Products featured in this episode:

Helena Cangshun knives

Kitchen shear set of 4

Brownie bowl pan

Billionaire Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Rewined Market Candle Collection

Riedel Wine Glass Seminar Tickets

For more thoughtfully curated joy, check out berryandbasil.com and follow the store for all the latest products, events and sales at @theberrybasil

Follow the show at @joycuratedpodcast (Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok) and make sure to subscribe to us on the podcast app of your choice. It helps us grow and share the story of all the brands we love. 

Transcript

Speaker 0:02

Welcome to Joy Curated. I'm Cindy Peterson, co-founder of Berry and Basil, a thoughtfully curated kitchen store in beautiful downtown Chamberlain, South Dakota. Here we discuss food, quality, and real life without the pressure to get it perfect. I have real, honest conversations with makers and product experts to talk about how things are made, how they're meant to be used, and how thoughtful choices can make everyday life feel more confident and enjoyable. Hi, and thanks for spending a little time with me today. Last week, I had the chance to go to Chicago for the Inspired Home Show, otherwise known as IHA. And this was a new experience for me, mainly because I didn't go with Angi. And everybody was asking me, where's Angi? And I said the biggest difference in the show this year, all by myself, and yes, I was lonely, was that I didn't spend as much time looking for Angi because we tend to, I don't know, this may sound shocking, but we tend to kind of get, you know, oh, a squirrel moment, and one of us goes in one direction and the other one goes in another direction. And then I come across something that I think that is really cool, and then I think Angi should hear this, and I go and find Angi to come back and talk to that person. So I spend a lot less time looking for Angi, and I think she would probably say the same. Other than that, the show was awesome and got to meet up with so many of my kitchen store friends that I talked to Robert McGinnis on a previous episode, and so many of the brands that we already know and love. Got to talk to them about the podcast and so excited about all of the things that are to come. But I wanted to kind of talk about just the show itself and how it differs from the typical market that we go to. And, you know, when we go to Dallas or Atlanta, they're in high-rise buildings, there's showrooms that are set up like stores. Chicago in the International Houseware Show is a different beast. This is not where we necessarily place orders. It is not where we are talking to sales reps. This is our opportunity that we get to actually go in and talk to the people that invented the products, the presidents of the company. But it's not just independent kitchen store owners. And let me say thousands of them that are there in some cases. It is the big boys, the buyers for department stores, for Williams and Sonoma, for Food and Wine magazine and writers, and it is the showcase for the world of what is coming up next in the housewares industries. And I'm just not talking about what color is going to be hot and what the Pantone color of the year is going to be. I'm talking about the technology. I'm talking about what each company's answer is for what the customer wants and how they are improving themselves and what they are doing to make their product worth coming into our store and onto our shelves and into my kitchen. So some of the trends that were there, and and you know, there's a lot of interesting things, but I think the things that I really spent a lot of time looking at again were cookware and knives. And I got to spend some great time with our friends over at Cangshun. I got to spend some time with the crew over at Messermeister and got their take on how to figure out what knife is best for you. And really excited to bring some of those conversations back into the store. The other thing that I think is on our minds a lot, and and we hear it from our customers, is what nonstick cookware do I need? The hybrid cookware that is out there, and what makes them different from the as seen on TV or the big box store type brands. And then also, you know, where we talked with Made In, we talked with our friends at Black Cube, and then also, of course, our friends at Heston. And lots of exciting things coming down the line with all of them. And then we talked to, of course, our friend over at Buttery, who she's just a gal that had an idea about the best way to store butter. And so really excited to see some of the changes that, you know, she's coming out with the ceramic line of the butter dishes that we already carry in the store. And they are gorgeous and they are on trend, and I can't wait to get them and put them on my own kitchen counter. And and just beautiful, and and it's just the real stories of the real people. So I can't wait to bring her on and talk to her as well. So that is kind of the gist of what I planned on kind of going into detail in the episode today, but we all know how the best laid plans can get sidetracked. And last night, my brain decided to go in a completely different direction. I had one of those vivid dreams that brings along some very real emotions. And I know I'm not the only one this happens to. So today we're going to talk about how a kitchen store might actually be the most reasonable way to process all of that. I had a dream that my husband was not kind, he was not nice, he did not make good choices, and I woke up genuinely upset. And I am still, I'm now entering the pissed off phase, but this was now going on six hours ago, and I woke up crying, heartbroken, in a pile, and of course, it is all his fault. It is all and he should know what happened. And so, and so you're wondering, how does this, you know, where is this playing out? Well, then I decided this was not something I was able to get over, and it was kind of affecting my ability to think clearly, and I decided that uh we needed to address it. And so naturally, I thought that maybe that walking around the store, I started seeing all of the things that, you know, could make me feel better and and and what could be gifted to me, and started thinking about what the proper recovery plan might look like. And so if someone hypothetically made poor choices in my dreams, then this is, you know, I thought about some items that might be a good idea to help me recover from that. And of course, the first one you're gonna kind of chuckle about, these are all available in the store right now. They're available on our website at Barry and Basil. But I I mean, uh there is quite a few times where where a guy will come into the store looking for a gift and I recommend knives. Now, in this case, that's an interesting take, but I'm not gonna step back from the strong gift that is a good quality knife, because if something is frustrating me in the kitchen when I am prepping food, or or you know, if my knife is dull, it's not something that I can necessarily take the time and properly sharpen it and and all of those things. I want a good knife and I want it to be able to sustain that edge, and and it also doesn't hurt to have it look pretty. And so I'm talking about specifically the Kengshan, and I'm going to be specific because my dream was very specific. And so I feel like it's only fair that I should give very specific ideas of what is going to make me feel better. And I think at the the set of Kingshan Helena knives in white, because yes, they perform beautifully, but also they're just really, really pretty. And and sometimes pretty things help me feel better. And and we also have them not just as they're not a set. Now you can buy all of them and create a set, but you could just say you just the dream was just kind of, yeah, I kind of messed up in her dream a little bit. I could just buy her the bread knife, and and that might be sufficient. But I mean, if you really messed up, you have the opportunity that maybe we look at, you know, the chef's knife, the Santoku knife, the bread knife, the matching steak knives. I'm just saying, just to give you a little bit of an idea, we're taking this seriously, we're making a little bit of an effort. I mean, it really shows that you care and that you care about our safety and your safety, if you know what I'm saying. So, but then as I was looking at those, I thought, you know what? I always need a good set of kitchen shears. And uh right now we have a set of four kitchen shears, and you're like, four? Why does Cindy need four new kitchen shears? Well, those are the things that you know, this this one is really great for cutting up chicken. This one is really good for cutting the labels off of things. I just don't use it for for crafts. This is not what we're talking about. This is important tools in my kitchen. And the set of four uh shears, Kang Shun, it's in a gift set, very giftable because you know why not? Apparently, we've reached a point where I need options, but different shears for different moods. It's it's a great idea. All right, so number three, the USA pan brownie bowl pan. Now, I love brownies and I love things to put ice cream in, and I love ice cream, and so you you combine chocolate with ice cream, things that make me happy. I think we're really on to something. Now, now, if you're not, you know, honestly, I'm not really feeling like a brownie. I feel like a chocolate chip cookie in the brownie bowl to hold the ice cream would really, really go far and and just make me feel like my emotions might be a little bit more manageable at that point. And and so if you're thinking, well, I don't want to bake chocolate chip cookies, I have great news because we have the most amazing. We have two options, but uh we just got in, it's it's the the the Maison Zoe Zoe Ford exceptional baking mixes that again, Angie and I taste tested in Atlanta, fell in love with them. They came in last week. It only makes sense that I am served chocolate billionaire, mind you, chocolate chip cookies with premium Belgium chocolate in the shape of a bowl baked to perfection with a scoop of uh vanilla ice cream. I mean, I'm not picky, and again, we said we're gonna be specific just to maybe make I'm just processing my emotions and I feel like it's fun and it's important to start laughing about this at some point, and we'll get there. We're gonna get there. I'm just not there yet. Okay, so we're gonna need to maybe shift the energy in our house just a little bit. And so, again, back in Atlanta, Angie and I always love going to the Rewind Showroom. Rewind is a candle company that started actually using the base of wine bottles as their glassware. And they have an amazing, amazing scents throughout the season. They've come out with cocktails, some of their scents relate to Napa or how Sonoma or how the south of France might smell. These are the cutest stinking candles, they're in like a teal blue, beautiful, giftable, nice, giftable glass with the coolest modern artwork and fun scents. I mean, we're talking fig and tomato, and you're like, what? That's not very romantic. No, I'm not looking for romance here. I am looking for something that that kind of solidifies the fact that spring and summer are eventually going to maybe stick around. And uh fig and tomato makes it smells like the garden. It smells fresh. Rosemary and citrus zest, again, makes me happy. Blackberry and sage, it's all of these beautiful, fresh scents that you don't necessarily think mix well together. You put them in a beautiful candle, they smell delicious, they look beautiful, and I I really think that it would go a long way in helping me feel better and uh changing the mood. Or, you know, I'm recovering emotionally from something that actually didn't happen, we're gonna get a little creative about it, and I think that's it. Now I'm I'm gonna round out this list very quickly with something that is very important because honestly, if you really want to make an effort here, a very strong move would involve wine. And and and we happen to have tickets available for the very popular, always sold-out retal wine tasting coming up in our store Tuesday, April 7th at 7 p.m. Again, I hate to be specific, but I'm just I'm just keeping it simple because I know you actually didn't do the things that I am angry about, but I do think that it would really be a lot of, it would be a great experience to spend time together, but it's also eye-opening. So when it's I love the experience of the wine glass tasting because we bring in Kevin from our rep from Chicago, who does an amazing job. We have four glasses in front of us: a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, and a Cabernet. And you think, oh, right, the glass makes, you know, the wine is going to taste different in each glass. Yes, it makes a huge difference. And it sounds crazy. It sounds just as crazy as me being as angry as I am about something my husband did in a dream that he didn't actually do. But see, in this case, it's totally legit. The wine tastes so much better, and you experience it that yourself. There's no voodoo involved. You are the one pouring the wine, the Sauvignon Blanc, into the Pinot Noir glass, tasting it each one, and realizing that the wine and the grape varietal specific glassware truly does make a huge difference. Just like the effort going into curating all of these experiences and all of these products to help us get through this emotional time in our household. So it, you know, it's it's the wine glass, and and Kevin's going to talk us through the process of how the wine glass is the the speaker. It is the it makes the wine, it brings the best out of the wine in every single um sip and how it changes and how it hits your palate and your nose and all four senses are involved. And so what's even better is that we get to take home the four glasses after the tasting, which I feel like that feels like a pretty solid, I'm sorry, for what I did in your dream gesture. And and so, you know, it's something that we can laugh about sipping wine out of my glass that I remember I got these as a sorry for something I didn't do, kind of gift. And I think that's perfect. I think that really just sums up all of the amazing things and and what's really fun, and kind of going back to the Chicago experiences, a lot of these things that I have brought up that would be amazing gifts for for a sorry or thank you or a simple I love you. You don't have to wait for Mother's Day, you don't have to wait for a birthday, you don't have to wait for Christmas. It could be it's Monday or it's Thursday. And I thought maybe this would be a nice gesture. You could even do those things prior to your wife having the dream. And so maybe as she's coming down from that emotional high or low, that she remembers, oh, see, he understands the importance of being present and making me feel special in the midst of all of the things that happen in our dreams. And so I just want to to clarify that no, uh, my husband actually did not do anything wrong, but I still think it's a really nice way to go about moving forward. And so if if you are in need or if you feel you know you could share this with a friend, specifically your husband, and guys, if you want to come into the store and look for some gifts for your wife for just a just because kind of opportunity, maybe pay attention to. We like to ask, what's her favorite color? Does she like wine? Does she drink coffee? Does she prefer tea? I mean, these are all things that if you know, again, she she recognizes that of course that didn't truly happen because he knows what my favorite color is. And and so, of course, he wouldn't have actually done any of those things. Thanks for spending time with me today on Joy Curated. My hope is that something from this conversation helps you feel a little bit more confident, a little bit more curious, and a little bit more at ease. Whether you're cooking or simply gathering around food with someone you love. Make sure and check out BarryandBasil.com or join us in store to check out more of the thoughtfully curated products to support you in the kitchen. This show is written and hosted by me, Cindy Peterson, and produced by my amazing friend Casey Brown at Teal Hat Communications. So until next time, take care.