Last weekend before the holiday… Do you know what you’re getting everyone? (Not to pressure you, but the 25th is closing in fast.) On a more helpful note, we have suggestions for fabulous kitchen-related gifts, from teacups to frying pans. Several of them also make great host-gifts, if you’re headed for a holiday visit.
We have previously professed our love for Le Creuset products, so were excited to get to try out the Le Creuset Honeypot Gift Set (with Savannah Bee Company Honey). You may not think that a honeypot is a kitchen necessity, but that’s just because you haven’t met this one yet. It’s in cheerful marigold, with a lovely matching wood and silicon dipper. As I drizzled honey into my tea, I had pleasant thoughts of the Hundred Acre Wood. The honey the gift set comes with is nice, and a great consistency for tea- thinner than some honeys, with delicate flavors. We found the set on Amazon for $39. It’s a great gift to make someone smile, especially if they’re obsessed with all-things kitchen.
If you’re going for a more prosaically useful gift, Le Creuset also has an answer. We use the 9 1/2″ Nonstick Deep Frying Pan all the time. The sides are high enough that when we pile in the chopped vegis (drizzled in olive oil), they stay in as we stir. We often use the 9 1/2″ Nonstick Shallow Frying Pan in concert with it, scrambling eggs. The handles are designed by German ergonomics experts (you know they mean business). The hard-anodize pans are hot-forged, ensuring that they’ll never warp. The non-stick coating is dishwasher safe, and quite effective, so cleaning up after cooking will cause minimal pain. Basically, this is sexy cookware. On Amazon you can pick up the deep pan for $110 and the shallow one for $90.
For people who are more wine-openers than chefs, we like the Le Creuset LM200 Screwpull wine opener (We’re not playing it very cool with this infatuation, are we?). When you don’t want to waste time before imbibing with frustrating twisting or finicky corks, the lever technology used in this will be a sip of cool Pinot Grigio. Ok, labored metaphor, but you get the idea. The opener is dishwasher safe, and comes with a 10-year warranty. We’ve heard some people complain about trouble with synthetic cork with this model, but so far we’ve been fine. You can pick one up on Amazon for about $80.
Back to the fanciful side of things, we love our oversized Alice in Wonderland teacup from Urban Outfitters. It’s big enough to hold a satisfying portion of soup, or enough Lapsang Souchong to keep us buzzing for several hours. The Tenniel illustrations of Alice and the playing cards on one side and the White Rabbit on the other are in sophisticated black and white. The cup is microwave and dishwasher safe, so it’s actually usable. At $16 it’s an affordable gift, or great to pair with something else (say the honeypot…) for a great surprise.
Finally, for the geek griller in your life, we really love the iGrill Thermometer that we tried out earlier this year. It’s a bit pricey at $100, but so satisfying to use with a grill- great gift for someone who loves steaks and technology.
So… What are you waiting for? Go shop!
