Need inspiration for someone you love or maybe your own wish list? This year’s holiday gift guide is full of practical tools that will lead to easier cooking and more joyful eating. I’ve got ideas for people new to cooking, seasoned chefs, and everyone in between!
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For this year’s gift guide I decided to go super practical. As many around the country are tightening their belts, two things are happening: (1) people are trying to save money by cooking more and (2) gifts this holiday season may land more in the practical category. Given these realities, I thought I would put together a gift guide that is full of things that make cooking easier and maybe a bit more inspiring.
So, whether you are looking for gifts for someone you love or are hoping to find inspiration for your own wish list, whether you are a seasoned cook or someone just starting out, I’m confident that you’ll find some fun (and yet practical) ideas in this holiday gift guide (and if you are looking for some non-cooking gift ideas, make sure to check out my gift guide for women in midlife as well!).
The Scramble’s Holiday Gift Guide: Practical Tools for Joyful Eating
Cooking Tools Everyone Should Have
A Good Knife or Two
As someone who has done many kitchen evaluations with clients, I can tell you that many of us never graduated from the knives that we got from Ikea or Marshall’s or TJ Maxx when we were first starting out as adults. And while these knives have put up a valiant effort, the truth is that they don’t cut nearly as well, both because their balance isn’t very good (which makes cutting awkward) and because they don’t keep an edge well (in other words they get dull very easily), as better quality knives. Investing in a good knife or two can really change your cooking game – making it easier, more efficient, and more pleasant. In my opinion, the most essential two are a good paring knife and a good chef’s knife.
Silicone Cooking Utensils
I’m embarrassed to say how long it took me to appreciate the value of silicone cooking utensils, but now that I am a convert, I can’t imagine ever going back. There are four reasons I love my silicone cooking utensils: (1) they can withstand much higher heats, so less risk of melting (unlike plastic cooking utensils), (2) their slightly flexible edges make them great for scraping out pots, (3) you don’t need to worry about the black plastic chemicals issues that were big in the news this past year, and (4) there is no need to worry about scratching your pots and pans. Here’s a set that I love.
Kitchen Shears
Kitchen shears are another one that I was a late adopter of but now can’t imagine living without. I use them to open food packages, quickly chop herbs, spatchcock a chicken, cut up meat, and more! I think it is important to get a pair that fully separate into two pieces for easy cleaning, so this is my favorite pair.
Digital Thermometer
For years I used an old-school thermometer to test whether meats were fully cooked, but I have become a believer in the value of an instant-read digital thermometer because they are such much more efficient and accurate.
Tools that Make Cooking Easier or Faster
Salad Spinner
Making sure that your greens are well-washed is incredibly important (especially now as funding for food safety monitoring has been drastically cut). And there is no better way to wash greens than in a salad spinner. You can get them cleaner and dry them faster than any other method. I love this spinner because you can start it spinning, walk away, and come back to nice, dry leaves.
Food Mill
Food mills are one of my favorite, little-known cooking tools. If you want the fluffiest, smoothest, best mashed potatoes ever, you want a food mill. If you want to make applesauce from all those apples from apple picking, the food mill is your friend. Want to start making silky smooth pureed soups? Food mills can get you there. But the things is, a lot of the versions out there aren’t very good, which can make using them frustrating. But this one is a dream to use!
Magnetic Spice/Storage Rack
Save time and stop the searching around in your spice drawer or cabinet for the cinnamon, all spice, or oregano. This magnetic spice/storage rack can stick right onto the side of your fridge, making it easy to quickly find what you need.
Breville Air Fryer/Toaster Oven
Now, I don’t have one of these myself yet. But my brother and best friend from college, who are both very serious cooks, absolutely love theirs, so it is on my wish list. This appliance is small enough to fit on a counter, but big enough to do air frying for a family of four, plus it serves as a small oven which is super helpful when you have two things you need to be baking or you have a small thing you want to reheat but don’t want to spend the time waiting for the big oven to preheat.
Food Storage and Lunch Packing Tools
Owala Water Bottles
I grabbed one of these at the start of the school year to replace a lost water bottle and quickly learned that these are a “cool” brand, but they aren’t nearly as expensive as some of the others out there. A great stocking stuffer option!
Larger Thermoses
The small thermoses I used for years with my kids just aren’t big enough anymore, so I invested in two of these larger thermoses and my hungry teens are happy again! They keep the food warm quite well and have stood up to the rough treatment of teenage boys, so I call that a win!
Silicone Storage Bags
I’ve been trying to use less plastic wrap and Ziploc bags and I absolutely love these silicone storage bags – especially the ones with flat bottoms on them. We use them to keep chopped veggies, cheeses, and leftovers fresh and then best part, once you are done, you just throw them in the dishwasher!