On Saturday, Nora and I baked twenty-two dozen cookies, and somewhere in the middle of the sugar cookies I reached for the bench scraper for what must have been the fortieth time that day. That's when this list started. Every December somebody in the teachers' lounge asks me what to buy a person who cooks, and my answer is always the same: something they'll use every week, not something that looks good in a basket.
Everything here is something I use at least weekly, or something I've given and watched get used. Prices are approximate, either what I paid or what I've seen on shelves this fall, and every one comes in under $50.
The list
- A bench scraper, about $10. A flat steel blade with a handle and inch marks along the edge. It cuts biscuit dough, clears flour off the counter in one pass and carries chopped onions to the pot. For: any kid who has started baking on their own. Nora has had one for a year and nobody else is allowed to touch it.
- A digital kitchen scale, about $25. Here's the why. A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from about 4 to 5 1/2 ounces depending on how you scoop it, and that gap is the difference between a tender cake and a dry one. Weighing takes the guessing out. For: Nora, this Christmas. If she's reading this, stop.
- A recipe box and a pack of blank cards, about $20. I keep Granny June's dented tin box on the counter and file my own changes behind her cards. Everybody deserves a box of their own to start. For: a grown kid moving out, or a couple just married. I write three of our recipes on cards before I wrap it.
- An instant-read thermometer, about $25. Ours fixed our chicken in May, after twenty years of guessing. It reads in about four seconds. For: the person who cuts into every piece of chicken to check. That used to be me.
- A pepper mill that doesn't quit, about $45. Ours is a tall wooden one with a steel grinder, bought in 2016 after two cheap ones stripped their gears inside a year. It still grinds fine or coarse, whichever I set. For: my dad, who has been shaking pre-ground pepper out of the same kind of tin my whole life.
- A 10-inch Lodge cast iron skillet, about $25. It comes pre-seasoned and will outlast whoever gets it. For: a college student's first kitchen, with a note taped to the handle that says no dishwasher. I learned that one the hard way in 2011.
- Kitchen shears that come apart for washing, about $20. They cut chicken backbones, snip herbs and slice pizza when the cutter is missing. For: whoever carves the turkey. Ryan keeps a second pair in his grill box.
- A rasp grater, about $15. Lemon zest, garlic, nutmeg and hard cheese, all in seconds, and it rinses clean. For: the cook who puts lemon in everything.
- Two heavy half-sheet pans, about $25 for the pair. Thick aluminum that doesn't warp. Thin pans pop and twist in a hot oven. These handle sheet-pan dinners, cookies and roasted vegetables for years. For: anyone setting up a first kitchen, or anyone whose pans make a loud bang at 425°F.
- Flour-sack towels, about $12 for a dozen. Thin cotton that dries glasses without lint, covers rising dough and lines a bread basket. For: teacher gifts. I tie three together with ribbon and add a bag of cookies from Saturday.
- A deviled egg carrier, about $15. A plastic tray with egg-shaped wells and a snap lid. For: my mom, who has brought deviled eggs to every family gathering since before I was born and still carries them in a pie plate under foil, losing two on every curve between Lewisburg and here.
What I wouldn't give
Gadgets that do one small job a regular tool already does. An avocado slicer. An egg separator shaped like a chicken. A big knife block set, which is usually three knives you'll use and a dozen you won't. And I say this as someone who bought herself a spiralizer in 2017, made zucchini noodles for one summer and has been storing it ever since.
I'd also skip anything that needs counter space the person doesn't have. A stand mixer is a wonderful gift. Ours came from our wedding in 2012 and still works, though it sounds like a lawn mower now. But it's well over $50, and it's a lot of machine to hand someone with a galley kitchen.
How I'd pick
Think about what the person already cooks, not what you wish they cooked. My mom isn't going to start making bread, but she is going to make deviled eggs at Easter, at the church homecoming and at every birthday in the family. The carrier will get used more than anything else on this list. If you're stuck, a thermometer or a pair of sheet pans gets used in almost every kitchen I know.
And put a note in with it. A card that says how you use the thing, or which recipe you'd make first, turns a $12 pack of towels into something a person keeps.
