Gifts for Foodies & Home Cooks From a Foodie & Food Editor (For Every Budget) by Donna John

Cooking is not something I do to just nourish my body – the act of cooking and preparing food also nourishes my soul. If you have a home cook or foodie on your gift shopping list, this foodie is going to share some of her favorite things with you. 

Let me help you wrap up that shopping list with these innovative and unique gifts for any food lover, home cook or foodie on your shopping list: 

Ello Duraglass™ Meal Prep Containers

Perfect for efficient, everyday meal prep, the Ello Duraglass™ 10-Piece Meal Prep Set makes storing and transporting food easy and stylish, and is perfect for anyone who want to get away from plastic containers and meal prep for their family or themselves. (Read about the health benefits of meal prepping.)

This Ello set includes five 3.4-cup glass containers with airtight, leak-proof lids to keep food fresh longer. The silicone sleeves protect against chips and breaks while providing a no-slip grip. The colorful glass containers are oven-safe (lid off), stain-resistant and non-porous, the glass won’t leach, retain odors or stain.

Photo courtesy of Ello.

Magnifique Claypot

It's time to modernize how we cook. Magnifique's Claypot Multicooker is an 8-in-1 appliance that was praised by Food Network's The Kitchn for turning some of the most daunting recipes into a low-effort cooking experience. Made of Kaolin Clay, the claypot retains heat, cooking each meal four times faster than traditional appliances. The claypot may look like a slow cooker, but it has so many more ways to use it! The claypot has built-in settings for brown rice, white rice, braise, slow cook, pasta, sear/sauté, oats and keep warm. Not only can you cook faster in this 100-percent non-toxic claypot, but it looks very impressive on your kitchen countertop. The claypot comes in Sage, Brown Sugar and Oatmeal colors.

Try this delicious high-protein recipe for creamy rosato salmon in the Magnifique Claypot. More Magnifique recipes will be coming soon! 

Photo courtesy of Magnifique Home.

Gourmet Ice Cream

Send ice cream for Christmas? Yes! You can get gourmet ice cream delivered to your friends and family any time of the year, but it is especially sweet around the holidays.

Cold Case Ice Cream introduced their Violent Night Holiday Case, which is a darkly festive six-pint case of premium full-fat ice cream sure to turn this year's holiday festivities into something criminally good. The variety pack includes:

• Crime & Punish-Mint – peppermint ice cream with chocolate sandwich cookies
• Slay Ride – cinnamon ice cream with frosted oatmeal cookies
• Gingerbread Manslaughter – gingerbread ice cream with gingerbread cookie chunks
• Christmas Crack – white chocolate ice cream with candy cane crunch
• Hot Pursuit – spicy hot chocolate with marshmallow crème
• Chocolate Orange Jumpsuit – dark chocolate ice cream with orange curd swirls

If you miss the limited-time ice cream variety pack, they have plenty of other flavors sure to please and you can build your own case of ice cream.

Photo courtesy of Cold Case Ice Cream.

Unbreakable Glasses

When you have a pool, you quickly learn the "no glass in or around the pool" rule. And if you entertain, you quickly learn that someone is going to break a glass – whether you have a pool or not! That doesn't mean you have to sip your wine and other cocktails or mocktails in plastic drinking glasses. Unbreakable wine and cocktail glasses have come a long way and are wonderful holiday gifts.

My favorite  unbreakable drinkware is from Rowdy Crowd. The drinkware is perfect for anyone who loves to entertain! Rowdy Crowd's unbreakable drinkware is a dishwasher-safe, unbreakable range of stemless, reusable tumblers, flutes, beer schooners and gin balloons. Its range is ideal for any and every beverage type. The fun glasses are perfect for festivals, events, venues, weddings, travel and the outdoors (aka pool parties). No more broken glass, snapped stems, cloudy or crazed drinkware. The reusable pieces save money, eliminate single-use waste and add that sleek factor to entertaining. Rowdy Crowd is also a one-woman owned business. I love women-owned businesses! Rowdy Crowd is also sold at Walmart!

Photos courtesy of Rowdy Crowd.

Boxxle Wine Dispenser

Want to really impress your wine-drinking friends and family? Give them a Boxxle wine dispenser! This sleek countertop dispenser keeps wine fresh for up to six weeks after opening. You simply insert the bag from a box of wine, push down on the patented life mechanism and the wine is good to go.

Sometimes I hesitate about opening a bottle of wine because I'm not sure if I can finish it before it starts to taste off. Now, I can have a glass of wine with dinner and know the rest will stay fresh for other nights I want to sip a glass of vino. How fun would this dispenser be at your next wine party, bunco night or family get-together?

Photos courtesy of Boxxle.

Coffee Flavorings

I'm a new coffee drinker, so I love experimenting with new products that enhance my coffee experience. Sugar is something I don't eat a lot of, so I don't want sugar in my coffee flavorings. Enter Coffee Dust from Vashon. Coffee Dust gives flavor to coffee using only spices and has no sweeteners. There are so many flavors to choose from – Captain's (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.), Healthful (cinnamon, turmeric, etc.), Gingerbread, Hot Momma (cocoa, cayenne, etc.), Cocoa Calm (cocoa, lavender, etc.) and Spicy Papa (cinnamon, cayenne, etc.) – so you can change things up each morning. Plus, there are other ways to use it (see photo below).

Photos courtesy of Vashon.

Another option is to check out all the different coffee flavorings available on Amazon and build your own unique box or basket for that coffee lover.

Cookies

If you have a cookie lover on your holiday shopping list, consider a cookie box or subscription. My favorite right now is Bell's Cookies. These soft cookies are delicious! Everything is baked fresh with the highest-quality ingredients, and the recipes are fun and creative. With flavors like Colombian Corn, S'mores, Chocolate Chunk, Black Cocoa Crinkle, Ginger Molasses, Cookie Butter, Red Velvet, Pistachio Citrus, Peppermint Cornflake, Vegan Chocolate, Eggnog Snickerdoodle and Christmas Confetti, there is something for everyone. Build your own box or get crazy with a surprise box of random flavors.

Photos courtesy of Bell's Cookies.

Want to get more hands-on? Pick some of our holiday cookie recipes and get to baking!

Bread Bag

Baking has become an obsession with many again. Homemade bread recipes are always popular and trend on 30Seconds. If you have a baker on your holiday list, we love The Keeki Bag from Keeki, which was invented as a natural way to store bread. The beeswax-lined linen bag is easy to use and allows the bread to breathe and stay fresher longer. Jan Mostrom, our seasoned baker, loves it!

Photos courtesy of Keeki.

Air Fryer

People who jumped on the air fryer wagon when they first become popular may need a newer model this year. My favorite air fryer is my dual zone air fryer from Midea. This innovative air fryer lets me cook two different dishes at the same time. The cooking area is also bigger and allows me to make larger meals (6 quart on top and 5 quart on the bottom). The air fryer can also communicate with Google Home, my smartphone and Alexa. All my air fryer recipes have been a success in this machine.

Photo courtesy of Midea. 

Spices

Spices are my weakness. Can someone who loves to cook (or eat!) have too many spices? Consider giving a spice subscription where your recipient gets a new spice every month. You can also buy an assortment of spices and make a big box or basket. My favorite spices right now are from Curio Spice Co., which is women owned and mission driven. Their mission is to "improve the lives of spice farmers by directly sourcing from small, sustainable farms. Inspire culinary creativity by crafting blends that celebrate unique flavors from around the world. We value organic, fair trade ingredients, supporting women and enriching our local community – and making sure we all have the chance to eat well." They even offer a "secret spice society" (aka spice subscription).

Photo courtesy of Donna John.

Now this is a fun gift idea for spice lovers: the 24 Spices of Christmas Advent Calendar from VAHDAM. We're not talking a smidgen of spice in each day, but a whole, full-size container. Oprah, Ellen Degeneres and Mariah Carey love it, too. How can you go wrong?

Photo courtesy of VAHDAM.

You could also troll Amazon and pick a variety of any brand of spices.

Le Creuset 

My wonderful colleague and friend, Elisa Schmitz, sent me a wonderful assortment of Le Creuset cookware for my birthday. Wow! Now I am one of those who cannot say enough about Le Creuset. Someone who loves to cook or is just learning would be overjoyed with a piece of this French cookware. The cookware is handcrafted in France with only the best materials. The even heat from the enameled cast iron will help your special home cook create delicious meals. Plus, there's a color for absolutely everyone!

Photo: Bigstock

There are more inexpensive brands of cast iron cookware available, too, for every budget.

Food Processor

Food processors can help take an ordinary meal to extraordinary. A new home cook without one may not even know what they're missing with this kitchen appliance. Surprise them and let 'em know! My favorite food processor is my Breville food processor. According to Breville, "precision makes perfect." I agree. This machine will help cooks cut, chop, peel and dice like a pro.

Photo courtesy of Donna John.

Espresso Maker

As I said before, I am new to the coffee game. My daughter, who is an amazing cook, surprised me with an espresso maker for my birthday. Wow! While I was intimidated at first, the Casabrews espresso maker she sent was so easy to use! The price is fabulous on the espresso machine, too. Not only can I create the perfect cup of espresso for my lattes, but also froth milk with the attached frother. I highly recommend this espresso machine for the coffee lover on your list.

Photos courtesy of Donna John. 

Gadgets

I try not to buy gadgets that aren't really necessary. Do I really need an avocado pit remover??? Nope. But some kitchen gadgets and utensils are hard to live without when cooking. Put together a box or basket of foodie-approved gadgets for your home cooks.

Photo: Bigstock

Here are some I cannot live without (or hope I never have to):

• Tongs (Could I cook without tongs? Not sure. You can never have enough.)

• Kitchen Shears (I use them for everything, from cutting herbs, cutting bacon, deboning chicken and opening food packages.)

• Chef Knife (Anthony Bourdain says you only need one good chef knife. He likes Global brand.)

• Cutting Boards (Get a wooden cutting board and a plastic one for meat and poultry only.)

• Whisks (All sizes!)

• Wooden Spoons (What's a kitchen without some wooden spoons? Hand wash them so they last.)

If you're a foodie or home cook, share your favorite gift ideas in the comments section below!

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