Naughty and nice

Gift Guide, Part 1

I’m a millennial, which means I grew up in the era of participation trophies and A’s for effort. Which means that as far as I’m concerned… naughty or nice, everyone gets a gift. (I also tend toward passive aggressiveness, so the naughty ones won’t get anything as obviously bad as coal but boy are they NOT getting this 10-piece golden cocktail bar kit. Burn.)

Herewith, our gift guide part 1 with ideas for bakers and cooks. Part 2 will have our top picks for hosts and wine-o’s.

Quick note: gifts from our Shop are sold through Amazon, which makes ordering and shipping incredibly easy. We earn an affiliate commission on anything you buy through us, but never fear: everything’s carefully curated by To Taste & friends.

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For Bakers

Combine this heavyweight cast aluminum mini-scone pan with a bag of self-rising, pre-sifted baker’s flour and these gold-plated Kate Spade measuring cups for any bakers’ dream gift.

Wrap a copy of one of our favorite cookbooks of the year, Simple Cake, plus Nielsen-Massey’s vanilla bean paste (which gives whipped creams those pro-level black vanilla specks) and Guittard’s semi-sweet chocolate baking wafers, then sit back and wait for them to make something for you to taste-test.

Or perhaps they’re all about that pie: a minimalist French rolling pin and a copy of the excellent book, The New Pie, and they won’t have to pretend to love what you got them this year.

For the ice cream-obsessed, a copy of the bright and beautiful La Grotta ice cream cookbook and the real-deal Whynter stainless steel ice cream maker.

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For Cooks

Anyone who has ever considered doing homemade pasta, do them a favor: a bag of authentic Antico Caputo chefs’ 00 flour and a cavatelli maker will make their Italian nonna dreams come true. Or a copy of American Sfoglino, a jar of crushed Calabrian chilis, and some of that good olive oil. Buon appetito!

Any Julia Child fan would swoon to open up a marble mortar and pestle.

Improve their olive oil game with the available-everywhere California Cold Pressed olive oil (then, they can replenish their own stock at Whole Foods.) Or you could upgrade their pantry with Matiz garlic aioli, Pickapeppa sauce, and Secret Aardvark habanero sauce.

Cookbooks are one of my all-time favorite gifts to give and receive: pre-order the new book Keeping it Simple (which will invigorate their weeknight cooking), snag a copy of Piatti which ups their small plates game, Midnight Chicken is that rare cookbook that they’ll actually read cover to cover.

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As I mentioned, everything has been carefully curated by yours truly & friends, namely Ali Rosen (cookbook author and TV host), Gray Malin (award-winning fine art photographer and host with the most), Yasmin Fahr (cookbook author and travel pro), and Maryse Chevriere (James Beard Award-winning illustrator, book author, and wine director).

Most importantly, I am incredibly grateful for each and every one of you. Were I shopping for you, it’d be golden cocktail sets for all!