Gift Ideas for the Cook in Your Life

Stuck on gift ideas for your loved ones?

With the holidays around the corner, I wanted to share some of my favorite kitchen tools/gadgets.  Kitchen tools also work great as stocking stuffers.

Enter to win a giveaway (from me) at the end of the post- Happy Holidays!

Under $10

1. Good Grips Mini Angled Measuring Cup– I think I use this every time I make a savory dish.  It saves you from measuring out each tablespoon in sauce and dressing recipes.  I love it.

2. Julienne Peeler– Ever wonder how restaurants make those beautiful carrot ribbons on salads?  This is how.  I know it seems like an odd tool, but I actually use is at least twice a week.  I also use it to make finely julienned carrots for Asian dishes in addition to salads.

3. Conversion Dish Towel (Crate & Barrel)– This dishtowel serves the dual purpose of being a handy guide to complete those difficult measurement conversions, while keeping your dishes dry.

4. Electronic Kitchen Scale– Ok, this is currently $10.37, so I kind of cheated on the $10 category.  However, I think every cook needs one of these.  I own this exact one and have had it for a year.  It works great, despite being much cheaper than others.  It’s very helpful when recipes list ingredients by weight rather than in traditional household measures.

Under $25

5. Cookie/Muffin Scoops- These are my secret (well not so secret) tools that are the key to making uniformly shaped and evenly baked cookies, muffins or cupcakes.  The muffin scooper also works great for making burgers or crab cakes.  I use the OXO large cookie scoop for regular cookies, the medium scoop for more decadent cookies and the trigger scoop for muffins, cupcakes (or burgers).  

6. Cooper Instant Read Thermometer– This is the industrial grade, run through your dishwasher, instant read thermometer that I first used in the hospital kitchen during my dietetic internship.  It’s the key to getting perfectly cooked meat, every time.  Also, it has a great warranty.  Being a bit over-the-top with food safety, this saves us from eating over-cooked meat.  

7. Microplane Graters– These are the best for grating parmesan cheese, nutmeg or citrus- you name it.  My picture here features an old version of the citrus grater, but any of the graters are fantastic.

8. Acetum Blaze Balsamic Glaze– Drizzle this over anything, and the presentation of your dish will look professional.  I use it as a finish on salads, pastas, pizza… the list goes on…

9. Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twinsharp Select Kitchen Knife Sharpener– Ok, I too have always been told that you can never bring a knife back to its original sharpness without taking it to a shop to put the edge back on it.  This sharpener changed everything.  I no longer “slip” when chopping onions or only cut through the flesh of a red pepper.

Under $50

10. Riedel Wine Glasses– I may enjoy wine (just a little).  Pick your favorite glass to suit your taste.

11. Pampered Chef Pizza Stone– I grew up with “Friday Night Pizza Night.”  My Mom would make delicious homemade pizza on this stone.  When I was young, I dropped this exact stone and smashed it.  I recently bought another, and now remember why I loved it so much.

$100+

12. Le Creuset Dutch Oven– We were very lucky to receive one of these last year for Christmas.  This is hands down my favorite piece of cookware.  Everything cooks beautifully in it.

My Favorite Cookbooks

1. The Whitewater Cookbook Series (Shelley Adams)- These books are from the Whitewater Ski Resort in Nelson, British Columbia (my home province!)  The recipes are fresh and innovative, and the photographs, beautiful.  The recipes have a great mix of local BC flavor with an ethnic twist.  My favorite recipes are 1) Chicken Charmoula (from Whitewater Cooks with Friends) 2) Ahi Tuna Tartare (from Whitewater Cooks at Home) and 3) Panko Crusted Miso Sablefish (from Whitewater Cooks with Friends).

2. The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook Series (Ina Garten)- What more can I say?  I own the series.  I can always count on Ina’s recipes to turn out, and be devoured.  Now, her recipes typically aren’t low-cal but I love to make adaptations of them.  I think my favorite is “Barefoot Contessa at Home,” mainly because it contains the recipes for 1) Beatty’s Chocolate Cake, 2) Coconut Cake and 3) Triple Berry Muffins.  Her savory recipes in the books are also delicious, but these 3 stand out for me.  For those of you who already have her entire collection, she has a new addition to the series, “Make it Ahead” which was released this past Fall.

3. Butter Baked Goods (Rosie Daykin)- This very pretty cookbook is the creation of a local bakery in the Dunbar neighborhood in Vancouver.  It is a must for any baker in your life.  It contains many classic recipes for cakes, squares, pies and cookies.  I think I have made the Butterscotch Walnut Bars ten times in the past year.  It’s also available on Amazon in the US for all my Yankee friends.

4. The Skinnytaste Cookbook (Gina Homolka)- I recently purchased this book because I had made so many delicious (and healthy!!!) recipes from her blog.  This is my favorite book right now for weeknight cooking, as I can count on the recipes to be nutritious and delicious.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need more gift ideas!

GIVEAWAY: Share the link to my blog on your Facebook page and be entered to win one of these gifts for yourself!!!

(PS- I ship throughout the US or Canada).

Steps for Sharing:

1) Hit the “Facebook” icon at the end of this post, or the end of any of the posts I have written thus far (pick your favorite).

2) Should you desire, write a quick comment about my blog in the “Say something about this…” Make sure you tag me in the post.

3) Hit “Share Link.”

4) Facebook will notify me that you have shared my blog and I will enter you into the contest!

Contest closes at midnight on Tuesday, December 9th.

I will announce the winners on Wednesday, December 10th- just in time for you to receive the tools for your holiday baking!