More Cheese More Chocolate

I decided to put together a Christmas gift guide for anyone shopping for someone who likes to cook.  It could alternatively be called “Things in My Kitchen That I Love and That Someone You Love Might Also Love” or “Kirsten’s Favorite Things.”  Most of these items are fairly inexpensive, a few are a bit pricier, and they’re all pretty solid gifts that I think are worth the money.

Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Skillet

My parents surprised me with this skillet last year, and I absolutely love it.  I’m a huge sucker for anything from Le Creuset as well as cookware that can go from the stove top to the oven, and this skillet fits the bill.

All-Clad 12″ Stainless Steel Lidded Skillet

While my Le Creuset skillet is an everyday use kind of pan, this skillet is more of an occasional use pan.  It’s larger size makes it a little much for frying an egg or two, but there are definitely times when a larger skillet comes in handy.  We used it this weekend when we made a big batch of chana masala, I used it a few weeks ago to make David Lebovitz’s candied peanuts (a great gift in their own right), and I plan to use it later this week when I make my dad’s peanut brittle.   It’s nice to have a variety of pans sizes and materials.  Every pan in it’s right place – that’s a Radiohead song, no?

Lodge Logic 5-Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven

I use this dutch oven all the time.  It’s great for baking bread, braising meat, and cooking dried beans, among other things.  This cast iron version is a great value, but if you want to go all out you can opt for an enameled version and make someone very happy.

Lodge Logic Cast Iron Griddle

While a griddle isn’t something I would have expected to use a lot, it’s actually proven very useful.  In fact, I’ve used it twice this week – first for pancakes and then for tortillas.  The opposite side is ribbed like a grill – two in one!

Pizza Stone

Yes, it’s good for making pizzas, but it’s also good for baking bread, naan, English muffins, and about a million other things.

Wilton Three Tier Cooling Rack

My mom suffers from an excess of free time in random cities where my dad is working coupled with a compulsion to use as many Bed, Bath, and Beyond 20% off coupons as possible.  I often reap the benefits, and this cooling rack is one example.  My kitchen is pretty small, so having a stackable cooling rack is awesome, but it would be a great gift for anyone regardless of kitchen size.  Stacked cooling racks equates to one area of crumbs to clean instead of two or three.

Oxo Cookie Scoop

This is another product of a B,B&B 20% off coupon, and something that I’d been wanting for a while.  No, it’s not that difficult to measure out cookies with a spoon, but it certainly is nice to have pan after pan of uniform cookies.  Who really knows what “walnut-sized” means anyway?

Glass Storage Jars

I buy a lot of things in bulk – oats, flours, sugar, etc. – and then store them in big, airtight glass jars.  Even if you don’t buy a lot of bulk items, it’s still nice to have jars around for bags of dry goods that fall apart.

Smaller jars are great for things like salt and baking soda.  I think trying to measure either of those things straight from the box is super annoying, and with these you can easily fit a measuring spoon into the jar.

Alessi Gianni Jars and Dymo LetraTag Plus Label Maker

This is probably one of my coolest suggestions coupled with my dorkiest.  These Alessi jars were one of the first kitchen items that I owned.  My sister-in-law used to work at a store that sold all kinds of Alessi items, and I was fortunate enough to receive several of them as gifts.  They’re cuter than plain jars, but they’re just as useful.

I realize that this is dorky, but I love my label maker.  When you have a seven different kinds of flours in similar jars, a label maker helps to keep them straight.  I don’t really care if it makes me lame as long as it keeps my kitchen organized.

Magnetic Spice Rack

These spice racks allow you to save cabinet space by sticking your spices on the fridge.  They’re great if you buy spices in bulk instead of jars, and they’re an excuse to buy a label maker!

Spices

How about buying spices to fill those magnetic spice jars?  Even if you don’t live blocks from a Penzeys like me, you can order all of their spices and seasoning mixes online.  Or find a good spice store in your area.

Measure Equivalents Magnet

This magnet would be a great stocking stuffer.  Mine is stuck on the side of my fridge, and it’s much more convenient than running to my computer and googling a conversion table in the middle of cooking something.

Stainless Steel Skimmer

This skimmer is another good stocking stuffer.  It’s a little random, but I find myself using it a lot.  It’s the perfect tool for removing bagels from a pot of boiling water or draining cheese curds when making fresh ricotta.  I’d imagine that it would also work well if you find yourself scooping things out of vats of hot oil with any regularity – donuts, cheese curds, chicken thighs, or whatever else.

Wusthof 2-Stage Knife Sharpener

I can’t remember if I was actually gifted this or if I found this unused in my parents’ basement and was told to take it, but either way I am happy that I have it.  I probably use it once a month or more frequently if I need to slice something like tomatoes or a big piece of meat.  If you ever cook in someone else’s kitchen who has dull knives, get them a knife sharpener.

One more thing, this sharpener is very user-friendly, even if you’re the dullest knife in the drawer.  Hey-oh!

Wood Cutting Board

I use this big, wood cutting board all the time.  It’s great for chopping, rolling out dough, kneading dough, and numerous other things.  This particular one is nice because it has rubber grippers on the underside to prevent sliding around, but any decent wood cutting board or butcher block would make a good gift.

Food Scale

This is one of the most frequently used gadgets in my kitchen and one that I don’t think I could live without.  I convinced my mom to buy one, and I think she would agree.  Weighing ingredients by volume and not having to get measuring cups and spoons dirty is life-changing.  Plus, if you’re a (former) Iowa football player, it could double as a tool for your drug dealing operation.  Not that I’m condoning that.

Pretty Dishes

I’m about as obsessed with Anthropologie kitchenware as I am with Le Creuset cookware.  I like to check out the sale table for fun finds like this butter dish.

Latte Bowls

These are also from Anthropologie, and I love them.  I use them for everything – soup, oatmeal, beating eggs, measuring out ingredients for baking, etc.  They come in a bunch of different colors and in a mini size, so you can mix and match.

Cookbooks

These are some of my current favorites:

Martha Stewart’s Cookies by Martha Stewart Living Magazine

The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

My Bread by Jim Lahey

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Co-op Membership

This suggestion depends on where you live, but if you have a co-op grocery store in your area, a membership can be a great gift.  My mom recently gifted my grandparents a membership to their local co-op, and they love it.  My 90-something grandpa has a newfound interested in local and sustainable food, which I think is pretty cool.  This also depends on the particular store, but I’ve found that the prices at my co-op are often a lot cheaper than food prices at the local chain grocery stores.

 

Happy shopping!