What I’m reading: Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart. Gritty, dark, moving - hard to follow at times with the Glaswegian dialect, but highly recommend
What I’m listening to: Molly Baz on Cherry Bombe’s podcast.
What I’m eating: a baked Alaska I’ve made several times in the last few weeks for various events - pistachio, vanilla and raspberry ice-cream, vanilla sponge, raspberry jam, Swiss meringue (below)
‘Tis the season! Happy December to all who celebrate. I love buying presents and I really love mince pies, so this might be my favourite month of the whole year. I started my list a few weeks ago and have been brainstorming what to get all of my favourite people for Christmas. Part of me wants to reject the whole commercial side of Christmas, as I realise that it’s bad for the environment and often entails a lot of waste (particularly food waste) - but I think that if you’re going to do it, you should do it right, and get your people something they really want or need - or better yet, something they didn’t realise they wanted.
This gift guide is kind of ideal if you’re buying for someone LIKE me (but be aware that I already have the majority of these things, so it’s not ideal if you’re buying FOR me). None of the links here are affiliate links, because I don’t know how to do that - it’s just a list of things that might give you some inspiration for things to buy for the people you love.
My 2024 Gift Guide
Books
Nicola Lamb’s book, SIFT came out this year, and would make a great GIFT (see what I did there) for the baking enthusiast in your life. It’s so well-written and illustrated, and full of useful information and recipes. Sarah Johnson also wrote a beautiful book called Fruitful which has lots of recipes for cooking with fruit, as well as flavour charts and pairing suggestions. I literally sat down and read this cover to cover when I got it, and can’t wait to cook with it. Other new releases that I highly recommend include Meera Sodha’s Dinner and the Cafe Cecilia cookbook.
Two other cooking related reference books that I return to again and again are Lateral Cooking and The Flavour Thesaurus, both by Niki Segnit.
Other non-food (i.e. fiction) books that I’ve read and loved this year include - Brotherless Night, My Favourite Mistake, Evenings and Weekends and Romantic Comedy.
You can buy most of these in good bookshops - I’ve avoided Amazon links here because I don’t like Amazon, but do what you must.
Kitchen equipment
For a slightly more substantial gift, a knife is always a good idea. I like a Santoku knife like this one from Kitchen Provisions, or a Gyuto like this Japanese Knife Company one is also a good all-rounder. There’s a few Irish knifemakers that usually have long waiting lists, but are worth mentioning in case you get lucky: Fingal Ferguson, Sam Dunn, Sam Gleeson, Holly Loftus and Hugo Byrne. You could also go for accessories like these knife rolls, or a really good-quality solid wooden board. Don’t forget to give a few coins along with your knife - apparently it’s bad luck if you don’t.
Here’s a few other (smaller) gift ideas for someone who loves to cook: a tiny whisk, an offset palette knife, a dough scraper (plastic or metal - or both), cake tins (these are the best ones), loaf tins (I like these ones), an oyster knife and a butter knife (this is my favourite one but also look how cute this Allday Goods one is).
If you’re buying for the chef/pastry chef in your life and need some stocking fillers, I can guarantee that they will forever be grateful for Sharpies and masking tape - get a tape dispenser for extra brownie points.
I think that coffee paraphernalia is a great present, and can suit a wide range of budgets. You can get a bag of coffee from a local roaster (Monmouth in London is a personal fave, and I’ve also recently discovered Bell Lane in Ireland). Alternatively, I use an Aeropress to make my coffee every day, and I love it - they are for sale everywhere but here’s one option. You could pair some coffee bits with a new mug - my brother recently got me this lovely one from Cerani Studio, or you can’t go wrong with Nicholas Mosse (I love the big ones) - or there’s plenty of other Irish ceramicists like Loaf.
Little luxury things
I love a candle - recently I’ve been enjoying the Muji ones (particularly Hinoki Wood and Log Fire). I do have a perfume recommendation that is not particularly helpful to anybody who doesn’t live in NZ, but I’ve been wearing Pablo by Curionoir since I lived in Auckland, and I’m obsessed. These hand cream sets from Austin Austin are gorgeous, and come packaged really beautifully, so they make a great gift - they have been working wonders on my poor battered hands. I also swear by a sleep mask to help me get to sleep at night, and these ones from Paradise Fold are beautiful.
Subscriptions
I think that a subscription is a really nice present as it lasts the whole year: Eaten magazine is a great one for the reader/food lover in your life (I’m only slightly biased since I was published in the latest issue). Oddbox is a bit of a random one, but it’s basically a delivery service of assorted fruit and vegetables. It’s a great way of avoiding food waste, and a fun way to experiment with whatever fruit and veg is in season. There’s a few fun coffee subscriptions too, like this one from 3FE. There’s also a huge range of wine subscriptions in Ireland and the UK, like this one from Neighbourhood Wines.
Extra bits
A hot water bottle is ALWAYS a good gift. I use mine year round - here’s a lovely one from Toast. I like prints as gifts as well, and just came across these Vittles ones based on articles from this year (love love love the Guinness one). I find it quite hard to buy jewellery for people, but I am a long-time fan of Saltwater jewellery, run by Irishwoman Megan Williams. Finally, if you’re buying for someone who loves taking pictures, I recently got a refurbished film camera from Ebay (similar to this one) - or how about a Polaroid (I love the vintage type ones), or even a disposable camera for a smaller budget.
That’s all from me! I’d love to hear any gift suggestions you have in the comments below, and if you found this useful, please feel free to subscribe or share with a friend x