XMAS Gifts For Ones Who Cook - 2013

10 years ago

Since the holiday shopping season is around the corner, I thought I'd resurrect last year's thread (linked). Goal is I'm looking for creative, fun and affordable kitchen gifts for family members (and -full disclosure - me).

Over the past year, I have enjoyed so very much Zelmar's therma-pen (would now never be without one and have slowly started gifting to others), Justmakeit's right-hand Lamsonsharp right-hand spatula and Breezy's lemon-squeezer (though I still am not sure how which way the lemon half goes).

I've been cooking differently with the sharp spatula, with much better results. It's particularly helpful with my pressure cooker. Oh - another purchase from last year - never had one before and LOVE it. (Presto Professional).

To which kitchen tools and gadgets are you most attached?

Here is a link that might be useful: XMAS Gifts - Part 1 / 2012

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Comments (6)

gwlolo
10 years ago
I have been really liking this Zyliss rotary cheese grater. Grate hard cheese easily and for cleaning, pop into the dishwasher.

A few others to recommend - Oxo stainless steel garlic press. really solid. Oxo Pop containers are a nice gift for anyone with arthritic hands. The containers are air tight but open with a simple press of a button on the top. They come in many sizes and I have them in the drawers.

Oh and these Magnetic measuring spoons are fabulous. I got these as a gift last year and I love have two sides with the same amount and one of them is a oval and one is a round.
suzanne_sl
10 years ago
Great question! I'm in need of an (accurate) thermometer for the turkey coming up shortly. My old one died and the new ones from the grocery store leave me in much doubt that they are anywhere close to accurate. I just sent my cooking son an email last night asking his advice.
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One gift that has been enjoyed by a couple of Grandparents in their 80's in my family, has been creating a "feel good" jar. It's more of a homemade, personal gift. Take a large, pretty glass jar/canister. Print out a collection of inspirational quotes, jokes, happy family memories/stories etc. on the white plain side of decorative scrapbooking paper, then cut them into individual strips. Fold the pieces of paper in half, decorative side out. You can pick out decorative papers that can be personalized with a person's favorite things, or just nice patterns, and colors that go well together. Anytime the person is feeling lonely, or just needs a pick me up, or even as a morning or evening routine, they can pull out a slip of paper or a couple etc. The jar becomes an easy interactive personal gift/reminder of caring, even after a visit ends. You can make/print out a simple, decorative, label for the front of the jar that says something like "The feel good jar, take one as needed. . ." You can choose to decorate the outside of the jar with personal stickers, ribbon, or just do a label and have the pretty mixture of decorative paper show through the glass. It also can be a gift that can be sort of "re-gifted", in that you could always add new quotes, jokes, etc. to the jar, or replace the ones already read with a new batch.
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This year we've made a 10 pound cold processed recipe. We've split it into 2 x 4 pound recipes and 1 x 2 pound quantities. The first 4 pounder, we used a Coconut FO (my daughter likes it straight, no other scent with it); the second 4 pounder, we used Spearmint EO (I don't really like the Peppermint EO); and the last 2 pounds, we used Yuzu (if memory serves) using the last of that FO. This time of year we like to bring some soap over to friends homes, and leave it by one of their sinks (we dont tell them) they'll know who left them. :D It is a nice gift that is home made, and we avoid gift exchanges that way as well. Just a little something, ya know. Peace and health your way. Best of the holidays! (when they come).
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Mtn: Oh, gosh, that is embarrassing. It looks like I read your post, got the idea, and then forgot WHERE I got the idea. Ooh, boy, creeping senescence... I am not concerned that slate used as a floor tile would not be food safe. I suppose your concern is not the slate, but a chemical sealer? My understanding is that slate is usually not pre-sealed. Moreover, I really doubt that they pre-seal the stuff at this price point; it certainly did not seem sealed, as water did not bead on it and it soaked the oil right up. And sealer, which is meant to bind chemically tightly to stone, seems unlikely to be transferred to cheese anyway. I did run it through the dishwasher before gluing on the backing foam. Yes, the square shape of the cheeseboard looks a little off. I had been sort of intending to cut mine to something like 7.5" x 12" (golden mean), but I didn't feel like filling the water tray of the wet saw. So, instead, I googled for images of slate cheeseboards, and saw enough square ones to decide to just go with it. The other "flaw" is that the edges are square. Most of the cheeseboards you see commercially have more rustic edges. I figured I would just whack the edges of my tile with a margin trowel or tack hammer, and spall the edges nicely. Well, it wasn't happening; I was just making small chips in the edge, rather than causing any of the lamellae to delaminate. I then decided that square edges were acceptable in a cheeseboard :-)
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Another great thing is that I brought my 1984 Kodak Instamatic camera with me. When I left Lewis it was the end of the semester and all the faculty were gone. I never got pictures of anyone. But i took LOTS of photos at the party. Can't wait to get the film developed! SamKaren your resident DJ
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leela4
10 years ago
GWlolo-Thanks for the links to the garlic press and measuring spoons! I have an old (inherited) garlic press and 2 sets of measuring spoons that are aluminum (I think they were all my mother's, but it's been so long that I don't really remember). I didn't feel like I could justify buying new when those are very functional, but I would like stainless steel instead of aluminum. I'm always looking for easy and inexpensive gift ideas to give my 2 DD's, and these are great!

Here's an idea I have given a few people who are great cooks as presents: a handmade salt cellar. I also include some cool salt and maybe a book on salt (with recipes). It's not inexpensive, but her stuff is really nice (no affiliation with the site)

Here is a link that might be useful: salt cellar
leela4
10 years ago
Also-oldbat-thanks for reviving this thread.
gwlolo
10 years ago
suzanne --> For thermometer, get a Thermapen. They actually have a deal going on now

Some stocking stuffer size things I like are

serrated peelers
small square lodge cast iron pan - perfect for grilled cheese or breakfast eggs
beatiful olive wood spoons and ladles.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thermapen deal
suzanne_sl
10 years ago
Thermapen and turkey: I have my eye on a thermapen, but for a turkey, it's good to know how it's coming along vs. having to open the oven and poke it periodically. I do a 22-24 lb turkey and have palpitations every year. I wake up every Thanksgiving morning doing sums to figure out how long it will take to stuff and when I need to put it in - even if I've already done those sums previously. After I take it out, we pack up the turkey, the extra dressing, the cranberry sauce, the pies and whipped cream and head up to my brother's. This is generally an hour drive, and we go late enough in the day that it usually is. Interestingly enough, even though it's around 2 hours from finish to dinner, that turkey is still quite hot and tastes delicious.

XMAS Gifts For Ones Who Cook - 2013

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gwlolo

suzanne_sl

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