Welcome to this yearโs holiday gift guide, also known as the best place to shop for the eaters and readers in your life. This year, if you are so inclined, feel free to leave your best go-to gift idea in the comment section. The author of my favorite one will win a free copy Dinner: A Love Story, Dinner: The Playbook,ย or How to Celebrate Everything. Your choice!ย (Winner selected on Monday, December 17 at noon ET.) Happy Holidays Everyone.
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Swirl Baking Dishes (MoMA, $15-$27) Leave it to MoMA to add one-of-a-kind beauty toโฆa baking dish. The ceramic is hand-swirled, so each one is different. More important: They are oven-to-table and dishwasher safe. (Andy: Are you listening?)
Temporary Tattoos (Tattly, $5-10) Before Phoebe road-tripped for a big cross-country race this past fall, I handed her an envelope that included a you-are-a-badass note and two โBelieveโ tattoos from Tattly (one for her teammate) that I thought might help shave a few seconds off her splits. (Iโll try anything.) She loved them and now I want to give empowerment tattoos to every kid all the time for any occasion. I also really liked:ย Letโs Do This, Believe, Self-Confidence, Warrior Not Worrier.ย That last one is for me. Great for the stocking.
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The Latest Greatest Cookbooks I donโt know about your kids, but mine have this incredible talent for sniffing out a Milk Bar no matter what city we find ourselves in. If yours are the same, theyโll be psyched to open up the neon-lightedย All About Cakeย by Milk Barโs Christina Tosi ($16). For the friend who knows a little something about cooking, go forย Simpleย the newest Yotam Ottolenghi ($21) and 2018โs best entry in the Everyday genre.
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Flour Sack Dish Towels (Food52, $39 for a set of 4) My mom is a woman who prizes utility over beauty for pretty much any circumstance โ When we were growing up, her idea of the perfect gift for my siblings and me were underwear jumbo packs. The good news: I just bought her these flour sack towels, which are both beautiful and useful. The bad news: I love them so much I might have to keep them for myself. Theyโre part of the cool new Food52 product line that crowd-sources development and design ideas. How fun is that? (NOTE: These are currently out of stock until 12/10; check back then!)
What Do People Do All Day ($11) My editor Maria at theย Timesย Book Review assigned me a round-up on what she called โBig Beautiful Books,โ the immersive kind that you imagine (hope? dream? cross-fingers) will suck your kid in for hours at a time on long winter days. You can head over there to find one that works for your kids, but I wanted to make a special plug for the My Big Wimmelbook series, which is great for the 2-to-5-year-old set. Something to note: Wimmelbooks are a standard part of young childhood in Germany and in the review I compared the large-format board-book volumes to the Richard Scarry books we all grew up with. Which made me realize โ hey! What about Richard Scarry who will never ever go out of style? Especially the iconicย What Do People Do All Day, a favorite when I was a kid. So if you donโt have that one, pick it up first.
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Things I Ate As a Kid Puzzleย ($17) A 1000-piece puzzle, via Ben & Birdy, whose gift guide is always a treasure trove of ideas for game lovers.
Homemade Version of a Favorite Store-bought Food. If youโre going in the bake-a-gift direction this year, consider heading down the nostalgia road. My Dad, like all good members of the Bronx post-war Jewish community, loves his Entenmannโs baked goods and passed down that passion to me. I grew up eating their famous, now discontinued, Sour Cream and Nut Chocolate Chip Loaf. A few years ago, I surprised him with a homemade version of it and couldnโt believe how fast it took us back. The recipe, plus more ideas for meaningful food gifts are in my last book,ย How to Celebrate Everything, onย page 19. (Photo credit: Chelsea Cavanaughย for HTCE)
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Pre-assembled Gingerbread House Kitย ($50, Dylanโs Candy Bar) A kit that gets straight to the fun part: The decorating.
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Minding the Store, ($13, by Julie Gaines, Illustrated by Ben Lenovitz) Fishs Eddy is a New York institution and Iโve plucked many holiday gifts from its charming shelves through the years. (My in-laws still drink cocktails from the sweetย Todd Oldham-Charley Harper-designed glasses we gave them a few years ago.) This year, you should absolutely peruse their online shelves for the goods and the wares, but please also check out the graphic novel written by the Fishs Eddy owner Julie Gaines. Itโs all about her wacky family and running a small business โ and Catherine Hong, my favorite source for books and design recommended it, so you know itโs going to be good.
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Instant Potย ($70 for 6-quart) Know any hold-outs? (Besides yours truly?) Now that the craze seems to have officially settled into Here to Stay, it might finally be the time.
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Sloth Mugย (Urban Outfitters, $15) Wrap it up with your favorite hot chocolate (this one is tops) and a bag of marshmallows and your teenager will love you forever โ or at least for, like, 10 minutes.
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Harmonica ($35) The perfect procrastinate-ACT-studying tool. Naturally, my high school junior is obsessed.
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Cheese Knives (CB2, set of 3, $15) For your friend who hosts the best holiday party every year. Or even for the friend who doesnโt.
Fox 8ย by George Saunders (Random House $11). For people who like George Saunders (by now you know we sure do!) and for people who have kids who are older than 10 or 11 and are ready for a little darkness to go with their charming animal stories. This one is narrated by a fox (named Fox 8) and beneath the fun misspellings (โreeding my story bak just now, I woslike: O no, my story is a bumerโ) and ingenious narration is a powerful story about our lesser angels and our responsibility to the world and our environment. Added bonus: it fits right into a stocking.
In the span of about two hours this past weekend, we planned a five-day trip to Austin, Texas between Christmas and New Years. (As usual, recs welcome!) Only after I told the girls about it, did I realize I missed an opportunity to do the surprise plane-tickets-under-the-tree reveal like Liz did a few years ago. If you still have the time to plan, Iโd say go for it.
Other DALS guides through the years:
Gift Guide 2017
Gift Guide 2016
Gift Guide 2015
Gift Guide 2014
Gift Guide 2013
Gift Guide 2012
Gift Guide 2011
UPDATE: The giveaway winner has been notified. Congrats Hannah!
Happy Holidays!
Another great option for a gingerbread house is the ones sold at Trader Joeโs. Lots of decorating fun for less than $10.
Ha! Thought exactly the same thing as I was reading throughโฆ.$50?!!? Trader Joeโs for the win ๐
Costco has a preassembled version for $20.
My new go to gift for a housewarming or a hostess gift is a cocktail kit. Iโm making one right now for different old fashioneds. A bottle of bourbon, orange bitters, a jar of good cherries, a jar of sugar cubes, an orange and a lemon. Plus a jar of homemade chai spice simple syrup and a small bottle of maple syrup to change up the flavors. I also think a hot chocolate kit with great mix-ins would be really nice if you donโt want to bring alcohol. p.s. How to celebrate everything is the only one I donโt have yet!
I have one go to gift this year. It works for any child or adult! My high school and college age nieces will be getting the gift and my husband just got one for his birthday. A Hydro Flask: https://www.rei.com/product/100105/hydro-flask-wide-mouth-vacuum-water-bottle-32-fl-oz . The deal with this flask is it keeps cold things cold all dayโlike ice cold at an all day baseball tournament in Manteca, California in August. And it keeps hot things hot all dayโlike burn the roof of your mouth hot on a long road trip. Bonus points that is it isnโt disposable!
On a side note, I love this blog. Reading it provides a great five minute break in my day. And Iโm super grateful for that moment of indulgence. So thank you!
Yes, yes, and yes to all of this.
Just bought a gift box of assorted jams and jellies from Stonewall Kitchen for my brother/sister-in-laws/aunts/uncles, which I think is a fun way to try different flavors they might not normally buy for themselves. Their apple jalapeno jelly is one of my favorites! ๐
Plus, we bought our newphews and niece Razor Scooters (the pedal, old-school cerca 1998 kind, not electric) because they were my brother and Iโs favorite toy growing up!
I moved to a new city about a year ago away from family and friends. After a bit of time settling in, I found a nearby bakery that quickly became my all time favourite for a weekday indulgence. I kept on raving about it to my parents back home, and when my birthday rolled around, they sneakily called the bakery and had them craft up a gift certificate for me for my birthday. When I walked in to buy myself a treat the next day, the baker presented me with the gift certificate. Needless to say I was totally shocked by the thoughtful gestureโฆnot only did I get to treat myself to many โfreeโ delicious desserts, but the gift also helped support a local small business. Usually gift cards are not considered all that genuine in the gift giving world, but this one sure was. Will definitely be doing this for other friends and family far away this season!
This is so sweet. I love how they enlisted the baker, too.
I did NOT know this and of course it makes me love him even more (and feel a little less guilty about recommending it without acknowledging some of his more dated ideas.) Thank you!
I love Richard Scarryโs books! Did you know that he updated one of his books to be more progressive and inclusive of a modern society? https://splinternews.com/how-richard-scarry-updated-his-childrens-book-to-be-mor-1793852665
He passed away in 1994, but I love knowing he did that ๐
Did he? That is so great! ๐ I was just commenting on how they were great books despite the gender roles being pretty stereotypically old-school, but itโs nifty that he updated them.
We love these Epicurian cutting boards โ lots of different price points, heat resistant,super durable, and dishwasher safe! We will be gifting the hexagon-trio cutting/serving boards to our parents this year.
https://www.epicureancs.com/product-category/cutting-boards/
Austin Rec: Barley Swine
A friend gave my then-not-yet-born oldest one of the big Richard Scarry books at the baby shower they had for me, and her comment on the inside reads something like: โDid you ever notice how sexist this was when you were a kid? Me neither. Ah well. Still fun to read.โ ๐ And sheโs rightโ but theyโre still a great read. Since our kids have grown up with dad as a teacher and mom as a doctor, I donโt think the gender sterotypes left much of a dent. ๐
Ooooh โ host/ess gifts: I keep a bunch of Penzeys spice gift boxes in our closet; people LOVE them. Before I was onto those, I had stocked up on Maldon salt gift boxes that people also loved! I am *also* commenting to follow along on any Austin recs that you get โ we may also do a holiday break trip down there!
This Eddie Bauer throw is THE.BEST lay on the couch and snuggle blanket ever. My mom got this for me years ago and now everyone in the family has their own (husband and dogs included).
https://www.eddiebauer.com/product/oversized-down-throw/82203546?showProducts=&color=823&sizetype=&size=
What Do People Do All Day is a serious favorite of our toddlerโs!!
Being a teacher, I have summers off and spend them working at an organic vegetable farm down the road owned by good friends of ours. They grow just about everything you can grow up here in central Maine, but two of their products are my go-to gifts every year- garlic and honey! A nice jar of dark, local honey and a couple pounds of garlic in a nice gift bag are exactly what I want, and exactly what I give!
I got our family a new tent for Christmas. Itโs something we wouldnโt normally buy with a newborn and toddler but it gives me hope that we will be camping one day soon. Itโs a gift that leads to road trips and family adventures. Two things Iโm missing right now as Iโm sitting in bed nursing my newborn! P.s. I love your writing and your recipes Jenny!
This Twister picnic blanket! I brought it as my white elephant gift for last years book club dinner party โ well the fights over it! One lady is still very bitter it was stolen from her!
https://www.amazon.com/Paladone-Twister-Blanket-Waterproof-Backing/dp/B00U383DJE
Great list โ thanks for the ideas.
My best go to gift is free- use the StoryCorps app to record a priceless conversation with someone you love. They have recs with wonderful questions you can ask. It is a gift for both of you and the audio gets stored in the Library is Congress. Whatโs not to love? โค๏ธ
you know how much I love this Ingrid. xoxoxo
These are all incredible ideas! You brought me way back to my childhood with the Busy town โWhat Do People Do all dayโ book. I had no clue you can order that on Amazon, I guess I never thought to look it up. It truly is the perfect present. I may snatch it to give to my younger brother as a nostalgic gift. Thanks for sharing! XO, Ellese
Rock.Paper.Glam.
Our family went to Austin last March for fun and to check out UT Austin. We loved it. Taco Deli and Fresas were our favorites. Have fun!
Also, Entenmans filled chocolate chip crumb cake was my go to when I was a kidโฆ.the best!
My favorite go to gift is..a pair of funny socks! Useful plus they make the most serious of people smile. I love Blue Q socks https://www.blueq.com/shop/item/330-productId.125847715.html
Another nice, easy gift: a gift card to a local restaurant near the person you are buying for. Iโve called restaurants that arenโt in my area and theyโve always been willing to mail a gift card.
I have gotten into the useful homemade food gift. Last year I made a bunch of homemade seasoning salt and doled it into small decorative jars. I cannot believe what a hit it was! Nearly everyone who got a jar asked me for the recipe or mourned the empty jar when it was gone. This year I think I am going to do a sriracha salt โฆ
I work as an elementary school teacher during the year but have summers off and spend them working at the organic vegetable farm down the road owned by friends of ours. My go-to gift for anyone on my list is a nice jar of their honey and a couple pounds of their amazing garlic. An easy gift that supports local farmers (and great friends) and is always a hit!
(Tried to post a comment yesterday but it led me to an error page- sorry if Iโve posted twice!)
My go to gift is coffee from a local roaster in town called Roos Roast. Their Lobster Butter Love tastes so good and smells amazing! https://www.roosroast.com/
I get the most glee from giving a gift card to an independent bookstore in the recipientโs town! Iโve had such lovely experiences corresponding with the booksellers, and my friends/family can pick out exactly what they want in the coziest settings. Itโs just the best.
I always give books as kid presents. I am continually shocked by how few classics people have (outside of Goodnight Moon). Make way for ducklings is a favorite, as is caps for sale and Madeleine. I think good local coffee is an easy but thoughtful one for coworkers and neighbors. Thanks for the great ideas here!
Best for kids (and fun adults) is one of Ed Emberleyโs thumbprint drawing books with a few ink pads and some nice thick paper.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ed+emberley+drawing+books+for+kids&sprefix=ed+ebbe%2Caps%2C191&crid=17ZQC0H9932TX