A Short Gift Guide

Three practical (but fun) gift ideas for the cooks in your life, plus a few cookbooks

I know that you’ve already seen your share of gift guides, and I apologize if this adds to the stack. Each December over the past several years I’ve wondered, can’t we just sit this one out? But try as I might, I will always find the holidays a little irresistible. From age 10 or 12, my grandparents would task me with the shopping for their stockings, and as part of that I’d even write them letters from Santa. Also, I used to force my full extended family to sit through a (solo!) Christmas piano recital every year. I can’t help myself, I always loved this stuff.

And as for gift giving, I also remind myself: There’s just nothing better than giving someone a great gift. It’s an intimate thrill. And for me, the best gifts are those that the recipient had never imagined needing before, but becomes indispensable in their lives. So with that in mind, here are a handful of gift ideas for the cooks you know. They’re items that I didn’t fully realize I needed until I got them.

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A Stocking Stuffer:
GIR Mini Spoonula

This is my go-to stirrer, scooper, and scraper. Even when the larger version would probably work better, I still reach for this mini one first. I can’t explain it; it’s just an incredibly functional little tool that’s an absolute joy to use. I recommend giving two of them, because one will always end up being dirty. That said, I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive the person who came up with the word “spoonula.”

Available on GIR.com or Amazon ($7.95)

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A Solid:
Oxo Food Scale with Pull-Out Display

I recently had to replace my first kitchen scale, the one I bought on my first (and so far, only) trip to Paris about 15 years ago. I settled on this Oxo one because of its pull-out display feature, which allows you to set a bowl or even a quarter sheet pan on the scale without having to cover up the little screen. I’m sure you’ve heard this before from other cooks and cookbook authors, but a scale really does become essential once you start using one. Not just with baking (how I love not having to dirty measuring cups!), but with vegetable cooking, too, where you can check for yourself what exactly is meant by a “large carrot” or “two medium leeks” (assuming your recipe gives you weight guidelines). This one is a 5-pound capacity scale; there’s also an 11-pound capacity, stainless-steel one that’s a bit more expensive. Available on OXO.com or Amazon ($32.99)

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An Heirloom:
Mudslide Stoneware Mortar & Pestle

I got this perfect mortar & pestle a few years ago at Now Serving in LA. They don’t seem to sell it anymore but you can purchase it directly from the maker, Mudslide Stoneware, on Etsy. I own a few different mortars and this is the only one I reach for now. It’s not too heavy and exactly the right size — big enough to make pesto, but small enough to grind whole spices. And when I’m not using it, I keep it in my living room on a shelf, because its’ pretty enough to just look at. I use it all the time. I expect to cherish it forever. Available on Etsy ($90.00)

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Lastly, a Couple Cookbooks

There are too many great new cookbooks to even keep track. But they do may excellent gifts. Here are a few recent-ish standout ones.

• The Vegan Chinese Kitchen: Recipes and Modern Stories from a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition, by Hannah Che. This is a new classic for plant-based cooks. I love the “modern” and “thousand-year-old” in the subtitle — vegan Chinese cooking, as Che demonstrates, is nothing new, but right now is such a perfect time to explore, harness, and build on the age-old traditions. Amazon | Bookshop

• Tava: Eastern European Baking and Desserts From Romania & Beyond, by Irina Georgescu. For the baker in your life who goes narrow and deep, there’s no way not to love this book. Besides a new-to-me (and maybe you?) treasure trove of recipes, it’s also such a rich and fascinating survey of a culinary landscape. Amazon | Bookshop

• Simply Genius: Recipes for Beginners, Busy Cooks & Curious People, by Kristin Miglore. This is a perfect book for a newbie cook or someone resolving to cook more seriously in the coming year. I’ve always loved and learned from Kristin’s Genius Recipes column at Food52, and her new book is the perfect expression of the vast territory it’s covered over the years: great recipes, but also the most essential, and helpful, mechanics of how to cook. Amazon | Bookshop

Of course there’s also Snacks for Dinner (Amazon | Bookshop), my cookbook that was published in May of this year! As this recipe newsletter, too, which has been a complete joy so far to write — paid subscribers recently got recipes for Seedy Date Crackers, Balsamic-Glazed “Big Beans” with Fennel and Radicchio, and a Simple, Spectacular Swiss Chard Soup, to name a few.

Stay tuned for a fun holiday recipe in the coming weeks! And happy holidays,
—LV

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links for Amazon and Bookshop, which help support the work I do by sharing a small percentage of the sale with me.