Foodies can be hard to buy for, especially if the person doing the buying isn’t much into cooking or baking. Need help? Last year’s 10 ideas still hold and here are a few more.
The Combi-Whip and Bowl – This might be KitchenAid’s best-kept secret. I wanted to mention it last year but it was exclusive to one store and KA itself. Now it’s widely available and after using it since last Christmas, I can recommend it without reservations. I mentioned last year how handy a 3-quart bowl is for the tilt-head 4.5-quart mixers; this 3-quart bowl is for lift-bowl 5- and 6-quart mixers and comes with a unique beater that’s a cross between the flat beater and the whip, but the flat blades are not rounded. I lined up all three for this photo to show the differences. This creams butter and sugar like a champ and is no slouch at whipping either. There’s one catch: the short combi-whip only works with the shallow 3-quart bowl and vice versa. If you can live with that, the set is $60 and sold by Williams-Sonoma, JC Penney, eBay and perhaps your locally-owned kitchen store.
Non-stickery – If the baker in your life isn’t using parchment paper, he or she should be. A couple rolls of Reynold’s Parchment, at about $4 each, would be welcomed, especially by someone who makes a lot of cookies. You can even cook fish in it. Nothing sticks and it eliminates clean-up. You’ll find it at the supermarket near the aluminum foil. For non-disposable non-stickery, a Silpat brand silicone baking liner in the half-sheet size (13″x18″) is about $22. This is the original. Don’t bother with the imitators.
A good knife – Everyone needs one, although buying one for someone else can be tricky because good companies have more than one line with different handles and heft, so save the receipt and don’t be offended if the recipient exchanges it. The hot knife, with good reason, is the santoku with a hollow-ground edge that lets it slide through tomatoes, cheese and other sticky foods with ease. My favorite is my 8″ santoku from Wusthof’s Grand Prix line at about $70. Close behind is my 5″ Cuisinart santoku. It happens to be from their lowest-priced line — $14 online or $10 at TJ Maxx, where it’s nearly always in stock — and it’s amazingly sharp and well-balanced. Great value.
Food mill – Anyone who makes a lot of mashed potatoes, tomato sauces, soups or applesauce will thank you for this. It eliminates the need for peeling as it rices and strains. Put the cooked food into the hopper, turn the crank and the food is forced through a screen, leaving peels and seeds behind. Most come with two screens, small and medium holes, and this tool’s only drawback is being a pain to clean. Some approach $100 but most are around $40. I have a Foley, the best-known brand, but since mine doesn’t get constant heavy use, I opted for the economy of a rigid plastic body instead of metal. I saw one almost identical to it at my local Kmart, in Martha’s line, for $20. Nothing makes lighter, fluffier mashpots.
Pure kitsch – I am not a Marilyn or Elvis fan, nor is my kitchen design Fifties Retro, but I know people in one or both categories, so those whimsical cutting boards caught my eye. At first I thought they were the decorated tempered glass boards that ruin a knife’s edge in moments. Happily, they’re a synthetic material that will also hold up to heat for use as a trivet. Bed, Bath and Beyond has them for $20 each.
The best gift for any cook doesn’t cost a penny: just eat up and enjoy it. Don’t forget to kiss the cook.
April, 2009 Update: Many of these items and some from the prior Gifts for the Cook post can now be found in the Gift Ideas section of my little Amazon store, where you have the security and great prices of Amazon and the convenience of One-Click Shopping. Just browsing? That’s fine too. I’d love to have you look around. Thank you. ~ ella
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been thinking of getting a santoku but I don’t really know how they differ to regular knives.
When I was first stocking my kitchen, I just happened to randomly buy an 8″ Caphalon chef’s knife for cheap and I’ve been so happy with it since. Low maintenance and still sharp as anything.
I’ve been eyeing the popular Victorinox santoku on Amazon for a while. For some reason, it amuses me that I can use the internet to get knives sent to my home.
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Hey, Jack! Santokus have a slightly curved blade. That’s not distortion in the photo. The curve makes the rocking motion easier and more efficient for faster work. And those with the hollow-ground edge have that anti-stick aspect.
I buy so much on line but a knife is one thing I want to hold in my hand first. We had to buy a 10″ Wusthof chef’s knife for pastry school — of course the school sold it, but I went to Zabar’s and saved a bundle. Anyway, the Grand Prix line didn’t exist then so it’s the Classic. That thing weighs more than some kittens and I absolutely have to use a claw grip with it because the handle is all wrong for my hand. We only used it once or twice in school and it just sits in the drawer now unless Mr. Knife Skills uses it. Not the best purchase of my life.
Ella,
And we must not forget gifting ourselves! I’ve never used parchment paper, but will give it a try.
I followed the link to last year’s suggestions, and will be ordering some of that Boos oil. A woodworking friend in the Texas Hill Country just made four cutting boards for me from trees I “knew” personally – well seasoned wood from trees cut down on assorted properties in the area.
I was going to give two as gifts. Adding some of that oil will make them perfect gifts – and of course I’ll get some for myself!
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Oh, that’s marvelous to have cutting boards from trees you know personally and what a thoughtful gift! That’s so like you. The Mystery Oil will be perfect. I also use it on wooden utensils, which I prefer for cooking, and it keeps them in such great shape.
Once you try parchment you’ll wonder how you lived without it. If you make cakes, enter Fast Parchment Rounds in my searchbox and you’ll learn how to make pan liners in a flash, without any tracing or scisssors. You can make little pastry bags from it too but (shhh!) I buy parchment triangles for that. No waste, no fuss.