Only 24 more days til Christmas. Wondering what to get the foodie in your life? Well, we’ve graciously compiled our foodie wish lists for your inspiration (and for those friends and family who may be feeling extra generous this year!!).
Emily’s List:
A subscription to Lucky Peach – yes, it’s a little bit pricy for a magazine. But Lucky Peach is so. much. more. than a magazine. If your loved one a) references David Chang more than once a week, b) has seen every episode of Mind of a Chef and longs for more, c) pines for Anthony Bourdain, and/or d) waxes poetic about dim sum or any other food-topic, Lucky Peach is definitely something that will make them happy.
Is your foodie of the moral/political stripe? EWG’s 2014 Holiday Gift bag is full of stuff for the activist foodie in your life. It’s a gift you can feel good about giving, plus $135 of the $140 donation “price” is tax-deductible!
Who could/would say no to a Trader Joe’s gift card?
Cookbo
oks! Of course. Choose one from Amazon’s best of 2014 list, Powell’s, Bon Ap’s, GoodReads, heck! even TIME magazine has a recommended list. My latest fave is Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere. It’s a very romantic and inspirational book to gift your favorite baker/dreamer. For a realist, Laughing Lemon Pie recommends Good Cheap Eats and/or Keepers.
Immersion Blender the thing you didn’t know you’ve needed all these years. Unless you already have one in which case you know what I’m talking about! If you know anyone who doesn’t yet have an immersion blender – bam! there you go, crossed off the list.
Perhaps a Milk Frother? You can spend a lot more money on one, but this IKEA version has served me well for going on a year now. It makes mornings feel extra special, a great little gadget.
Mandoline – man, do these make quick work of slicing fruits or veg. Or your fingertips/knuckles – use the guard, trust me.
Kusmi Tea – oh what a dream! Impressive packaging and impressive taste make for an impressive gift.
Vanilla Beans – the foodie/baker will love a little stocking stuffer of vanilla beans. Available through Penzey’s,or more economically at Trader Joe’s or Amazon.
Donut Maker! So much fun. You can follow recipes from the little instruction book which will no doubt be included or there are several books of baked donut recipes at your local public library and online, but I’ve also used muffin, pancake, or cake batter recipes in ours.
Anyone else remember Alton Brown’s drill-powered automatic pepper grinding contraption? Well, in case you’re not feeling so DIY this season, electric pepper mills are totally buy-able items now. It seems frivolous, I know – but having used one at a condo we rented I am a believer. I have often lately complained about grinding pepper – I use a lot of it and my hands/arms get tired a lot quicker than they used to (how depressing, sheesh!). One of these Ozeri Gravity Pro Electric Pepper Mill and Grinders will be under our tree this year.
Lacy’s List:
Just about anything from Piece, Love, & Chocolate in Boulder, but if you need specifics, I dream (frequently) of their salted caramel truffle torte. Don’t even get me started.
A gift card from Cured would also not go amiss. Or their Coloradan Box featuring all Colorado-made products would be a big hit in my house.
Speaking of Colorado-made products, several people on my list can look forward to a box from Colorado Crafted this year — a hand-picked selection of excellent Colorado edibles.
My cookbook shelf is totally full after inheriting quite a few well-loved and vintage cookbooks from my Grandmother, so I need to either buy another bookshelf (a distinct future possibility) or be very judicious with my cookbook choices. So, this year, top of my list is The Nourished Kitchen: Farm-to-Table Recipes for the Traditional Foods Lifestyle. Checked it out from the library recently and it’s definitely a keeper. (But the library frowns on that, so…)
Speaking of inheriting recipes, I’ve also inherited a priceless (to me) collection of hand-written recipe cards, so I need someplace special to store them (unlike the envelope box in which they currently reside). I like this personalized version from Etsy, but this simple vintage one would also fit the bill…
In the appliances category, I’ve been lusting after this Cuisinart Griddler. It already works as a grill, panini press, full grill, full griddle and half grill/half griddle, AND, importantly, you can also buy an additional set of plates that turn it into a waffle iron. I’m big on appliances that have more than one use, and this one definitely seems to fit the bill!
And in the boring but awesome category, a couple of these King Arthur Flour bread pans would make me a happy baker.
So tell us, what’s on your foodie gift list this year?? Leave a comment below and let us know!
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