It's that time of year again. The time when everyone is scrambling around searching for Just The Right Gift. Foodies are easy to please, sure enough. Some new goodie we've never tasted, a novel ingredient to cook with, a real novel with food as a recurring theme (yes I am looking at you Joanne Harris). That said, why give the foodie you love yet another subscription to Bon Appetit or Nigella's new cookbook or even a cheese of the month subscription? Here are some innovative ideas for not only the holiday season but any other special occasion you might have. Sure you've seen the
Bologna rug...but there are so many more! Without further ado I give you....Gifts for Foodies.
Bad ice cream....This is not a gift you ought to buy your foodie.
Good ice cream. These bowls from
Rachel Sebell are. Oooh, just imagine them with those lovely little gelato shovels...I mean spoons.
Also for those long cold winter nights....ice shot glasses! What you thought I was going to say hot chocolate?
Honey is like liquid gold. Especially
this gift set at $78. Mmmmmm, liquid gold.
Allow me to hawk my own wares for a moment with this honeycomb two finger ring.
And nothing goes better with honey than tea. Not that you ought to put the honey set above into tea by any means!!! Here are two different and designerly ways to drink your cuppa. You can brew a batch with
IngenuiTea...
or with the oh so sleek and industrial
TeaStick.
Let's continue with the theme and move on to ways to port around your meals. Paper bags are so passe...and not very environmentally friendly. Here are several hip alternatives...
A colorful and bento-like stackable set from
Pearl River
A more modern take on the thermos and lunchbox idea we had as school kids from
Built NY. They make fantastic
wine totes as well.
How about a special
'work' lunch box including a foldout plastic placemat. My don't we feel all adult?
Back to the kitchen blogger! Perhaps they'd rather like to show off the tools of their trade (or hobby...make that obsession) with a pair of
whisk earrings (chef knives are also available)
Maybe your foodie doesn't cook so much as visit fine 4 star Michelin establishments like a WFED-er. No need to be shy about well developed tastebuds. Spoil them with a set of portable chopsticks from
Vilmain and Klinger
Or perhaps a fold and go classic with a
Swiss Army knife with fork and spoon.
Heck, forget the knife and spoon, the fork is pretty good looking on its own as a
bracelet.
These babies are for everyone everywhere.
Instant cutlery. Give them to a college student. Take them on a picnic. After you finish, remove them and enjoy the apple you speared it on.
Do you remember when twinkies tasted good and wouldn't survive with the cockroaches after a nuclear fall out? Me neither. But supposedly our folks do. Why not whip them up a batch of delicious chemical free bits of their childhood with a
Twinkie pan.
Speaking of Twinkie pans....there are also snuggly warm food theme scarves made by the talented and food obsessed
Twinkie Chan....
Toast of course leads us to a tasty
BLT ring...hold the mayo.
...and is that
bacon kosher??? Well, since this one goes ON you rather than IN you I suppose it doesn't really matter.
Perhaps your sweetie is more of a dessert sort of person or maybe you just want to get them a Mrs. Haversham like
cake they can enjoy FOR-EV-VER.
Although it's winter let us not forget the warm summer breezes and vibrant summer foods. Nothing to perk up long dismal grey days than a pair of uber realistic
cherry earrings.
Summer gardens also call for peas straight from the pod. Don't try to eat one of
these though.
I have nothing against Rachael Ray...then again I have never seen her show. But how can you not love a
shirt pimping the nectar of the gods? Plus it makes for good trivia. As in, guess what pop culture foodie acronym just made it in to the dictionary. Really. Maybe you'll finally win at Trivial Pursuit this year.
We like vegetarians. TO EAT! Just kidding. Ha. Ha. But we prefer to make fun of them. So easy when they take themselves so seriously, no? Speak your mind with this sad little artichoke. If only I could remember where I found this shirt....
Now, really, this is just silly but I felt it necessary to mention the
Bananaphone. I mean...it's a banana. And you put it on your cell phone. Get it? Huh? Huh? Eh, nevermind.
The
Octodog is also remarkably silly but very cool and will keep those little brats, I mean angels, of your sister in awe...for all of about 10 seconds before they try hurling it across the room or letting it 'swim' around in their chocolate milk. Don't say I didn't warn you.
A bit more ambitious as a gift. You need to really know your foodie and their tastes...not everyone wants fungi on their walls. But what
pretty fungi they are.
Or, if we are talking about interior decorating, why not give them the choice of one of the many beautiful food paintings that
Jonathon Nix (also the painter of the UglyFruit banner above) does?
And to wrap it all up you have the option of simple wrapping paper with a luxurious
vegetable ribbon adorning it....
...or some simple
sushi wrapping paper. Nothing says Merry Xmas and Happy Hanukah like dead fish.
And what's the holiday season without a little gratuitous blasphemy? No pagan kitchen is complete without the
JesusPan or
Holy Toaster.
