Mary’s Holiday Gift Guide 2018
I’m usually done with my Christmas shopping by the first week of December. Not because I’m a planner (I’m a procrastinator for sure), but because we have to ship all of our gifts back East and I want to make sure they arrive in time. We have family in Connecticut, Maine, Boston and North Carolina (where my new niece lives!) so the packages have a journey to make.
But if you still have a few gifts to give, here are a few of my ideas. I’ve got a few kitchen gadgets that I find essential in my kitchen, a few cookbooks that I have in my library which I also own and fully support. Like always if you click on my links I do get a little kickback, but no one has sponsored me to make these recommendations. They’re all things that I own and I think that you might like, or like to give to someone else.
Stocking stuffers
- This lemon juicer is perfect for making cocktails or if you just don’t feel like getting your hands all covered in lemon juice. It is super efficient and will get all that juice out. The one I like is from Williams Sonoma, so that is the one I recommend. It has held up really well and you can put it in the dishwasher. Don’t be tempted to get the lime juicer because it will be too small if you ever plan on juicing even medium limes, plus the lemon juicer does it all so it is kind of a no brainer.
- These reusable straws, which I use for smoothies EVERY morning. They’re big enough that you can clean them with the brush that is included, and they don’t get clogged up. They’re stainless steel so they will last forever and they’ll be fine in the dishwasher. This is a pack of four from Amazon, which I find to be enough for me and Miles.
- These mason jar tops, which I use all the time. I wish you could see my fridge and pantry full of mason jars with these lids. I have been slowly trying to rid my kitchen of all plastic, and I’ve found one of the cheapest food storage solutions is Ball mason jars. I don’t like how the metal tops hold up (they tend to rust), and they’re two parts which makes them less secure especially when you’re shaking up a salad dressing. I have the regular mouth size as well as the wide mouth and you can find these on Amazon or Target.
Cookbooks
- Bravetart from Stella Parks is by far the best cookbook I have found all year. It is a baking book that is full of recipes that actually work, and aren’t just pretty pictures. I have gifted it to a few people already for birthday presents. What I like about this book is that she has a lot of classics, but then has a whole section following the recipe for ways to alter them just a little bit to make them unique. For example, she has a snickerdoodle cookie recipe which she then follows up with an option to make it into a snickerdoodle cake. She works with America’s test kitchen so her recipes just work. I could go on, but I won’t… she already thinks I’m creepy.
- The Food Lab, is an excellent book to give to someone who doesn’t have a lot of cookbooks, or room for them, but likes to cook. These recipes are a little involved, but they really work too. Kenji Lopez Alt knows his stuff from also working for the Test Kitchen, and brings a really nice science-y approach to cooking. The pictures are matter of fact and there is nothing fluffy about this book. Along those lines, I also own The New Best Recipe which is from a line of cookbooks that I used in culinary school. It is the cookbook that I consult before any other, and a probably my most gifted cookbook of all time. I consider it the culinary Bible. Nothing fluffy about this one either, and before each recipe there is an explanation of why it works and why other ways don’t, which I really appreciate.
- For a great vegan cookbook I love The Thug Kitchen. For a vegetarian cookbook I love How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman of the NY Times (one I have gifted a bunch as well). And for a cookbook that is from a fellow local blogger that I admire, I would recommend The Sprouted Kitchen by The Forte’s, which I actually don’t own yet but I have gifted as well.
