Gift Ideas for Someone Who Loves To Cook

This year I’m doing something I’ve never done before: a Christmas gift guide!  For more about this series and to find all the gift guides as they are published, click here.

Have someone who likes to cook on your Christmas list?  Here are my top picks for things that I love that I think most other cooks would, too.

1. The Classic Wooden Spoon

I just told my sister the other day that she really needs to get a good wooden spoon.  I don’t know what it is, but a wooden spoon allows you to, well, feel your food as you cook it.  It’s fabulous for stirring just about everything, and of course, it’s also safe to use on any cooking surface.

It took me a few years to realize it, but a wooden spoon is now one of my favorite cooking tools.  I have this olive wood spoon ($25) and yes, it’s pricey, but worth it. I recommend buying an olive wood one that is preferably made of one piece of wood.

2. Dutch Oven

I was recently given a Dutch oven and am really enjoying using it.  The “good ones” are expensive, but Cook’s Illustrated highly rates this Lodge Dutch Oven ($49.97), at a fraction of the price of the name-brand Le Creuset.  (Note: only the blue one is $49.97.  Last year, King Soopers also carried these, so be on the lookout there!)

3. Immersion/Hand/Stick Blender

This is a tool that not a lot of people use, but I’ve had this KitchenAid one for years and I love it.  It it’s hands-down one of my top 5 favorite cooking tools.  I use it to puree tomatoes, salad dressings, soups, homemade baby food, chipotle peppers… You name it, and I’ve blended it with my immersion blender.  It’s so much easier to clean up than a regular blender!

I should probably mention that this type of blender does not work well for smoothies.  I once tried pureeing frozen fruit with this thing, and let’s just say that you need a regular blender to handle frozen stuff.  (I stripped the gears and Jeremy used Liquid Nails to, uh, rather permanently fix it.  It’s still working great, I just can’t take it apart!)  And, the one I linked to above is kind of pricey, but if you go with a cheaper model, I would strongly recommend getting one where the bottom part is all metal – no plastic.

4. America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

I have the first edition of the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and it’s my go-to book.  America’s Test Kitchen is famous for making foolproof recipes, and this book doesn’t disappoint.  I’ve made one recipe out of it that just wasn’t good, and everything else has been fabulous.  I think of this book as the classic Betty Crocker cookbook for people who like more modern good food.

5. Cook’s Country Magazine

Cook’s Country is a sister to America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated, and as the amount of time I can spend reading cooking magazines and cooking has decreased, I’ve turned to Cook’s Country Magazine as my favorite cooking magazine.  The recipes are well-tested, but simpler than a lot of the ones you’d find in Cook’s Illustrated, and they have some more inventive recipes, too.

If you have someone who likes the geekier side of cooking, then by all means, Cook’s Illustrated Magazine is the way to go.
is the way to go.

6. Garlic Peeler

I have one of these garlic peelers and while I’ve recently gotten better at just smashing garlic cloves with a knife to peel them, this tool works great for those that aren’t comfortable doing it like they do on TV. You just stick the clove inside and roll it around, and the garlic’s skin sticks to the tube.

7. Pourover Coffee Cup

If you have someone is serious about coffee, this Hario Coffee Dripper might be something to look at. Jeremy started using one a few months ago and really likes it. It’s a good way to brew a single cup of coffee, and I like it because it is way easier to clean up than a French press.  (It does require filters, so be sure to order those, too.)

8. The Kitchen Counter Cooking School

I recently read this book at the suggestion of Jessica and it totally inspired me to learn how to cook better.  Here’s a description of The Kitchen Counter Cooking School ($10.88):

After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn’s “chefternal” instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers’ culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking.

It’s not really a cookbook at all, though it does have a few recipes.  It really motivated me to learn better cooking techniques and it was a fun read.

I could go on all day with recommendations for people who love to cook, but I’ll stop here. :)  Happy shopping!

For more about this series and to find all the gift guides as they are published, click here.