2024 Giving Guide & CHANCE TO WIN

A Subscriber giveaway and your guide to making the most of your love language this season!

I know I know, so many gift guides. This one is brief! ALSO includes a recipe AND chance for YOU to win BIG! Modernist Cuisine makes those incredible books - tomes really - on all things food and science. I had the pleasure of touring the kitchen lab in Seattle while on book tour and more recently interviewing the founder Nathan Myhrvold for edibleLA. Their newest publication, fresh out of the oven, is Modernist Bread AT HOME. That’s right, all that bread knowledge, illustrations and formulas specifically designed and tested for the home baker. It is a coveted heirloom set for any bread head in your life - even YOU!

I am giving away one copy this Holiday Season to a ANY Subscriber! Leave a comment on this post about your favorite thing to bake this season. I will pick a winner Thursday 12/12, and Modernist Cuisine will ship your set to arrive before the Holidays.

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Bonus Recipe: Nicola Lamb of famed Kitchen Projects is running a very fun recipe a day holiday drop for her KP+ subscribers. I had the honor of contributing a DAY 5 recipe for Wholegrain Almond Olive Oil Shortbread and a fast Kumquat Marmalade that looks like confetti in a jar.

Recently Published: The Holiday issue of edibleLA is out now. I wrote the cover story on LA’s 2024 Restaurant of the Year Baroo and another article on my friend Balo Orozco of BALO (Sunset Cultures).

Just for fun: This Simpsons spoof of Chef’s Table highlighting Lunch Lady Dora.

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Giving Guide

A list of mostly Stocking Stuffers Under $25 & a few splurges.

Like many people gifting is one of my top love languages. And if you, like me, enjoy gifting all year long, come the Holidays it’s important to stay in a budget. We celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas in this house, and this year they overlap! I like a budget cap for gifts because it also encourages you to get creative. This is a collection of bought and homemade ideas for you to spread your love around. Most are affordable, only a a couple splurges. Some contain affiliate links (marked with *), which means I make a very small commission if you purchase BUT YOU also save money. It’s win win. I never recommend something I haven’t tried, and most are things I use daily. In short they are things I really believe in. Here are some fun ideas:

Always a good idea to gift some EAT MORE:

Or gift an upcoming Livestream Class with me! Use CODE CLASS5 for $5 off.

Home & Kitchen & Garden

2025 Buttercream Calendar. The ultimate calendar for a cook or baker in your life. Featuring 12 different buttercreams paired with the season on high quality paper. Want more graphic gifts for foodies? The flour flavor wheel poster from Bread and Roses is always a good bet. Or a Cake is Salad sweatshirt, super cozy.

Summer Fall sparkling Yuzu Sake. Love at first sip! This Sake is made in California with rice, wine yeast and koji. It’s bright, crisp, features an all time favorite citrus and pairs well with anything you want to serve for a cocktail hour - savory bites or cookies. Great for toasting!

Get Graza Olive Oil.* I’m a long time fan of this company using olives from Spain. I just like the taste over Italian, more buttery less bitter. They are now using cans to refill the squeeze bottles that make this oil so easy in the kitchen or at events and popups.

Spicewalla Caroline Schiff’s Speculoos Blend Sweet friend Caroline Schiff has a collab with Spicewalla I was lucky enough to be gifted - and then ordered a bunch. It’s an instant classic blend to add to your holiday baking - using two different kinds of pepper to round out traditional spices of the season. Use to make cookies and cakes to give away!

Burlap & Barrel Arielle Johnson Pumpkin Spice 2.0. Another perfect blend from a friend, this 2.0 of your favorite uses grains of paradise. A very floral and resiny pepper, I highlighted in my book as well! I am already through my second jar. Make bars and treats to share!

Row 7 Seeds. Or any other heirloom seed company, get your garden started early. Gift a green thumb in your life some unique produce. Or plan a garden for 2025 as a family activity for a gift that never stops giving! Baker Creek Rare Seeds is another great one. Or the Heirloom Seed Store.

MadeIn Cookware.* All my pots and pans are from MadeIn or Lodge. I’m a stainless steel and cast iron girlie and you should be too. These high quality pans will last longer than your lifetime, they are beautiful and will make you an excellent cook. This is your splurge item.

Clothing & Books & Toys

LL Bean. These thick fisherman sweaters never go out of style. They’re giving time spent in the UK or on the rough seas. I bought a bunch for all the men in my life. If you want a more streamlined look, I also love these that are on sale now. Both are all cotton which is truly the most comfortable.

Quince. Still postpartum the only thing I want is soft, cozy, slightly oversized and warm. Quince has a lot of great stuff, you will find elsewhere much more expensive. Their model is to be transparent about costs and therefore not charge as much. The quality is incredible and I love their mix and match sweat sets/joggers. So soft.

Cider. Women’s and kids food themed clothing. This one might ding a bell in your mind because they heavily advertise on instagram. But they are NOT a scam like so many. I have many items from Cider - it’s where I get MOST of my food themed clothes that I love to wear for events. They have a lot of options for women and children. I recently went down a cherry rabbit hole.

Cat & Jack & Hanna Anderson. Target has the BEST children’s clothes, Cat & Jack’s line is super soft, devoid of logos and stretches with our growing boy. Most item are $10-15 , so it’s affordable considering how fast babies grow out of clothing. Honorable mention for Hanna Anderson, more expensive, incredible quality and really fun pop colored patterns. They have tons of sales constantly, that I love to shop. Little Sleepies makes my favorite sleep onesies, they are incredible soft and fit forever. I love the present opening option which makes changing in the middle of the night a breeze. Birds Nest Baby makes similar quality from a family owned operation. Adore their patterns.

Djeco Pyramid My Friends. My son is obsessed with these at 5 months, my nephew at 3 years old asks to play with them every time he comes over. They are a beautiful and classic toy from Djeco, a Copenhagen based toy maker. Honestly all their toys are gorgeous and thoughtfully made. These were gifted to me, and I intend to gift them to others.

Braiding Sweetgrass. This book will heal you, I want everyone to read it. It was gifted to me in the pandemic, by a dear friend. I come back to it often.

MY FAVORITE COOKBOOKS OF THE SEASON: Natures Candy by Camilla Wynne, SIFT by Nicola Lamb, Flavorama by Arielle Johnson and Justine Cooks by Justine Doiron. And of course Bread and Roses for your grain obsessed. Use Code BOOK10 for $10 a personalized copy on eatredbread.com

Everyday Ornaments. These gorgeous ornaments are handcrafted here in Los Angeles, everything from abstract to food. Sequences and beads make them sparkle. I’m obsessed with the ice cream cone! These are collectable and a great splurge if you love ornaments.

Community

This is where the Holiday spirit really shines. Consider starting a new tradition of giving not just gifting. Impacting the lives of others, being here for a fellow human being - this is the only thing we can be sure we are on this planet for - each other. Here are some great organizations that could use your support:

Work Central Kitchen. World Central Kitchen works to bring food based humanitarian aide to dangerous regions of the world. They are currently aiding in the Hurricane reliefs domestically, as well as internationally in the Ukraine, Spain, Gaza, Lebanon and Israel.

Edible School Yard Project. Gardening is invaluable play and education for children, the Edible School Yard Project works to get more gardens into schools.

Heifer International. They work to provide livestock to families allowing for food stability AND economic growth out of poverty around the world.

UNICEF. UNICEF works closely to help provide lifesaving assistance for children affected by disaster, poverty and conflict worldwide.

Stay tuned this month as I will be sharing the ultimate Egg Nog recipe and doing a special collaboration with CAPrunes. Wishing you warmth and wonder.

xoXoxo