The Best Gifts For Cooks 2017
They may be small in size, but they're high in value
Gather round, everyone: It's time for a Christmas story. Not the one about the small child asleep on the hay, but about how perceived value of a gift is in the eye of the beholder. There's no better time to put that into practice than the holiday season, but that doesn't mean you have to skimp—here are 10 gifts that though they may sound insignificant are sure to delight the home cook in your life.
Chips & Dip Server
It's probably considered tacky to show up to a gift exchange holding a bag of chips with a bow on it. Unless, of course, you have this double-decker serving piece in the other hand.
Black Tie KitchenAid Stand Mixer
This is essentially your way to score best friend status for an entire year—just make sure to throw in the ice cream maker attachment.
Delicacies Necklace
Wearing farfalle around your neck > wearing your heart on your sleeve. Other options include an avocado, octopus or olive, for those with other taste preferences.
Skura Sponges
If you're giving someone a sponge for Christmas, it better be gold-plated. Or, in this case, a subscription of sleekly designed cleaning tools that makes both a clean kitchen and the ability to cross "buy sponges" off one's to-do list for a year a cinch.
Eleven Madison Park: The Next Chapter
This is definitely not a cookbook that'll just get thrown on the shelf and forgotten about. It's a (signed) set of two volumes filled with stories, watercolors, recipes and more from the top-rated restaurant in the world.
Hot Bourbon + Lemon Soap
The next time someone says you smell like alcohol is coming out of your pores, it'll be a compliment . . . not a reflection of 3 a.m. tequila shots. The small-batch bar is like a full-body hot toddy soak.
Set of Canada Pins
Put poutine on your shirt collar and start apologizing to everyone you see, because what better way to pay homage to the top travel destination of 2017?
To'ak Chocolate
Last-minute checkout-aisle chocolate purchases won't make the cut. The world's most expensive chocolate, however—aged for two years in a Laphroaig Scotch cask—sounds just about right.
Gien Les Fables Dessert Plate Set
Give that friend who makes the best Christmas cookies someplace nice to put them, like a set of French fable-inspired plates that evoke 1820s royalty.
Stirring Tin
Do your part to make 2018 the year of the home bar upgrade. This Cocktail Kingdom gift was made in collaboration with a New York City bartender and features pandan leaves etched into the surface—the perfect inspiration to use the ingredient in a cocktail.