Earlywood Handmade Utensils*

Handcrafted in Montana, Earlywood's gorgeous wooden cooking and serving utensils are both beautiful and functional. The flat wooden scrapers and saute-ers particular are excellent for stirring, flipping, and scraping the fond off the bottom of a pan while cooking. I also love using their wooden spreaders whenever I make homemade butter. It just feels fancier that way! Earlywood's rolling pins are also stunningly crafted in a variety of wood types and colors and are well proportioned for baking projects of all sizes. 

 

These are the kinds of totally gift-able kitchen utensils most people won't buy for themselves but will proudly display and use often!

Murray's Cheese 12-Day Advent Calendar

I bought this for myself last month as a treat and oh boy did it deliver! Murray's Cheese is a NYC-based cheese shop but the cheeses in this advent calendar are from England, Italy, France, Spain, and Ireland, and come in generous 3-5 ounce portions, and the calendar also includes fun mini jars of jam and crackers for creating your own cheese pairings. I love cheese and was only familiar with a couple of the cheeses included — it was a lovely way to try and appreciate some new flavors (the truffle cheddar…? so good). This makes an excellent gift for any cheese lovers in your life. 

 

Souper Cubes Gift Set*

Souper Cubes sent me some of their silicone freezer trays to try earlier this year and now there's never a moment I don't have at least one tray in my freezer. They make saving and reheating leftovers an absolute breeze. And unlike some of the knockoff freezer trays, Souper Cubes are easy to clean and super sturdy — the lids won't crack or warp, and you can even use the silicone trays for baking! I'm also a big fan of their “no mess” utensils set which have a notch in the handle so you can hang them on the edge of a pot so they don't slide down inside!

Burlap & Barrel Gift Sets*

In 2024 I decided it was time to start updating my spice rack, throwing out any spices over a year old and updating them with higher quality spices from my faves at Burlap & Barrel. Luckily Burlap & Barrel was kind enough to gift me some, but believe me — I spent plenty of my own money on their spices and spice sets too. The ranch seasoning blend is excellent on carrots and cucumbers, the toasted onion powder and purple stripe garlic add complexity to any garlic or onion heavy dishes, and I love using the dried tomato powder for extra umami when I'm making a pot of beans. The royal cinnamon is my absolute favorite for baking too! 

4-Layer Cookie Carrier

If you've ever struggled to store or transport homemade cookies, brownies, bars, pierogi, dumplings, etc, etc. this 4-layer food storage carrier is the perfect solution! It's meant for storing dumplings in the fridge, but I use it mostly for packing up extra cookies and cookie bars from recipe testing to send to the teacher's lounge with my husband. 

 

Because the layers clip on and off you only need to use as many as you need — I often only pack up two layers for more compact storage. This makes an excellent gift for any prolific bakers who need an easy way to store their baked goods without them crumbling apart haphazardly in a bag. 

Anyday Microwave Cookware*

Anyday sent me some of their microwave cookware late last year, and this year it totally became a staple of my cooking routine.It's made of sturdy borosilicate glass with microwave-safe stainless steel rims on the lids and the handle on top pops up for venting while microwaving and down for airtight storage in the fridge. The real perk is that it's designed to go from cooking to serving to storing your food without having to transfer it to other dishes. Unlike plastic containers, it looks nice on the table and won't absorb weird colors or smells. I use it for microwaving rice for rice bowls, edamame, steaming broccoli, and so much more! Now available in a square shape!

603 Perfect Blend Teas

I featured these teas on last year's gift guide and found myself so looking forward to cooler weather this year specifically so I could break them out again that I just had to feature them this year too. I've tried a lot more flavors since last year too and every one has been a hit. 603 Perfect Blend tea is a small biz based in New Hampshire that makes lovely tea bends that are super concentrated, have great flavors, and are perfect for cozy nights and mornings in the winter! My faves are the Orange County Blend, Peachy Keene, and Portsmouth Peppermint.

Corkcicle Insulated Mug (16 oz)

Speaking of tea drinking… this is my all time favorite insulated mug. Corkcicle  insulated mugs are oversized with an airtight lid and keep your drinks warm for hours. The handle is generously sized and comfortable to hold. And they come in a range of colors and patterns. I'm partial to the Rifle Paper Co. collab ("Garden Party" pictured here) but they also have mugs in solid colors and in partnership with other brands like Disney, Marvel, and more! My favorite feature that a lot of other insulated mugs are lacking: a rubber grippy bottom means they aren't easily knocked over!

Maui Gold Pineapple

I had toured the Maui Gold pineapple farm on a trip to Hawaii and learned firsthand just how much better Hawaiian pineapples are compared to the ones we get on the mainland. They're fresher, juicier, sweeter, and less acidic. Luckily you don't need to go to Maui to try them — they ship to the continental US! They even have subscription options so you can give the gift of fresh Hawaiian pineapple all year round. PS — If you've never tried frozen pineapple, you're missing out! We brought two of these back from Hawaii with us, chopped them up and froze them — they're so great right out of the freezer!

Tiny Arms Ceramics 

Ok, how stinking CUTE are these pantry tumblers? Each one is handmade and hand painted by Kate Cutlip of in Shirley, MA and they feature a range of pantry favorites. Pictured here is their New England tumbler collection, but they have other options as well, like Campbell's Soup, Nutella, and Bonne Maman jam. I bought two of their 8 oz tumblers for myself earlier this year which are great for drinking from but also look great as a desktop pen holder. Check out the rest of their site though — they also make butter dishes, espresso cups, and mugs! 

Brightland California Olive Oil*

I can't tell you how long I've coveted Brightland's beautiful olive oil bottles. They're so pretty! But they're a bit of a splurge. So when Brightland sent me some of their best oils to try this year, I was ecstatic. And I'm pleased to report that unlike some other Instagram-trendy olive oil brands Brightland's California-made olive oils actually taste great — great enough to justify splurging on them or giving them as gifts. I've since spent my own money on their pizza oil and will gladly restock my kitchen with the “Awake” oil when I run out. Yes, it's pricey, but it's not the kind of olive oil I use every day — it's more of a special occasion oil — and it looks great on my table too. A great gift for the chef who has everything!

Thermoworks Square Dot 

When I had a string of bakes turn out overdone earlier this year, it was the Thermoworks Square Dot that saved the day. It has two probes, one that measures the ambient air temperature inside the oven, and the other an internal instant read thermometer. The Square Dot helped me correctly calibrate my oven temperature accurately, and the internal probe is great when you're grilling, smoking, braising, roasting a turkey, or checking if your baked goods are done! Thermoworks makes some of the BEST thermometers on the market; I'm also a fan of the Thermapen One and Thermapen Dot, but if you need a gift for any avid baker or griller, you can't go wrong with the multi-probe Square Dot!