Shippable Holiday Gift Ideas for the Cook - Part 1 of 4
Happy Holidays all! I miss cooking with you in the cooking studio! Since we can't be together, I thought I'd share my ideas for gifts you can ship to your favorite cook and foodie. Here's the first of four groupings. Over the next four days I'm posting a video on Instagram as well. I don't love doing videos but they seem to be popular and I made them in the cooking studio so I really felt as if you were there. Did I mention I miss cooking with you? I really do!
I'm often asked about my favorite knife. That's an easy one! Wusthof Classic 8 inch Chef's Knife. I use it for 90% of what I'm doing. Mine was around $100 from Amazon.
The second gift idea is my rolling pin. The brand is Haywood Market from Amazon and it's an adjustable, stainless steel workhorse. It has adjustable side rings for rolling out the perfect thickness of pie crust or whatever dough your working with. To roll out my pasta, I remove the rings altogether. Water won't get inside when you're cleaning it and if you put it in the freezer prior to use, it won't melt your all butter dough when rolling. A marble rolling pin make a beautiful gift but is hard to use for pastry, however a welcomed tool for pasta. But this Haywood Market stainless steel rolling pin is perfect for everyone. It's my favorite!
The last item in this post is my induction burner, also from Amazon. I have three. One is Duxtop brand, the other is Copper Chef. Both work very well. Induction burners run between $50 to $100. Mine was $70 and it is a real workhorse. I've had lesser expensive ones in the past but they would break often and were not reliable. For this type of item, I wouldn't skimp. An induction burner is nice to add capacity to you kitchen at holiday time. It's always nice to have an extra burner to pull out of the cabinet for when you need it. And it's portable. So it can even sit on your dining room sideboard or table to keep food warm. Or do a little tableside cooking! I think it makes a great gift for the serious cook.
In Part 2 I'll talk pans - my favorite brands and what to look for when buying. Stay tuned! I hope this helps!
