The merriest kitchen and food gift guide
Since we are all home cooks this year, edible gifts and gifts for the kitchen have moved up the list of most-wanted gifts. Plus they are the most fun to give! Treat a friend, your sister, your son, or whoever is the cook in the family with something practical, beautiful, delicious or just plain fun. Buying for yourself is totally permitted as well. Keep reading for some wonderful and unique ideas. I hope you discover the perfect something!
Gifts that add minimalistic beauty to the kitchen
Treat yourself to some updated dinnerware. There are some wonderful new options for direct-to-consumer modern dinnerware. I’m loving the pasta bowls (in mint of course!) made in Portugal from Rigby Home. You can buy bowls, plates and mugs in seven shapes in a palette of white, grey, mint and charcoal navy for easy mixing and matching. Bonus: they are dishwasher, microwave, oven and freezer safe. Order by December 13 for Christmas delivery!
This Cake dome with Ash Base is designed in England and beautiful in its simplicity. A bit of a splurge, it would fit a modern, coastal or farmhouse kitchen. The base is handmade of sustainably sourced ash wood and it’s topped with a leather loop handle. At 12.5” in diameter, you can use it for cakes, desserts, cheese boards or a tower of cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.
I’m obsessed with this company: Material Kitchen. They founded their company around the belief that getting rid of the excess in the kitchen creates more space for the meaningful moments we deserve in our kitchens. Product lines include collections for cutting, cooking and for your counter. Less is better and spending more once is the idea. It’s a gorgeous, minimalistic way of building a kitchen. I have my eye on two things for starters.
The Three Tool Set has you choose three tools from the only tongs, metal spoon, the air whisk, the wood spoon, and the slotted spoon.
The reBoard “zero virgin plastic” cutting boards that come in six pretty colors and two sizes make chopping therapeutic and fun. They claim the boards “give new life to the excess plastic discarded by the industry’s kitchenware production process” and the company adds renewable sugarcane for durability.
Gifts for your friend obsessed with The Home Edit
A couple who was tired of city life in Vancouver, BC moved to Whidbey Island, Washington where they now turn out gorgeous high quality wood goods. Think functional glass jars and bottles topped with warm nostalgic lids in black walnut, maple, Madrona and more. Too pretty to be shut in the pantry. My coffee beans sit gloriously on my kitchen counter in one of the storage jars from Turnco.
The perfect match for the Turnco storage jars are these minimalist pantry labels from Etsy shop Pear and Paper. Makes you want to redo your kitchen, your bathroom, really your entire house.
Art gifts for kitchen walls …
Jackson Hole, Wyoming has been on my bucket list for a number of years. I don’t remember how I came across Persephone Bakery, but it’s since elevated Jackson Hole to the top of my destination list.
I mean, how cute is this? The Spoon Wall Kit. Check out their site. I promise you’ll want to move there so you can partake in it all. Also, did I mention that they’ve been named a 2020 James Beard Foundation semi finalist?
For someone with wall space in their kitchen, a Molly Reeder piece would be a for-sure conversation starter. This print of her classic Sourdough pencil drawing is the obvious choice for 2020.. She also offers smaller sizes and even note cards of her food illustrations.
… and art for kitchen tables
Why should art be relegated to your walls? Gift a puzzle to a special family or put it under your own tree for Christmas Day fun at the kitchen table. Several puzzle companies have emerged this year that have made putting together puzzles the pastime for 2020. I can’t get enough of food-themed puzzles.
Gather the family around the table to enjoy a puzzle. Both Whiled and Pieceworks come with curated playlists. Guaranteed to turn your kitchen into the party kitchen. Some of my picks include left to right: Power Lunch from Pieceworks, Sunny Side Up from Whiled, and Just a Snack from Jiggy.
For shorter attention-spans, Areaware has adorable less-than-70-piece puzzles and they’re currently 15 percent off. Perfect “brainfood” stocking stuffers. I’m partial to the ice cream options, especially affogato.
Edible gifts
Back to Persephone Bakery, they’ll even ship personalized stuffed handmade stockings. But it will be hard to choose just four items from a yummy assortment of things like cookies, gingerbread tiny home kits, peppermint marshmallows, cocoa nib granola and Wild West animal grahams. Hungry yet?
Run Amok Sparkle Syrup cause who doesn’t need glittery French toast? I kinda want this. They’ve added a food-safe pearlescent mica to their best pure maple syrup. Don’t worry, the sparkles are flavorless but oh what fun.
Bow Hill Blueberries offers an array of heirloom organic blueberry products from their farm in Bow, Washington. So even if you can’t have fresh blueberries this winter, you can enjoy blueberry juice, blueberry jam, pickled blueberries, blueberry powder. Gives a whole new meaning to Elvis’ Blue Christmas.
This hit the internet last year, but I still love olive oils from Brightland. And this year they’re offering The Mini Essentials in a gift box that includes two olive oils and two apple cider vinegars. Irresistible.
I also love these goat milk caramels from Big Picture Farms. Mostly because the box has drawings of all the goats with names like Junebug and Gertrude, but the caramels are pretty darn tasty too. Choose a box of sea salt & vanilla caramels or a variety pack that includes sea salt & vanilla, chai, maple, cocoa latte, brown butter bourbon, raspberry rhubarb, cider honey, and chocolate mint. And for when your caramels are all gone, buy this All the Goats tea towel to remember them by.
Apparel for your loved one who lives in the kitchen
Confession, I pre-ordered this cozy long-sleeved “cookies” tee (above) from Spokane-based Jenny Cookies Bake Shop for myself. It will look super cute with my Hanna Andersson Cindy Lou Who PJ bottoms! And for cookie making of course. Now I just need to find my Levi 501s from 1982.
This Molly Moon ice cream pullover is super cute and helps support local Seattle-area Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream. Long live ice cream.
My daughter gifted a girlfriend one of these friendship bracelets from Wear Your Snacks. At $10 each, they are super fun stocking stuffers for the young and old. My picks are Mint Chip Ice Cream and Sea Salt. And, ok, Avocado Toast. Pretty sure she can customize a bracelet for your bestie’s favorite snack.
For the serious chef or baker in your life, splurge on the apron of all aprons. Hedley and Bennett aprons are the crème de la crème. I’m partial to the smock style and have the indigo one. Pick the perfect style and color for your favorite baker.
Lastly, just for fun
Who wouldn’t want a felt pig trivet? Something you’d never buy for yourself but is sure to put a smile on the face of the recipient. I vote for the turmeric-toned piglet to camouflage any turmeric accidents. However, Graf Lantz says these piggies are stain- and water-resistant.
For the budding cook, Julia, Child is a precious story about two young friends who agree that you can never use too much butter. This sweet story celebrates the joy of eating, having fun and never growing up. Sounds good to me.
