Gift Guide | For Kids & Adults

A gift for everyone on your list

In my 10+ years in food media, the most fun I had at work was curating gift guides. I love gift giving. I love maintaining my absolutely massive Pinterest gift guide. I love thinking deeply about how I can connect with my people by giving them an item or experience that will make their life better or happier. I love doing this for readers too, offering unexpected but fun ideas to make this time of the year easier for everyone shopping. This guide includes gifts for kids and below that, gifts for adults. It’s a long one, so you might prefer reading on your desktop or in the Substack app.

If you’re stumped, and want specific gift-giving advice, sound off in the comments or in Table Chat.

Okay friends, happy gifting!

Gifts for Kids

If you're a subscriber to this newsletter, chances are there's a little kid in your life who loves to help in the kitchen. These are the kid-safe knives my family has, and my daughter loves them. To make the gift a bit more generous, check out these Hedley & Bennett aprons.

• Risiculis Kids Knives Set $19

• Hedley & Bennett Kids Apron $52-$65

For older bakers, two baking kits to consider: The Tiny Baking Kit would work for any kids who are especially crafty or really for anyone who’s ever gotten sucked into watching those tiny cooking videos. The cake explosion kit comes straight from Soho’s Flour Shop, and is an ambitious, fun project to tackle together.

• Smart Lab Toys Tiny Baking Kit $23 

• Flour Shop Mini Explosion Cake Kit $60

My favorite thing to give to young kids is books. I tend to focus on newer releases so that I’m at less risk of getting something the family already has, but it’s fun to go classic, too. These food-themed books are some of my absolute favorites to gift to toddlers and preschoolers.

• Cookies! An interactive recipe book $18

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs $7

• Dim Sum for Everyone $7

• Lunch from Home $14

And for the older kids, these are two newer releases that feature food, too, but also more mature themes and a hefty page count — one is a cozy fantasy mystery set in a magical bakery, and the other is a story of living with grief and starting over.

• A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking $14

• Eli Over Easy $8

Two approaches to family game night here: For the video gamers, Overcooked and Overcooked 2 — you can get this for the Switch or PS4. And don’t be surprised if your kid is much better at this than you are. For younger kids, Throw Throw Burrito might be more appealing. It’s dodgeball meets cute burritos meets cards.

• Overcooked and Overcooked 2! $26

• Throw Throw Burritos $20

For the chic, pasta-loving kids out there, a toddler puffer coat from the Rachel Antonoff x Little Spoon collaboration. For older kids and teens, this silver farfalle necklace feels special. Both of these would work for adults too — consider getting matches for mom.

• Rachel Antonoff x Little Spoon Toddler Puffer $130

• Rachel Antonoff Parker Puffer $425

• Delicacies Farfalle Necklace $100

Gifts for Adults

These are three great options for anyone who is hosting you or others this holiday season. Lazy susans are vastly underrated — especially for families with kids at the table. I love the tongue-in-cheek design of this one. Forget salad servers, this is my new favorite host gift. I love adding an on-theme book to a gift (you’ll see this trick again below and you can read more about how I like to gift cookbooks here). So, consider this 2024 release as another host gift option. From New York City's chicest dinner party supply store, Big Night is a cookbook dedicated to the art of having company. This would make a lovely gift for: the post-college grad who is looking to level up their first apartment, the friend who always says they want to have people over more, the consummate entertainer looking for inspiration. I am also very excited about everyone’s favorite chili crisp maker Fly by Jing’s new hot pot set, which comes with an electric hot pot, spoons, and chopsticks. Hot pot parties are the best parties.

• MoMa Design Store x Adam J. Kuryz Indecisive Lazy Susan $45

• Big Night: Dinners, Parties, and Dinner Parties $22

• Fly by Jing Hot Pot Set $90

Is there someone on your list who is Very Into baking cookies? For me, it's my mother-in-law, and when I saw these Silpat cookie-sizing mats I immediately added to my list for her (spoiler alert, Jill, sorry!). Ben Mims' latest cookbook is also a must for all cookie bakers: It's a veritable encyclopedia guaranteed to expand even an expert baker's horizons. And last, cookie stamps: These ones are specifically for thumbprint cookies, and the overall effect is so professional.

• Silpat The Original Perfect Cookie Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat $23

• Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets from Around the World $45

• Williams Sonoma Thumbprint Cookie Stamps $17

This gift is for the dude in your life who has already rewatched all three seasons of The Bear. He knows that Neil Fak is actually a real chef, Matthy Matheson, and he'll be thrilled to know that Matty Matheson's latest book is full of recipes that he will be excited to cook for his family and friends. To encourage that culinary experimentation, get him a navy blue Bragard apron. It's a ringer for the one Carmy wears on the show.

• Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches: A Cookbook $25

• Bragard Unisex Travel Bib Apron $24

And these are for the sister or bff who got very into romantasy this year. This Fourth Wing mug is properly collegiate, and this ACOTAR (she'll know what that is) candle would be a welcome addition to her reading nook. Bonus — these gifts highlight book series that have new installments on the way, so you could also buy her a pre-order to her e-reader (she has one). 

• The Bean Workshop Basgiath War College Mug $17

• C&E Craft Night Court Scented Candle $22

• Onyx Storm (Kindle pre-order)  $15

These are for anyone on your list who is very into holidays and fashion, but not necessarily holiday fashion. Susan Alexandra's Judaica collection is full of on-trend options, and this spilled pickle jar menorah happens to be my absolute favorite. LA-based, cool-girl jeweler MUSH Bottega has fun food-themed options, like these olive charm earrings from the latest drop. And for a more overtly unisex option, a butter sweatshirt. You know, for butter lovers.

• Susan Alexandra Pickle Jar Menorah $328

• MUSH Bottega Olive Charms Earrings $34

• Middle Class Fancy Butter Crewneck Sweatshirt $45

If there's a sentimental cook on your list, this recipe journal is for them. Nicely formatted with plenty of room to actually write ingredients and steps, this journal also features "about the chef" prompts that encourage family recipe scrapbooking. That same cook might also enjoy getting some pantry upgrades; the kind of stuff they might hesitate to buy for themself but would be thrilled to have, like a gorgeous bottle of Sicilian olive oil.

• Kunitsa Co. Recipe Notebook $25

• Nocellara del Belice Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Ceramic Bottle $62

For anyone on your list who would enjoy having new recipes created by professional chefs and writers, delivered straight to their inbox, gift them a subscription to The New Family Table. Along with two recipes per month, subscribers also get access to the recipe archive, the subscriber chat room, and all articles. Subscriptions are $5 a month or $50 per year, and go directly to supporting independent food media. And here’s a gift card you can print out to give to them, or download and put into an email.

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