Amazing foodie presents, wine and cocktail gifts, small appliances and more.
For the Foodie
For the Home
For the Wine-Lover
For the Mixologist
Small Appliances
Kitchen Equipment
Kitchen Tools
Cookbooks
Culinary Classes
Charitable Causes
Food Gifts
Spice Jam
Rachel Saunders is a true obsessive: She experimented with jam-making for nearly 10 years before launching Blue Chair Fruit.
Make It: Pear Jam with Green Cardamom
Buy It Instead: $12 for 6 oz.; bluechairfruit.com
Artisanal Candy
Jen King and Liz Gutman of Liddabit Sweets make versions of classic candy bars (their Snacker is a Snickers-esque combo of peanuts, caramel and nougat).
Make It: Peanut-Butter-and-Jelly-Cups
Buy It Instead: From $6.50; liddabitsweets.com
Ultra-Fudgy Brownies
Square One brownies have a perfect crackly top and a deep chocolate flavor. From $8 for 2; chocolategourmet.com.
Home & Table
Courtesy of Pottery Barn
Vintage-Inspired Barware
Pottery Barn's new bar tools—like this brass-and-steel bucket—recall old silverware. $59; potterybarn.com.
Courtesy of Williams-Sonoma
Cheese Knives
Inscribed on these Victorian-style cheese knives: "Eat, Drink & Be Merry." $30; williams-sonoma.com.
© Wendell T. Webber
Citrusy Glasses
Sagaforms Juicy glasses, by Swedish designer Lotta Odelius, are bright and cheery. $20 for 4; aplusrstore.com.
© Hector Sanchez
For the Iced-Coffee Obsessive
Bean (back) Bodum's new Bean iced-coffee maker steeps ground coffee in cold water overnight; push down the plunger, French press-style, in the morning. $30; bodumusa.com.
Range Server (right) Hario's new glass pitcher can be used for brewing hot coffee or serving it cold. $25; hariousa.com.
For the Wine-Lover
Heart Decanter
Riedel's new trio of "Black Tie" decanters includes this one, sweetly called "Bliss." $195; riedelwebstore.com.
Etched Tumblers
"Emperor's Garden" crystal is from Sieger by Theresienthal. From $190; marymahoney.com. Photo © Antonis Achilleos
Wine Bags
For hard-to-wrap bottles, F&W's Christine Quinlan turns to stylish wine bags. Among her favorites: versatile burlap wraps from South House Boutique $20 for 4; etsy.com. Photo Courtesy of www.Pylones-usa.com
Cute Corkscrew
This corkscrew from French company Pylones is funny and functional. $29; pylones-usa.com. © Antonis Achilleos
Best Bottles of the Year
F&W's editors taste thousands of wines every year. Here, their most memorable bottles of 2010, from a $22 Syrah to a $250 re-creation of a long-lost Bordeaux.
For the Mixologist
© Tina Rupp
Bark Cocktail Shaker by Roost
Roost's stylish stainless steel cocktail shaker features a burnt, engraved texture. $48; velocityartanddesign.com
Photo © Antonis Achilleos
Tangy Mixers
Fruit vinegars called shrubs from Tait Farm Foods add a sweet-tart kick to all kinds of drinks ($9 for 13 oz; taitfarmfoods.com).
Photo © Antonis Achilleos
Hybrid Barspoon-Fork
Greg Boehm stocks his website, cocktailkingdom.com, with a well-curated collection of reprinted vintage cocktail books, hard-to-find bitters and global barware like Parisian shakers and 20-inch-long gold barspoon-fork hybrids from Japan ($53).
Small Appliances
brevilleusa.com
Gourmet Pie Maker
Our great-grandparents ate hand pies as a portable snack. Now there's an easy way to make the pies: Breville's new machine. $80; brevilleusa.com.
Courtesy of Deborah Jones
Food Mill
With its strong, sharp blades, All-Clad's sturdy new food mill allows cooks to make fruit and vegetable purees without having to skin and seed ingredients first. $150; williams-sonoma.com.
Courtesy of 44, Inc.
Food Dehydrator
Most dehydrators require more than a day; Nesco's FD-37 is faster and can expand to hold seven trays of food. From $40; sears.com.
Kitchen Equipment
© Con Poulos
Staub Oval Cocotte
Not only do the vibrant ceramic enamel exterior and black matte enamel interior of this oven ensure strength and heat resistance for better cooking, the gorgeous finishes also make it a natural choice for oven-to-table persentation. From $62 for 1/2 quart; williams-sonoma.com. Courtesy of Lodge
Lodge Enameled Cast Iron
The 10-inch enameled grill pan from Lodge is safe on induction cooktops and great for searing steaks and making panini. $67 for pan, $33 for panini press; lodgemfg.com. Courtesy of Williams-Sonoma
Nonstick Bakeware
Williams-Sonoma's updated Goldtouch line bakes quickly and evenly. Muffins and cakes release easily from the nonstick surface. From $13; williams-sonoma.com.
Knives and Tools
© Antonis Achilleos
Ceramic Knife
Super-lightweight but very durable and sharp, the new Victorinox knives have textured grips for extra control. From $80; swissarmy.com.
Courtesy of Rice.dk.
Quirky Kitchen Tools
Sweden's Rice DK sells melamine utensils in pastel checks, butterflies, flowers and a mix of Xs and Os that's like a tic-tac-toe game seen through a kaleidoscope. $20 for three; huset-shop.com. Photo © 2008 Phoenix Productions, All Right Reserved
Y-Peelers
A stylish peeler with an easy-to-clean ceramic blade from industrial designer Karim Rashid. $15; unica-home.com.
Cookbooks
The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
Rachel Saunders's nearly-400-page book is filled with detailed recipes for jams accented with different herbs and spices. $35; shop.bluechairfruit.com Courtesy of Rodale
Radically Simple
Rozanne Gold looks at the entire world of flavors, often recombining them in fascinating new ways. Other recipes are pared back to a small list of superflavorful ingredients. F&W's Kristin Donnelly shares: "This is the book I'll be pulling off the shelf the next time I'm stuck in a cooking rut." $24; amazon.com Courtesy of Clarkson Potter
The Craft of Baking
Pastry genius Karen DeMasco of New York City's Locanda Verde has collected a wide range of creative recipes—from ambitious (chocolate brioche) to experimental (burnt-orange cheesecake) to fast (speedy shortbread cookies)—that any home cook can conquer. $25; amazon.com
Culinary Classes
© Antonis Achilleos
Lost Arts Classes
Chicks with Knives, Los Angeles
Rachael Narins and Suzanne Griswold, the founders of L.A.-based Chicks with Knives, run a supper club, cater parties and lead classes in what they call "lost arts," like making vanilla extract. From $95 per class; chickswithknives.com.
Flavor Cooking School
Ginna Haravon of Salted Caramel, Chicago
Haravon shares her sweet-savory fixation at her online store, Salted Caramel (it sells snacks like bourbon-bacon caramel corn), and during classes at Flavour cooking school just outside Chicago. $50 per class; flavourcookingschool.com.
Jam Making 101
Blue Chair Fruit; Oakland,CA
Rachel Saunders is a true obsessive: She experimented with jam-making for nearly 10 years before launching Blue Chair Fruit. She now leads a Jam Making 101 class in her factory's production kitchen. $195 per class; bluechairfruit.com.
Pickles and Preserves
Happy Girl Kitchen; Pacific Grove, CA
During a year in Norway, Todd and Jordan Champagne of Happy Girl Kitchen became experts at preserving foods like pickles. Now, they demystify these methods in seasonal workshops. $125 per class; happygirlkitchen.com.
Candymaking
Liddabit Sweets; Brooklyn, NY
Jen King and Liz Gutman of Liddabit Sweets make versions of classic candy bars (their Snacker is a Snickers-esque combo of peanuts, caramel and nougat) and teach at the Brooklyn Kitchen. From $65 per class; thebrooklynkitchen.com.
More Great Gifts
Best Gifts Under $20 Dollars
Best Gifts Under $40 Dollars
Best Gifts Under $100 Dollars
Best Gifts Over $100 Dollars
Easy Homemade Food Gifts
Charitable Causes
Photo courtesy of Percy Ramirez for Oxfam.
Charitable Causes
Many chefs donate their time to countless efforts to raise money and awareness to help those in need. Here, a look into the charitable efforts of some of the world's greatest chefs and others in the food world.
José Andrés's Cause: Haiti
The people of this small town in the hills of Haiti are living in poverty, yet they have opened their homes to some 8,000 displaced earthquake survivors.
Giada De Laurentiis's Cause: Chronic Hunger
To a billion people around the world surviving on just a dollar a day, the question of what to eat tonight is more about life and death than about recipes.
Tom Colicchio's Cause: Hunger Relief
We have the resources to provide good, healthy food for everyone. So why aren't we?
Art Smith's Cause: Childhood Obesity
Our chef-instructors teach kids basic kitchen skills, cooking techniques and the importance of fresh, healthy ingredients—to connect with their bodies, their neighbors and their world in a healthy way.
Mario Batali's Cause: Food Banks
My kids see the working poor, who look no different than anyone from our neighborhood. They see people with jobs who can't get enough food for their families.
Charity Case
Led by cult producer Hundred Acre, top Napa wineries donate the "pink" wine removed while making reds to Charity Case, which turns it into a lovely rosé. All proceeds go to children's causes.
Thanksgiving Farm at The Center for Discovery thecenterfordiscovery.org
April Bloomfield buys pigs from this New York farm, which works with people with disabilities.
Kiva
Through its U.S. office, the Rías Baixas region supports Kiva, which offers loans to needy small-scale entrepreneurs. kiva.org
Kallari Chocolate's Profit Sharing
The Ecuadorian producers of this chocolate share proceeds with the cacao farmers who grow the beans. kallarichocolate.com
Wholesome Wave
Michel Nischan is president of this nonprofit, which strives to bring local, fresh food to underserved communities. wholesomewave.org
KIPP Charter Schools
Spike Mendelsohn teaches healthy-cooking classes at the DC branch of KIPP, a national network of public charter schools. kipp.org
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
Michael White applauds this group, which directs nearly 90 percent of all donations to research grants and awareness programs. bcrfcure.org
Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
This nonprofit farm and education center celebrates community-based food production and the enjoyment of fresh food. stonebarnscenter.org
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
As a dog owner, Lettie Teague champions the ASPCA's work on behalf of homeless, hurt and abused animals. aspca.org
Greenroof Environmental Literacy Laboratory (GELL)
Michael Anthony supports GELL, which is raising funds to build a green roof atop P.S. 41, a New York City public school. ps41.org/ps41/the-gell-project
Heifer International
This organization supplies animals to families in developing nations; a $20 donation provides a flock of chicks. heifer.org
March of Dimes
After his seven-year-old daughters were born prematurely, Tim Love began supporting this national organization, which is devoted to baby health. marchofdimes.com
Chefs as Parents
Ed Jiloca supports this organization of chefs working to improve school lunches in the Washington, DC, area. chefsasparents.com