Gift Guide Part 3

And here we are at the final installment of Spaghetti Betty’s Holiday Gift Guide, ‘Fun Gifts for the Foodies!’ These are some of my favorite fun little foodie things I’ve seen in the past year, and as I’ve been scanning the internet for fun gifts for my family.

First up is one of my new favorite sites, Girls Can Tell. The artwork is in diagram style and printed on things like lunch bags, coasters and tea towels. There isn’t too much about the artist, but when I bought this pig’s butcher’s diagram lunch bag, I got a cute little thank you note signed by Sara.

They Draw & Cook is an amazing marriage of art and food! Artist from around the world submit recipes in the form of cartoon drawings. They recently released a cookbook after being in exsistence for less than a year! Well done!

Another one of my favorite cookbooks to come out this year was Nadia G’s Cookin’ For Trouble. She is by-far the most entertaining person to watch on the Cooking Channel, and from a culinary perspective I think she knows what she’s talking about. The book is full of crazy gorgeous food porn and hysterical annecdotes that should be read outloud (or in your head) in your best Nadia G voice.

I like to think of myself as a charitable person and I love finding gift-ey things that will give to a good cause. The Working Proof sells beautiful prints that are paired with a charity of the artist’s choice. Prints are usually priced around $30 with 15% of the profit going to the charity. This Snake Vase, by Caitlin Keegan, really caught my attention and her charity of choice was Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization.

Many nights in my family are challenged by me defending my culinary graduate title by playing ‘Foodie Fight.’ This trivial pursuit style game tests your knowledge in categories such as culinary science, celebrity chefs, food history and exotic cuisine.

Now’s your chance to be like your favorite badass chef and get that culinary tattoo you’ve always wanted! Tattly is a new company inspired by a mother’s frustration in the design of temporary tattoos. Her mantra: Life is too short to drink bad wine and wear ugly temporary tattoos. Right? Amen sista’!! The Kitchen utensils are really fun, and designed by a Brooklyn girl!

Music and food come together on these vintage holiday music record coasters. Creative, affordable and festive!

While walking in the Grand Central Station Market the other day I came across this gothic skull and cross bones chef graphic. Artist Jon Wye calls it his Pirate Chef and prints it on t-shirts, aprons, stickers, bags and hats.

And lastly, how about some salt and pepper wind-up robots!! The ultimate is this really necessary gift. Hey, you said you were shopping for the person who has everything!

Hopefully my three-part installment has made the burden of holiday shopping a little easier, or at least provided a good excuse for work procrastination!

Buon Natale miei amici!

Advertisement

Gift Guide Part 2

Today’s Gift Guide is for ‘The Cooks’ in your family and friend circle. This can be a particularly difficult category because it’s hard to know what kind of equipment they already have or if they have personal loyalties to a specific brand. One tip is to buy them an accessory to something you know they already have. Like a soda syrup, a Kitchen Aide attachment, or maybe a braising base for the Dutch Oven they got last year. Here are some of my thoughts on original ideas for the cooks in yourlife.

Okay, I know monthly food clubs sound a little corney but I gave my dad a wine of the month club gift for 3 years in a row and he lovedit! Also, one of my brother’s best gifts to me was a hot sauce of the month club! New on my radar this year is Murray’s Pair of the Month Club. Cheese paired with honey, chocolate, chutneys and more!

So this is a little gadget-ey but I think it serves a lot of purpose! The foodpod
is a little silicone steamer basket. The one I have is metal and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to maneuver pulling it up without burning myself! I can also see this foodpod jamming perfectly into my disorganized utensil drawer.

Lately, my family has been obsessed with smoking meat. We even smoked a turkey this Thanksgiving. I did some research and found the Nordic Ware Ovengot some great reviews and it can be used indoors and outdoors. Note of caution, just about every review who used it inside said your house will probably smell for a little bit…but who cares!!!

If you have some female cooks and bakers Anthropologie has a cute rolling pins and kitchen mits and towels
I also really like the vase they use for utensils. Maybe that utensil draw of mine could benefit from something like that!

And I couldn’t complete my guide without a little pasta for my little rolotini’s!! So when it comes to pasta making I’ve used my Kitchen Aide attachment and the Imperia tabletop one, both work really well. The Imperia can slide a little if your table isn’t even and only has like 3 settings. The Atlas pasta maker
has lots of different attachments for your basic pappardelle, spaghetti, even ravioli! But then goes really specific for noodles like reginette (like ribboned papardelle, translates to little queen, that’s my kinda noodle!).

And lastly one final gadget is this Spaghetti measurer. No matter how many times I make spaghetti for myself, I could still use a little guide in portioning out one of my favorite food groups!

The Spaghetti Betty Gift Guide

If you’re like me, you have a ton of food lover friends and family to buy holiday gifts for. And I always think it’s a nice touch to give a little of your personality when choosing the right gift for someone. I’ve read a few holiday gift guides put out by some of my favorite publications, but personally many missed the mark. So I was inspired to create a gift guide of my own! Here is part one of the guide. And I’ll be sure to sneak in any additions I see in the next few weeks.

For the Entertainer
For me, entertaining was practically etched into my DNA at birth. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it’s one thing to serve great food, but it’s another to have great food served on cool things!

I saw a lot of really fun holiday dishes and platters this year!
For the second year CB2 is carrying these fun little stick figure guys on mini dishes. Great for little party apps!

Another really fun dish was this string of lights from West Elm

Many of you are probably familiar with Brooklyn Slate. I just got myself a cheese platter recently and it is really so beautiful. And their Cheese Survival Kit is also another great idea! (And the tote is really cute.) For all the cheese lovers these are some great gift from a local small business.

Anthropologie is never one of those places that immediately comes to mind when thinking about house ware gifts. But they have a really extensive luxury/chic collection. These wine decanters would make a great gift for the wine lover or hostess.

For the Mixologist
Cocktail mixing is an essential skill that any great entertainer should have under their belt. Here are some gifts for their arsenal.

Any good bartender knows how important ice is to the components of the drink.

The iceorb is a double duty for making ice and keeping a bottle cold. A good gadget and perfect for the person who has everything! You can buy it from a few retailers on Amazon.

I can barely contain myself on this site with all these off the wall ice molds! Frozen Smiles, Gin & Titonic or Legos! The silicone trays can probably also double duty for chocolate molds!

For those in need of some solid recipes check out Jim Meehan’s The PDT Cocktail Book. The illustrations are really stunning, very Marvel-comic-book, and Jim has been consulting on the Food&Wine Cocktail Book for years, a definite trusted source!

For those bartenders seeking a little more depth and maybe something a little more unique try Brad Thomas Parsons’ Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas.

That concludes part 1, in the next few days I’ll be adding gifts for the cook and my personal favorite category: fun for the foodies!