Home cooks for me are the easiest persons to give gifts to. I know because I’m one of them. Yes, I’m claiming it because if there’s anything that I love to do if I have spare time, it’s cooking at home. And you know what, no matter how many cooking utensils or appliances I have at home, I still can’t have enough of them. So if you are thinking of gift ideas for home cooks, just ask me.
You won’t get out of ideas and I will tell you why. First is that, cooking appliances get outdated for some time. They also get old and rusty, so new kitchen appliances are like shiny, new toys for home cooks like me. When it comes to plates and kitchen utensils, there are different kinds of dishes and different kinds of themes where we can use them. So having sets of plates, spoon and forks, with different colors and designs, are desirable.
What’s best for all the things we use in the kitchen is that you can buy most of them according to your budget. You can be practical or you can be flashy and generous if you want to give branded kitchen appliances or dinnerware. In any case, I’d give you this list of 10 small kitchen tools that I can’t live without as a home cook that will be perfect gift items.
- Apron – I have a cabinet full of aprons of different designs and colors, and most of them I get from press kits. Some of them are personalized and some have brand names, but I also buy a few ones when I like the color or it matches the plates that I use in a certain dish.
- Gloves and pot holders – Don’t underestimate these as without them, I will easily burn my hands when handling pots and pans and baking items. Gloves and pot holders usually come in pairs and I suggest you buy them as such as they won’t look good in photos or when displayed in the kitchen if they aren’t a match.
- Knives – There are different kinds of knives that you can give as gifts – paring knife, bread knife but the most important thing is if you will be giving those which have wooden handles, make sure that they are of quality and are attached securely.
- Cutting boards – Having multiple cutting boards is essential in the kitchen. It’s hygienic practice to chop raw ingredients separately from cooked ones. I also love cutting boards that are personalized.
- Measuring cups and spoons – Measuring cups and spoons are important to be exact in the use of ingredients. Since these are small items, we don’t want to but we tend to lose them more often.
- Spatula – There are many uses for a spatula depending on its shape, size, and material. There’s chinese spatula, slotted spatula, fish spatula, and so on and so forth.
- Tongs – If you want to give tongs as gifts, I prefer those which are light and has easy grip.
- Ladle – Ladle is a large spoon that can be used for cooking, mixing, and also for serving soups, sauces, juices, or any liquid dishes.
- Frying pan – Choose frying pans that have silicone or stainless steel handles that don’t get too hot even while cooking. I also recommend pans with quality coating as the cheaper you get, the faster the coating is damaged through time.
- Cooking pot – We can’t cook our favorite Filipino dishes like sinigang and adobo without a durable cooking pot. You can choose quality cooking pots depending on material like stainless steel, copper, aluminum or carbon steel. I choose the cooking pot depending on the dish as different cooking pots work better in the type of dish you are cooking.
Now that you have all these ideas, it’s time to shop for your home cook friends and loved ones! Try to find a one-stop shop where you can easily find these cooking tools and buy in sets as you can have real value from your money that way. Home cooks are generally easy to please and if you are lucky, you will have one of your favorite dishes cooked for you because of your kindness. So, it’s a win-win! Happy shopping!
