The craft coffee scene has blossomed tremendously in the past few years, and more and more of us are passionate (and choosy!) about the coffee we drink. Here are my best gift ideas for the coffee lover on your list.

I drink a lot of tea as well and did not want tea lovers to feel slighted, so I’m also featuring my best gift ideas for those who can’t imagine life without a steaming mug of tea.

This is one in a series of themed gift guides I am publishing this week; here’s the complete list of my best gift guides.

Continue reading »

Are you a parent who loves to cook and eat well, and want to get your children involved in the kitchen? Or maybe you’re the uncle/aunt/godfather/godmother/best grownup friend of a child who’s already figured out the kitchen is the happiest place in the world? Here is my selection of best cooking gifts for kids, all of them adorable but actually functional, to encourage that budding passion.

This is one in a series of themed gift guides I am publishing this week; here’s the complete list of my best gift guides.

Best Cooking Gifts for Children (and their Parents!)

Continue reading »

Do you have a cook in your life who loves all things French? A total Francophile who is sure he/she was français(e) in a previous life? Here’s a hand-picked selection of utensils and ingredients to Frenchify their kitchen with style!

This is one in a series of themed gift guides I am publishing this week; here’s the complete list of my best gift guides.

Best Cooking Gifts for Francophiles

Continue reading »

Could there be anything more comforting, on a damp November night, than a beautiful plate of creamy risotto? The aromas dancing up to your nose, delivering the scents of fall in the form of soft kale ribbons and meaty morsels of mushrooms?

Well, sure, you say, that sounds more than okay. But risotto requires you to stand and stir, and I am tired. Yes, I reply, but. There is another way: you can cook risotto in the pressure cooker.

It is quite revolutionary, and I may very well incur the wrath and curse of generations of Italian mammas, but I need to share this: a super simple method that brings risotto from stove to table in thirty minutes flat, ingredient prep included.

That weeknight risotto seems a lot more realistic now, right?

Continue reading »