Truffles, caviar, dried porcinis, and every last yummy pricey spice! Woot! Congrats on the windfall :)

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I'd place a big fat order with Penzeys, get all those spices I tell myself I don't need cuz I've only got one or two recipes that call for them. And then I'd get a variety of nut oils--great for salads and finishing soups. Oooo and vinegars, all those fancy ones. A big package of Marcona almonds, so good...

I could keep going for days, here.

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I budgeted and saved for thanksgiving - and ended up coming way under. So when I pick up my turkey on wed, I am using the left over money to do something I have always wanted to do:

Replace the contents of my spice rack with Morton and Bassett spices. Both because they are better quality then my store-brand, and because for once, I will have uniform spices on my rack, instead of all different brands, shapes, and sizes.

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Trader Joe's store brand chocolates (the chips and the Pound Plus bars) are Callebaut, not to mention a bargain price. Can't resist that!
I'd also pick up yeast (since I'm a baker), and it can add up fairly quickly.

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I would sooner spend time making chicken stock than spend money buying it.

I would splurge on aged beef, caviar, cheese, and chocolate. But first I would buy a Le Creuset Dutch oven.

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Good balsamic, fleur du sel, dried porcinis and my favorite Chinese chile sauce (I mail order bottles by the dozen from Yank Sing in SF :-).

I'm tempted to say good olive oil, but I try not to stock that for too long, since it gets a little stale.

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Don't waste your moolah on broth. Spend an afternoon and make a big batch yourself and freeze it. It's not hard, and is SO worth the trouble.

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I agree with the others on the broth, spend the money and get stuff to make it yourself. Get a couple of whole chickens, use the meat for some great wintertime food, chicken and dumplings. Use the bones for the stock. Yum! Also, what is grade "B" maple syrup? I don't know anything about the different grades, I didn't even know they graded it.

As for my list:
Vanilla Extract (the pictured brand actually)
Promised Land Dairy's Milk (a little dairy co-op in Texas, great flavored milks)
various expensive cheeses
and some fresh fish to make sushi

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Get thee to a nursery! Seriously, I'd buy herbs and fruit trees. Another Sweet Bay tree, a few large sage, more rosemary...all the perennials and shrubby plants where age/size matters. Given that I just moved and am lacking fruit trees, I'd get some of them too. If I still have money, I'd buy supplies so we could build the raised beds over the winter. (I try to use unexpected bucks for long-term splurges. Nothing like having your windfall still there in a decade.)

I'd also hit the liquor store and snag some of the holiday boxes with cool goodies and liquers I only use occasionally (and thus seldom have) but really like; things like Whidbey's and Grand Marnier. Then I'd pour some when I got home to celebrate. Congratulations and enjoy.

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From savory-land: dried porcini mushrooms, good balsamic vinegar, pine nuts, a good sized piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

From the Indian market: spices (much, much cheaper than jarred spices), some pickles, a few cans of mango puree (for home-made lassis, among other things), and high quality aged basmati rice.

To go with the butter, chocolate chips and vanilla: lots of pecans, cashews, and almonds. They can be wrapped well and frozen for long-term storage. Perhaps some almond paste if it has a long shelf life.

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I'm all for the over the top stuff...

Jamaican Blue Coffee, Glace De Viande & 25 year old balsamic come to mind, but get me in a store and it's over...I could easily blow a grand at the Whole Foods Headquarters here in Austin.

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Hmmmm... Expensive, fancy cheeses. Pricey coffee. Insanely priced balsamic vinegar. A bunch of O Olive Oils. Saffron. $8 Salsa. Those jars of $10 pasta sauces. And as many tolberone bars as it would take to circle the house a few times!

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Grats on the windfall!
Me, I'm with Nic on stocking up on good chocolate. I'd get as much quality bulk chocolate as I could and a selection of liqueurs for making truffles. A big jar of instant espresso, some good olive oil, and maybe an infused oil or two. And a big thing of good vanilla. I think I'd be happy with that.

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I'd splurge on a set of those spice tins from Dean and Deluca, vanilla beans, hiqh quality olive oil, Humboldt fog cheese, Valrhona and Callebaut chocolates and like Kitchen Mage mentioned all those liqueurs that are so good in cooking but that I never have on hand. And from Trader Joe's every single kind of nut and dried fruits from their huge collection so that I could make different fresh granolas all winter long.

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ah the excitement!
if i had the money first thing i'd do is get new cook ware. and not just new pots and pans but some of those funky looking things you see on saturday morning tv, like the Xpress Grill 101, and the turbo cooker (i actually already have a turbo cooker but i want the newer model with the easier to use steam releaser).
i'd get all new spices and restock the liquor cabinet.
and...oh sooooooo much more!
i can't even think straight imagining the possibilities!

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The suspense is killing me. What did you get?

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First, I'd love a real pantry with high white cabinets and glass front door. After those were installed and a second frig/freezer put nearby...I'd fill them with: side of smoked salmon; 10lb bar of dark, dark chocolate to cook with, eat and melt onto things to improve my day;several quart bottles of "A" Maple syrup and put one in my car to use at those great roadside joints that serve wonderful BIG breakfasts and terrible syrup; almonds; several Bries to freeze;Nutella; vegetable broth; Costco's new cheese Fondu!;Mole sauces;2Alarm chili mixes; new spices and a big bottle of cold pressed virgin olive oil!

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