A Highly Specific Holiday Gift Guide for the Food Obsessive in Your Life

Hey everyone,

Hanukkah and Christmas are coming up and if you’re anything like me you’re already crafting a list in your head of the gifts that you want to get for others and, more importantly, the gifts that you want to get for yourself. My list this year isn’t too food-heavy: I’m already swimming in cookbooks (I get sent free copies now!) and my cabinets runneth over with Rancho Gordo beans (a great stocking stuffer) and specialty olive oils and vinegars from last year’s haul. What I really want this year is a new iPhone, not because I care about gadgetry, but because I think it’s time for a new camera (I’m still using an iPhone 11 and my lenses are all scratched up).

So what should you put on YOUR list this year? Let me walk you through it. I’ve got lots of ideas.

1. The Breville Barista Pro.

   

   No cooking gadget or piece of machinery has changed our lives more than the Breville Barista Pro did this year. I bought it for Craig as a gift for wrapping his movie. He’s always been a milk-based coffee drink drinker, being from Seattle, and he loves his lattes and cappuccinos and cortados and macchiatos. With a tip, a typical coffee shop drink costs $5 - $6. With this machine, we can churn out the drinks for way less and they’re just as good. (I’m down to two a day, otherwise I can’t sleep at night.)

   What makes this machine such a dream is its ease of use. You don’t need a separate grinder, it grinds the beans fresh in seconds flat and then you just pivot to the little nozzle where you lock your portfilter in, press one shot or two, and watch as the perfect drizzle of espresso pours out. The name of the game is to get it to do it in 25 - 30 seconds for the perfect shot; you can achieve that by changing the grind size until that happens. Then all you have to do is steam the milk — a cinch with the little attachment — and you’ve got yourself a dreamy, coffee shop-worthy espresso drink at home. A total game changer.

2. The Best Cookbooks of 2022.

   

   @amateurgourmetThe Best Cookbooks of 2022! My guide to the cookbooks you’ll want to put on your wishlists this year. #booktok #cookbooktiktok #cookbook #books #giftideas #bestof2022

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   I made a video (see above) where I talked about my favorite cookbooks of the year. But if you’re short on time, here they are:

• The Via Carota Cookbook by Jody Williams and Rita Sodi;

• I Am From Here by Vishwesh Bhatt (who appeared on my podcast!);

• Eat Something by Evan Bloom and Rachel Levin (not a new book, but an amazing Hanukkah gift);

• Cook as You Are by Ruby Tandoh

• Six California Kitchens by Sally Schmitt

• The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater (not a new book either, but another great gift);

• Notes from a Small Kitchen Island by Deborah Robertson (only available on Amazon UK);

• Snackable Bakes by Jessie Sheehan;

• Keepers by Deb Perelman; and last but not least…

• Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway by yours truly and Gideon Glick, the perfect gift for the Broadway lover in your life!

[If you’d like an autographed copy, order from here!]

3. Vintage Etsy Plates and Bowls.

   

   If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m obsessed with buying vintage plates, bowls, glassware, etc., on Etsy. It’s such an obsession, I had to make myself stop because I have way too much (a lot of it is stacked in our closet, barely seeing the light of day).

   That said, if there’s a food lover in your life who’s using generic plates from Target, you can treat them to a stack of cool plates just by going on to Etsy and searching “vintage French plates” or “vintage Italian plates” or “mid-century dinnerware” or “mid-century plates.” That’s what I do! In fact, I think I may do that again right now…

4. Valrhona Cocoa Powder and Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste.

   

   Here are two gourmet stocking stuffers that are available online that’ll truly up your baking game. If you’ve never used Valrhona cocoa powder, buckle your seatbelts: it’s some of the deepest, darkest chocolate flavor you’ll ever encounter (and what most pastry chefs use). Make brownies with it, and you’ll never make brownies any other way again. And as for the Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste, it makes a huge difference in things like vanilla pudding and vanilla ice cream (you get the black flecks and everything), and even in a simple poundcake, it’ll have you swooning.

5. The Kindle Paperwhite.

   

   I’ve been anti-Kindle ever since I first heard about it, a proud owner of physical books stacked miles on high on my nightstand. Then I wanted to read Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House and because I was traveling, I didn’t want to lug around a huge book, so I dug out the Kindle I bought on a lark a few years ago (I wanted to try it out) and downloaded the book and started reading it on it.

   Immediately, there were benefits I’d long-ago ignored: 1. It lights up, so you don’t have to worry about bothering your spouse in bed with the lamp on (and also it makes it easier to read); (2) you can look up words just by holding them down. How many times have I been reading a book when I came across a word that I didn’t know and, too lazy to look it up, just used context clues to get the gist and moved right past it? With Kindle you have the definition in a matter of seconds.

   And then something happened that made me a true Kindle convert. I learned about Libby. With Libby, you log on with your library card and then you can send books directly to your Kindle. For FREE. Up to 30. Including cookbooks (!!!). And audiobooks (!!!). And if you download the Kindle app for desktop, the cookbooks are in color. It’s absolutely insane. I’m currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, a 700+ page book, on the Kindle through Libby and it’s an absolute delight. And I’m not gathering more books to pile up, collecting dust; it’s better for the earth! The only thing is you don’t get credit for what you’re reading when you’re reading in public. So if I ever tackle Proust, I’ll carry a hard copy.

   That’s all for today, folks!

   Thursday’s newsletter will be back to our regularly scheduled programming; I’ll tell you about my dinner at Yangban Society and how I averted disaster with a lemon loaf cake. Become a paid subscriber and you’ll get to read it; and if you know someone who’d enjoy a twice-weekly gourmet newsletter, it’s a perfect final gift for today’s list.

   Until next time….

   Your pal,

   Adam