Do you have your Christmas gifts ready to go? Not me. I have a list, though! This gift guide is for my fellow shopping procrastinators. I wasn’t sure what to call it—Kate’s favorite things? Holiday gift guide? Entertaining essentials? Well, I’m not sure a waffle maker qualifies as essential, but it’s earned the shelf space in my little kitchen.
Basically, these are all items that I own and love and would buy for all of my friends if I were Oprah. On that note, this post contains affiliate links. Here we go:
Le Creuset cast iron Dutch ovens: My babies! I own two of these and I’m convinced that they are magic because they make everything I cook in them taste better. I love the idea of passing these heavy duty pots on someday. I have a smaller 3 1/2-quart oven (shown here, great for cooking for four or so) and a bigger 5 1/2-quart oven for larger quantities. Available in tons of colors on Williams-Sonoma (free shipping through December 20 with code FREESHIP) and Amazon (also with free shipping, no code required—here’s the 3 1/2-quart and the 5 1/2-quart).
Red and white baker’s twine: This twine makes everything wrapped in it look festive. I like to wrap gifts in brown kraft paper and wrap them a couple of times with this twine. Then I address them with a gold gel pen for a little sparkle. Tie on a small pine cone or sprig of evergreen or rosemary if you want to be extra cute.
Caldrea green tea verbena hand soap: I love this hand soap from Target. It doesn’t have any bad-for-you chemicals in it and smells fantastic. I’m a big fan of the refillable glass bottles and just bought some replacement soap for when I run out.
Everlane silk button-down: Have you heard of Everlane? It’s an online-only shop that cut out the middlemen to sell high quality pieces at low prices. Their silk blouses are absolutely gorgeous and so well made that I plan to wear them forever (they’re much nicer than J. Crew and cost less!). I’m obsessed with the silk pocket blouse. I also love the silk round collar shirt, which has a slightly oversized fit. The cashmere crew is on my Christmas list!
The Vegetarian Flavor Bible: Meet my most-used cookbook, which is an unconventional one. It doesn’t have any recipes inside. It’s a flavor thesaurus, if you will—you can look up any ingredient and see what other flavors might go well with it. The authors of the original Flavor Bible just came out with a more extensive vegetarian book (shown here) and I’m in love.
Wusthof classic 7″ santoku knife: This is my chef’s knife. I use it every day. It slices through vegetables like butter and fits nicely in my hand. I’ve bought one for my mom and my uncle just bought one, too. I won’t stop until everyone owns a great chef’s knife!
Bose soundLink mini bluetooth speaker: I can’t listen to music on tinny, trebly little speakers. They make my ears hurt. I bought this little guy for my office and have also used it to play podcasts in the kitchen. The sound is incredible and fills the whole room (even my living room!). I read way too many reviews for small Bluetooth speakers when I was shopping for one—just do yourself a favor and buy this one.
Schott Zwiesel “universal tumblers” (set of 6), otherwise known as my wine glasses. I break even the “unbreakable” stemmed glasses and have to worry about Cookie’s wagging tail knocking them over. I replaced my cheap, clunky wine glasses with these crystal clear stemless glasses over a year ago and I haven’t broken a single one! They’re beautiful, practical and durable and I swear, those sexy rims make cheap wine taste better.