The Gift Guide
Our take on the tools, the books, and the bites that we home cooks really, truly, pretty please want this year.
The Cookbooks
Whether you’re piecing together a multi-faceted food-focused gift or are looking for something one-and-done, the best place to start is with the year’s most enticing cookbooks. Some are even by members of the talented To Taste crew (Dorie Greenspan! Erin & Agatha from Ovenly! Michael Solomonov!).
Ottolenghi Simple: A Cookbook, we’ll do whatever Ottolenghi says
Cravings: Hungry for More, they’ll dog-ear every page
Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes from New York’s Most Creative Bakery, perhaps you’ll be their lucky taste-tester
Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook, because everyone wants to cook the way she cooks
Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious, way more than homemade hummus (but that’s in there too and it’s damn good)
Together: Our Community Cookbook, a great and worthy cause + great and wonderful recipes
Dining In, if they haven’t yet made the cookies
All About Cake, …aren’t we all?
The Tools
Home cooks, from the amateurs to the vets, need (and often can really nerd out over) good kitchen wares. And there are some truly beautiful tools to choose from, whether it’s those brand new Great Jones pots and pans, our rad illustrated tote bags, or an all-time classic Italian Bialetti espresso maker.
To Taste totes, how else will they carry that dish to your potluck?
Great Jones cookware, style meets substance
W&P Design Knife Set, to help boost their hosting (you) game
The Original Bialetti Moka Express, because we trust the Italians and their espresso
Marble & brass cake stand, to show off their confections
Confetti ceramic spoon rest, which is seriously a thing that all home cooks need
Ripple champagne glasses, this is also seriously a thing that all home cooks need
The Foods
Making a sour cream coffee cake is really fun, but have you ever had one made by the pros and then delivered to your door? Give the gift of food, coffee, and tip-top ingredients this year.
Zingerman’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake, to call it legendary is to simply state a fact
Brightland Olive Oil duo, because good olive oil makes all the difference
Penzey’s Spices Aleppo pepper, inspiring obsessions with this pepper one home cook at a time
Intelligentsia single origin coffee beans, for morning people and wannabe morning people alike
Raaka chocolates, a three-bar gift pack to stuff a stocking or a subscription for the true chocolate lover
Donation in their name to No Kid Hungry, there’s no better gift than helping those in need
The Big Tickets
For some, we buy candles and massage gift certificates. For others, we splurge in a way that only they would really appreciate.
Masterclass: Alice Waters, she covers everything from Chez Panisse galettes to making a full market-fresh dinner
A stay at Blackberry Farm, and maybe drop a hint about being their plus one
A wine club subscription. Our lesser-known favorites are LOLA, Hawkes, and L’Angolo, because they cook with wine…and sometimes even add it to the food
