Gifts For The Chef Who Has Everything

by sockii

Do you know someone who loves to cook - but they seem to have every kitchen gadget under the sun? Then check out this gift guide for some unique "foodie" gift ideas.

Do you know someone who loves to cook, but seems to have every kitchen gadget or cookbook under the sun already? If so, finding the perfect gift for that person can be a struggle!

You don't want to get them a new kitchen appliance or tool that's already in their home kitchen arsenal; you also don't want to get them something so unusual or specialized that they use it once and then it just sits collecting dust in a cabinet (or worse, ends up in next year's yard sale.)

I am an extremely avid home chef who - you guessed it - would seem to have almost everything. So that's why I've put together this gift guide for "the chef who has everything" - because I thought I'd spotlight a few things I don't have that I would like and use, as well as unique items that I do use and enjoy which might be a bit off the well-beaten path.

Sony Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio - Space-saving and practical for any home chef!

This product is one I don't own, but is certainly on the top of my own Christmas Wish List at the moment (hint, hint). A home chef with a lot of kitchen gadgets or who needs a lot of work room doesn't want a stereo or boombox hogging up valuable counter space. Yet it can also be nice to be able to listen to some music, the news, or maybe a favorite podcast or audiobook while cooking.Well, this under cabinet CD clock radio would fit the bill nicely in such a case! Its silver color would work well with most kitchen decors, especially those featuring stainless steel appliances. It mounts simply underneath a cabinet so it's never in the way while cooking. It even features a kitchen timer (louder than the stereo output, so you won't miss hearing it.) A stereo mini input allows you to connect an external device such as an iPod for even more audio possibilities while you cook!

Digital AM/FM tuner radio with 15 station presets; CD player that accepts CD-R and CD-RW discs as well as manufactured prerecorded CDs; magnetic remote control which you can keep on your refrigerator so you never lose it!

Italian Olive Oil of the Month Club Membership

Offered by Gourmet Cooking & Living

Gourmet Cooking & Living's Olive Oil of the Month Club is a food club my partner and I have belonged to for many years! Two years ago I bought a membership for my mother as well, and last Christmas she only asked if I could up her membership to two bottles of olive oil a month instead of just one, as she always was running out! So I think you can take that as a very strong personal recommendation from this household.

What makes this club so great - and useful for the chef who has everything - is that these olive oils are of extremely high quality and difficult if not downright impossible to obtain in stores anywhere else. Most of the olive oils are from "boutique Italian green farmers" and come with the highest quality certifications. With different regions of Italy spotlighted every month, it is also an education for the recipient in the way climate and soil can affect the flavor of olive oil. The recipient also receives a newsletter with every shipment telling more about the olive oil's production and suggested recipes to showcase the wonderful oil included.

A one bottle membership costs $34/month (including US shipping and handling.) You can place your order on the Gourmet Cooking & Living website, and order for a 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 or ongoing-until-cancelled membership. Need further convincing? Check out my 2010 review of Gourmet Cooking & Living's Olive Oil of the Month Club for further details.

PS: They also offer a wonderful Cheese of the Month Club as well!

A sample bottle from the Olive Oil of the Month Club
A sample bottle from the Olive Oil of...
sockii

If an ongoing club membership is a bit much for you and your gift budget, may I suggest instead an order of Laudemio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, available on Amazon? This award-winning olive oil comes from the Frescobaldi family of Tuscany - a top wine producer now deeply involved in producing high quality olive oil. Any chef would surely find such a gift extremely useful and thoughtful, as high quality olive oil adds a perfect finishing touch to any salad dressing, glaze, saute or marinade. I've used this olive oil in the past and loved it.

A Niche Cooking Magazine Subscription

Explore diferent cooking techniques and cuisines

Most avid home chefs probably already subscribe to the "big name" cooking magazines: Food & Wine, Cook's Illustrated, Saveur and/or Bon Appetit. Yet there is an ever-growing number of specialized cooking magazines out there today and it could be a nice surprise to gift your favorite home cook to a subscription to one of these titles.

Perhaps they have a love for a certain kind of food; maybe they love to bake or are looking to sell their food for profit; perhaps they are trying to eat healthier or get on a special diet. Here are just a few of the more unique cooking magazines available today, which you can easily order as a gift subscription via Amazon!

Although a magazine subscription can take several months to first ship, a gift notification can be sent to your recipient in time for Christmas so they can anticipate what will be coming throughout the year ahead.

Some Specialty Cooking and Food Magazines To Consider

For specific diets, cuisines and cooking styles
Vegetarian Times

Vegetarian Times is the magazine of great food, good health, and smart living. Each issue is packed with mouth-watering recipes that taste great-and are good for you too. You'll...

$44.91  $14.95

View on Amazon

Chile Pepper

Chile Pepper, a bimonthly magazine dedicated to the spicy side of life. Each issue sizzles with the best of zesty cuisine, including chef and celebrity profiles, tips and techni...

Only $29.70

View on Amazon

Have a large cookbook collection? Then EatYourBooks could be for you.
Have a large cookbook collection? The...
sockii

A Gift Membership to "Eat Your Books"

Perfect for the avid cookbook and recipe collector!

Eat Your Books is a really useful website for any chef who loves to collect cookbooks - and who doesn't? You can build a "virtual library" of your cookbook collection on-line - including also select cooking magazines, blog recipes, and your own personal family recipes as well.What makes it so useful is their ongoing project to "index" cookbooks and magazines, so recipes are searchable by the ingredients you have on hand and what kind of dish you want to prepare.

If you're anything like me, you know how frustrating it can be to try to dig through 100+ cookbooks to find just the right recipe for, say, a pork tenderloin when you've also got apples to use up. Or when you find a recipe at last but it needs other ingredients you don't have at the moment. Eat Your Books makes it much easier to find those recipes you actually CAN use - and will encourage you to get out those cookbooks more often, trust me!

A year-long membership to the site costs $25 and is available as a gift certificate from the Eat Your Books website (http://www.eatyourbooks.com/gift). I recommend it!

The EatYourBooks website
The EatYourBooks website
sockii

Living Cookbook: Another Indexing Solution for Avid Home Chefs

Organize, download and even publish your own cookbooks!

Another solution for an avid recipe collector - or author! - is the Living Cookbook PC software. This software package is useful in many ways for those who love exploring new recipes yet also keep track of recipes they enjoy. Download recipes from online websites, calculate nutritional information for recipes, create menus and shopping lists...even "publish" your own cookbook of personal recipes to share and enjoy!

Living Cookbook 2015 (for Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Windows Vista / Windows XP SP3)

Living Cookbook 2015 is the latest version of the award-winning recipe software from Radium Technologies. Use Living Cookbook to organize recipes, plan meals, create menus, calc...

Only $8000.00

View on Amazon

12 month Cucina Ferrari Membership

An exceptional food-of-the-month club for Italiophile Chefs!

This is another food of the month club that I personally belong to, and would recommend strongly as a great gift for the "Chef who has everything" - especially a chef who loves cooking with unique Italian food products! A. G. Ferrari is a California-based company which has been specializing in high quality imported foods since 1919 - with a focus on Italian food.

Every Cucina Ferrari Club monthly shipment comes with a variety of gourmet food products a chef will actually want to use. They are also nicely balanced, seasonal selections which can be used together perhaps to create one single, fabulous meal, or as supplements in the kitchen throughout the month. With 4 to 5 items typically per month, the gift recipient can expect such items as high quality Italian pasta, flour, rice or farro; marinated artichoke hearts or sun-dried cherry tomatoes in oil; special Tuscan seasonings, jams or almond dessert spread; unique biscuits or crackers such as Olive Oil Taralli from Puglia or Tuscan Biscotti di Prato. The included newsletter for every month will provide details about the products included and suggested recipes or ways to serve.

Again, you can read my detailed review of the Cucina Ferrari Culinary Club for more details and personal notes.

Sample products from the Cucina Ferrari Club
Sample products from the Cucina Ferrari Club
sockii

Did You Enjoy This Article? Then Check Out My Food Blog, South Jersey Foodie

Find recipes, restaurant reviews and everything about home cooking at my website.
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Updated: 02/19/2015, sockii
 
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