If the mood of your holiday shopping this year has been deflated by the inflated sticker price on many goods, join the club. I will confess that I’ve bought gifts so far for only half the people on my list and am close to maxing out my credit card. The obvious solution would seem to be to cut back, but with a little ingenuity you can give your friends and loved ones gifts they will be happy to receive and without breaking the bank. Let’s get started.
The Gramercy Drink Smoker from Gramercy Kitchen Co. is the ideal gift for your friends who are into cocktails and enjoy entertaining. The product is designed as a hand-held gun with a small footprint, which is music to the ears of any New Yorker with a minuscule kitchen (yo). The smoker comes with a cleaning brush and velvet storage bag and can also be used to smoke meats. The price: $39.97.
Staying with the cocktail theme, another item your booze-inclined pals might like is a True Cubes Crystal Clear Ice Cube Maker. They’ll be able to serve their drinks with professional-looking cubes. Even better, the silicone mold purifies water, removing 98% of TDS and metals, enabling guests to taste their drinks, not the ice. The True Cubes Ice Maker sells for $49.97.
Who doesn’t love chocolate, especially when it oozes molten-like from the center of a warm, sensuous lava cake? Enable a chocolate lover on your list to make these delicious cakes at home via the Lava Cake Kit by Cuiline. The kit contains premeasured amounts of Callebaut Belgian dark chocolate, flour, confectioner’s sugar, and cocoa powder in quantities to make 6 single-serving cakes. Even the ramekins are provided. The cost? $39.95.
Do your friends and relatives like to play with their food? If the answer is yes, why not give them a set of Foodie Dice, made by Two Tumbleweeds. The set includes nine cubes, each labeled with a different ingredient, such as chicken, artichoke, or cilantro. The user rolls the dice, then shops, cooks, and eats. Over 400,000 meal combinations are possible. (Note that the set contains a Take Out die for when you don’t feel like cooking.) A set of Foodie Dice will set you back $22.95.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of finishing salts. If someone on your holiday shopping list shares my passion, a sampler pack of finishing salts from the Icelandic vendor Saltwerk might be just what Santa ordered. The assortment includes flaky sea salt, lava salt, birch smoked salt, and Arctic thyme salt. The pack ordinarily sells for $49, but as of this writing can be had for $40.99.
Make life easier for a cook who frequently prepares recipes on his smart phone by giving him a recipe holder stand from Cestari Kitchens. The device is stable, and its ergonomic design ensures that recipes are held in place at an upright and easy-to-read angle, making it easier to follow along while cooking. Best of all, for those of us condemned to cook out of New York kitchens, the holder folds up flat, meaning it won’t take up too much of your precious drawer space. The price: $10.99.
