the italian enough late-game holiday gift guide
It’s December 13. Only 10 shipping days remain. You have been knees-deep in a work swamp for the last three months (who hasn’t?) and have not yet gone Christmas shopping (because who has the time?) and are now realizing The Fear that is upon you: all the shipping deadlines have lapsed, and you haven’t even bought wrapping paper yet. Now what?
You never wanted to be one of those people who printed out a picture and wrapped it in a box. You cannot emotionally cope with the thought of having to park at the mall this weekend. You did NOT survive the last 365 days only to close the year with a giftcard.
Procrastination is a devil’s deal, and the devil always comes to collect. But to this devil we say: NOT TODAY!!!!
a very clean representation of my kitchen
Both because people know I cook and obsessively research products, right around this time I start getting “what makes a good gift for (insert a cooking persona)”? Honestly, there are plenty of blogs and sites all publishing a similar gift guide this month, and this one is probably no different. But if you’re looking for a gift for someone you think would appreciate my specific flavor—ethos, lifestyle, palate, taste—then here are the suggestions I give my friends, now available to you!
I chose the items in this guide based on a combination of:
Endurance. Maybe this is self-importance talking, but I like my gifts to last long enough so that five years later they can inspire nostalgia. I only recommend things built to last through the average person’s normal use and mis-use.
Aesthetic. Durability is worthless to me unless it also looks sexy as hell. I want people to want to display the things I give them, or at least not want to hide them.
Ingenuity. Gifting for me is about finding ways to intuit someone’s needs in order to add value to life they didn’t know existed before, but now can’t imagine living without. Sometimes the most boring-sounding items are also the most-transformative.
Availability. Everything on this list will arrive in time for Christmas, many with free shipping!
Full disclosure: a handful of these links will give me commission if you buy through here, but all are things I truly use every day in my kitchen/life and would gladly recommend for free. Happy shopping. <3
For THE EVERYDAY cook WHO…
Likes to cook healthyish for 1 or 2—
Great Jones Little Sheet, $40. My go-to for roasting vegetables, baking a mini batch of cookies, and making pizza bagels. Everybody can use one of these, yet this size is often the one people don’t think to buy even though it’s arguably the more useful than a half-sheet for small households. This particular one is extremely thick, matte, nonstick, and doesn’t warp in the oven the way thinner metal sheets will. My dedicated 15% off code ITALIANENOUGH_15 should work on these pans if you use this link to purchase.
Has a lonely olive oil cruet that needs a friend—
Williams-Sonoma VSOP 25-year Aged Balsamic vinegar, $29. My mom has been using this basic-looking vinegar for decades. Determined to one-up her, I’ve tried so many vinegars, many at double this price point, but have yet to beat it. Now I just use it exclusively. The consistency is so thick it’s almost like a syrupy glaze, only it’s just pure balsamic vinegar, barrel aged in oak for a quarter of a century. My go-to for salads, bruschetta, caprese, taking a bath, etc. Their shipping cutoff is 12/20.
Has to chop stuff aka everybody on the planet—
Epicurean cutting board, $32. The most-used and most-abused basic in my kitchen, this board is a unicorn: made of wood composite so it’s gentle on knives, but dishwasher-safe and sanitizable, so you can use it for raw meats with no fear.
Does not yet have their one all-purpose skillet situation figured out—
Great Jones Deep Cut 10” Saute Pan, $90. This is the most-used skillet I own, hands down. Part of the reason I like this brand is because they actually address many of the grievances I have with other products with bigger, more famous labels. Flat-sided sauté pans are hard to work with, requiring you to scrape out the edges as you stir; this one has the round bottom of a sauteuse, which makes it easy to work with. I also hate crust-collecting rivets, which this pan is built without. It’s shallow enough to work as a frying pan, and deep enough to function as a sauté (which in my world means it can handle meatball splatters or fit a lot of greens without spillover). When anyone I know is starting a kitchen from scratch or is finally upgrading their random peeling nonstick from Home Goods c. 2015, this is the skillet I recommend. Like the other GJ items on the list, it is eligible for my 15% off code til 12/20 (ITALIANENOUGH_15 at checkout).
Has a bunch of mismatched expired spices in different-sized containers—
The Spice House’s Kitchen Starter Collection, $58. The Spice House sells incredibly fresh spices at very nice prices (with expedited shipping!). This set is exactly what you need if you’re starting from scratch, covering all the basic herbs and spices. I have an entire drawer full of these jars.
Just needs that one good knife to really get serious—
Wusthof Ikon 8” Chef’s Knife, $180. Knives are very personal for people who cook a lot. Not everyone likes the same knives, so it’s hard to recommend one. Yet this is maybe the #1 question I get asked after “who makes good cookware,” and for people who haven’t fully developed a preference, this is a game-changing knife for a reasonable price that can handle more abuse than delicate Japanese blades. Just don’t put it in the dishwasher.
For THE STYLISH MINIMALIST WHO…
Plans to tweet out soup memes all winter long—
Great Jones The Dutchess 6.75 qt cast iron Dutch oven, $160 (plus 15% off with code ITALIANENOUGH_15!). If you’ve spent any time here, you’ve likely seen the pans with copper handles in my photos. This is the same brand’s take on a classic cast iron Dutch oven, one that opens the portal to one-pot cooking life. It’s heavyweight cast iron that can do both stove and oven, with an enamel interior that’s easy to clean (and surprisingly pretty nonstick). The XL size of this thing makes it so that you can handle any task without a secondary pot—even soups that require 14 cups of water and a whole bunch of chicken parts and an entire bunch of greens wilted in. If you have young people on your list in need of one Adult Pot and are sticking to a reasonable budget, this is the one to look at.
Always says yes to the fresh cracked pepper—
Menu Bottle grinders, $95. Whenever I post pictures of my stove setup, these get a lot of comments. They are peak Scandi design (the company is Danish) with a soft-touch matte finish that looks more modern than the classic wood grinders, with the bonus of being mess-free, because the pepper exits from the top. They are also EXTREMELY sturdy, one of the few pepper grinders able to handle the jumbo extra-bold peppercorns I like to buy.
Will be Having People Over one of these days—
Jono Pandolfi Medium Platter, $60. Based in New Jersey, Jono primarily supplies the hospitality business with very specific bowls and plates you may have seen in NYC restaurants. They also make the sexiest charcuterie and cheese boards the earth has ever known. The medium size is perfect for creating a cheesescape; the large can handle the entire spread of crackers, charcuterie, and assorted cheeses (trust me, he is big). They also sell cute little matching bowls in which to put nuts, olives, spreads, and other accoutrement.
Prefers to dine and drink alfresco—
Crate and Barrel French marble wine cooler, $35. I only got this because I had a giftcard, but it has added so much value to my life. I refer to it as “the wine house.” Marble is excellent at temperature regulation, which keeps chilled wines cool throughout dinner. I love to bring mine outside in the summer, but it just as often joins us for dinner at The Bar, which is my kitchen island. A perfect choice for someone who loves funky natural wines that require chilling to taste their best.
Wants to serve pasta with enviable elegance—
Rösle Stainless One-Handed Locking Tongs, $29. It’s hard to get more functional than tongs, but please trust me when I say that these are tongs that spark joy. By holding them tip-down, you can gently squeeze them open; with the tip in the air, they close and stay locked. A weirdly genius invention, but also very good-looking in a serving bowl, and the only pair of tongs I would classify as genuinely photogenic. A luxury upgrade for anyone serving pastas, salads, or both on a regular basis.
Believes the right mug changes the beverage—
Heath Ceramics Coupe Mug, $41 each. Are these expensive? Yes. But there is a reason Heath Ceramics from the 1950s are for sale on Etsy. These are built to LAST, kind of like the Le Creuset of dinnerware. They are intangibly cozy to hold, hang onto heat well, and make lattes taste better somehow. People In The Know always seem to recognize them immediately on Zoom with tacit affirmation that I am one of them. Giving one of these attaches your name to what will inevitably become The Favorite Mug in the cabinet. Heath offers shipping for the holidays til 12/20, or an extension until 12/22 if you’re on the west coast where they’re headquartered.
Treats caffeination as their cardio—
Fellow Ode Brew coffee grinder, $299. Ridiculous. I know it is. But the aesthetic is miles above anything else, and the coffee it produces is absolutely immaculate. It has a variety of settings you can switch between pour over, drip, French press, or cold brew. There is no “chamber,” so your beans don’t linger in there getting stale, something I didn’t know I needed until I used a normal grinder again and was irrationally irritated by the clunky experience. Ships same-day.
FOR THE “GOURMET PERSON” WHO…
Does not ever want to see another flavored salt sampler kit again—
Maldon Classic and Maldon Smoked Salt, $14 each. I have received a lot of salts in my time. These are the only two salts I actually use. The classic is my go to for just about everything: sprinkling on roasted vegetables, as a crackle on top of crispy-sauteed greens, a finishing touch for crispy panko chicken straight off the stove. The smoked is the suntanned summer version of that salt, ideal for use on meats (especially steaks and burgers) regardless of whether you grilled them.
Can take a lot of heat—
Marie Sharp’s Complete Hot Sauce Set, $30. Ms. Sharp does not fuck around. These are some of the hottest, most flavorful hot sauces I have ever tried. The Belizean heat is a hidden gem, a dead ringer for the ultra-hot salsa-style hot sauces I’ve had in Mexico. We run through the regular habanero at a brisk clip.
Will grill eventually when it’s warm out again—
NY Shuk Preserved Lemon Paste and Harissa Paste, $15 each. These are truly unique pastes made by a couple in New York to reflect their Middle Eastern heritage, the best of anything I have tried. They are top performers in marinades, but also blended into hummus, in yogurt dipping sauces, brushed over roasted vegetables or potatoes. I’ve given these as gifts several times with rave reviews.
Gets down with truffle—
Truff Black Truffle Oil, $23. I don’t normally like truffle oil, for a specific reason: most of it uses a synthetic truffle-like compound that smells like truffle but absolutely isn’t, which to me has a strong overtone of crayon. This is not the “truffliest” of truffle oils, and that is because it uses REAL TRUFFLE in the infusion, which will come out tasting a little lighter and milder than the ones using artificial enhancement. Amazing on pasta; please trust me when I say that truffle cacio e pepe will take you to another dimension.
Is drinking au naturel this year—
Primal Wine club subscription, 3 shipments of 3 bottles, $255. Primal Wine is my go-to seller of natural wines. An Italian-led company based in the US, they have a vast and incredibly well-curated selection from natural vineyards all around the world, many of which are rare and hard to find. They offer a customizable subscription box, so you can choose funky whites/oranges, cloudy reds, or a mix. Great customer service, too.
For THE advanced cook who…
Lives life with precision science—
Thermapen One, $105 (on sale for $84!). There is the kind of person who hangs a picture on the wall and then uses a level 14x to make sure it is truly, definitively straight, and that is the kind of person who needs a meat thermometer. As someone who is absolutely insane about temperatures for chicken and HATES dry, rubbery halibut with the fire of a thousand suns, this is an absolute non-negotiable. If I broke it, I would order a new one tomorrow. But you will not break it, because it is waterproof, borderline fireproof, and effectively indestructible. Thermoworks is a small company that only sells via their own website, and they ship same-day.
Has homemade salad dressing ambitions but is stuck in a bottled salad dressing reality—
OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker, $16. What a dumb, lovable item. I find a lot of excuses not to make my own homemade dressings, but it really doesn’t need to be an ordeal. This thing is basically its own emulsifier—you drop in your salad dressing ingredients, give it a vigorous shake (yes, I typed this with a straight face), and then pour it straight out the spout, which has a self-sealing mechanism so you can throw it into the fridge for a week and use it just like a bottled dressing. One of those things nobody thinks to own until they realize they’ve been whisking dressings in a glass measuring cup and spilling them everywhere trying to put them on a salad and that it doesn’t need to be this way.
Already has ALMOST everything imaginable—
Oxo Good Grips silicone measuring cups, $21. Hear me out. I recognize these are the most boring item on the list. But they are also one of the most transformative, as well as something very few people (including hardcore cooks!) seem to have. Glass measuring cups have a fatal design flaw: anything poured from a rigid container has a high potential to spill everywhere. Because you can squeeze these, you can precisely direct the liquid where it needs to go. They are safe and cool to the touch even with very hot liquids in them, and can be dishwashed, dropped, stepped on, and run over with your car. I use mine constantly to make broth out of Better Than Bouillon, or to immersion blend (see splurge idea below). Several times I’ve given these as gifts to puzzled recipients who later call me to say these changed their life.
Want to feel like a god—
The Vitamix immersion blender, $149. Does anybody truly NEED a stick blender with a 500mhz motor? Absolutely not. But for the person in your life who wants to feel the power of being able to absolutely wreck any item into a silken puree in under a minute, there is no substitution. Because of the insane speed and the safety-first design, you can stick this right in a pot and blend without transferring anything into a blender. Be the reason someone makes homemade hummus next year.