Holiday Gift Guide 2024

Friends hello! Below you will find a collection of gift ideas ranging from new cookbooks to delicious aged balsamic vinegar to favorite dish towels to fun round giant ice cubes.

As always, this year’s gift guide is meant to inspire if nothing else. If you have any items you are excited about gifting this year, please share them in the comments — I love hearing them!

My perennial favorite kitchen (and other) items can be found in The Shop. And at the very end of the post, I’ve included my favorite local and online retailers.

PS: Mother’s Day 2024

PPS: Holiday Gift Guide 2023

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Pizza Night

Of course, I would be so honored if you gifted a copy of Pizza Night to the pizza maker in your life.

Several stores including Now Serving, Book Larder, and Omnivore Books have signed copies of both Pizza Night and Bread Toast Crumbs, and they ship everywhere including internationally.

You could pair Pizza Night with any of these 10 Great Gifts for the Pizza Maker in Your Life, which I shared over on Pizza Every Friday.

Hasagowa Cutting Board

I am so excited about this Hasegawa cutting board. I read about it on Milk Street, who gave it rave reviews, and I am joining the chorus. It’s light, it’s a good size, it’s easy to clean, and the knife feels so good against it. Most importantly, as Milk Street notes, it won’t slip or dull your knife. I do, however, still secure it with a damp small cloth as I do all of my cutting boards.

It would make a great gift on its own or you could pair it with a great knife.

All The Restaurants Print

I read about All the Restaurants on Jenny Rosenstrach’s Substack last winter, and I immediately ordered a print of Balthazar, where Ben and I ate on our honeymoon. I’m just seeing that the artist, John Donahue, has added so many more prints to his collection since last year, including Fork, where I worked for several years, and Tria, a favorite spot to meet friends for wine and cheese (20 years ago 🎉).

If you order quickly, you may be able to get it framed in time for the holidays. I love the Cherry and Marin frames from Framebridge.

Avocado Bundle: Avocados + Vase

Two years ago, I joined Primavera Avocado’s first subscription season, and I loved it so much for so many reasons, namely that the avocados were delicious. Last year I shared the subscription in my gift guide, which many of you loved. This year, Primavera is offering a fun bundle: the above-pictured avocado vase (along with a guide on how to grow a tree from an avocado pit) and a case of avocados. Recipients receive the vase now and the avocados once the season begins in March. Use “alexandracooks” at checkout for 15% off or follow this link for the discount to be automatically applied: Primavera Avocados. I have yet to use the vase for its intended purpose, but I love it:

Such delicious avocados!

Really Good Aged Balsamic Vinegar

A friend gifted me a bottle of this Double Balsamic over the summer, and I only recently broke into it to make this salad. Oh my word it is delicious. You could pair it with a bottle of really good olive oil. For the cook in your life who has seemingly everything, this would make a great gift.

Studio Tigress Wall Calendar

Founded in 2022 by Sara Fritsch (former President of Schoolhouse Electric), “Studio Tigress is a creative venture committed to offering always-beautiful, never-boring products and services that enrich our connections to one another and to time.” I love their wall calendars, seasonal planners, and monthly planners.

Large Ice Ball Maker

For the cocktail lover in your life, these large ice balls are so much fun and make for such a nice drinking experience. You could pair the tray with a really good bottle of whiskey or this Hudson Valley AppleJack, a sipping brandy made from local apples, aged 10+ years in oak barrels. It’s delicious.

Sans Savon Soap

For your friend with perpetually dry skin: Sans Savon Soap, created by the founders of Hairstory whose belief that “we can clean our skin thoroughly while keeping our body’s natural protective barrier and microbiome intact” led to the development of a non-foaming, detergent-free hand soap to help protect, clean, and moisturize skin.

Norwex Netted Cloth

A friend sent me this Norwex netted cloth, which she loves using to clean dough off countertops and bowls. And now I do, too, for dough and beyond. It works beautifully and it’s easy to launder: place in the top rack of your dishwasher once a week.

Collapsible Cooling Rack

For the baker in your life who never has enough counter space: Linden Baker’s Cooling Rack. I brought this to my sister’s for Thanksgiving, and it was so handy for storing all of the pies and quiches. From the website:

“The sturdy metal rack has four vertical foldable tiers to help keep your counter clear while cooling hot trays. Each rack can carry up to 10 pounds and can hold four half-sized sheet pans or standard-sized baking sheets. And, it’s adjustable too, meaning you can fold up one of the middle shelves to fit taller items like bundt cakes or pies.”

Mama Lil’s Pickled Asparagus

I love Mama Lil’s pickled peppers for pizza, but I recently tried some of their other offerings, including the pickled asparagus, which are delicious: so crunchy so nicely spiced. For the pickle-lover or bloody mary-lover in your life, this would make a great gift.

A Cheese Grotto

Cheese Grotto: the gift of cheese storage. This is beautifully designed and a perfect gift for the cheese lover in your life who likes to have cheese at room temperature at ALL times.

Weck Jars in Various Sizes

My local hardware store, Hatchet Hardware, has the most incredible selection of Weck Jars. I love many of the shorter/squatter sizes for sauces and dressings, and I love the taller/slender sizes for flowers. They also make a great gift. I love this size and this size in particular.

A New Cookbook

So many great cookbooks came out this fall. Here are a few I’ve been loving and that I hope to share more about on the blog and newsletter in the weeks to come:

Classic German Cooking by Luisa Weiss, who continues to be my favorite food writer and who makes incredibly delicious food. I actually got to taste her homemade spaetzle a few weeks ago, and I have been dreaming about it ever since. More on this very soon. You could pair her book with a spaetzle maker.

For the sourdough baker in your life, Richard Hart Bread by Richard Hart, the former head baker at San Francisco’s Tartine, and Laurie Woolever. You could pair it with a beautiful bread knife and some really good butter (I found the below-pictured French butter at Whole Foods, and it’s delicious).

For the cookie lover in your life, Zoe Francois’s Zoe Bakes Cookies, which I cannot wait to bake from in the weeks ahead.

For the savory baker in your life, Jessie Sheehan’s Salty Cheesy Herby Crispy Snackable Bakes, which I wrote about recently over here. You could pair it with a bucket of Maldon Sea Salt.

For the baker in your life, 100 Afternoon Sweets by Sarah Kieffer, who you likely know from her ripply pan-banging chocolate chip cookies or her instantly identifiable aesthetic or her other four beautiful cookbooks, which are filled with reliable, delicious recipes. You could pair it with…

… some whole nutmeg and a new Microplane grater:

From the lovely Justine Doiron, Justine Cooks, which is filled with mostly plant-based and incredibly inventive recipes like, Your Perfect Herb Oil, which I have been enjoying on my pizza for weeks. You could pair it with…

a bag of Rancho Gordo Beans:

For the scientific baker in your life, Nicola Lamb’s Sift, which I am so looking forward to studying and baking from this winter. You could pair it with a subscription to Nicola’s beautiful newsletter, Kitchen Projects, or …

… an instant-read thermometer, which is equally helpful in determining the doneness of baked goods as large birds.

For the busy person in your life trying to eat less meat, Jenny Rosenstrach’s The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple, which I wrote about over here. You could pair it with a subscription to Jenny’s wonderful newsletter: Dinner a Love Story.

For the person in your life who never feels like cooking: What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers, which I wrote about here: Crispy Miso Lime Tofu (so good!) You could pair it with…

… a new set of dish towels. I continue to love these and…

… these:

For the Ina-lover in your life, Cooking in Real Life by Lidey Heuck who worked for Ina after college and whose book reminds me of Ina in both style and recipes — it feels as though she’s carrying on Ina’s legacy, which is so fun and comforting.

For the vegan in your life, Joe Yonan’s Mastering The Art of Plant-Based Cooking, which is truly a masterpiece filled with inspiring recipes, like this New (Best!) Way to Romesco. You could pair it with…

a box of delicious dates:

A Few Other Things I’ve Been Loving

This Quince jacket. It’s not warm, so it’s definitely something more for fall/spring than winter.

This Quince Sweater:

These Retro Socks

This Wine:

• Inferno Nebbiolo
• Les Alleis Chablis

This NA Beer: Athletic Brewing Hazy IPA

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In addition to the items above, a gift certificate to a local shop or restaurant, such as The Vischer Ferry General Store or Arthur’s Market or The Broken Inn would make a great gift. Here are some local and online shops I love:

Local Shops

And here are some online shops I return to again and again:

Online Shops

Please share any ideas of your own! Happy Shopping, Friends 🎁🎁🎁