Our Favorite Stocking Stuffers for Cooks

Small and Thoughtful No Images? Click here   Our Favorite Stocking Stuffers for Cooks​ Here are a few small but thoughtful holiday gifts for cooks and food lovers, perfect for stuffing that real or metaphorical stocking.   A Chef's Press This chef’s press is a great gift for a grilling fanatic, but it’s just as handy for making grilled cheese sandwiches or panini as it is for ribeyes. The heavy press ensures constant contact between your ingredients and the heat source, while grates in the metal allow steam to escape, keeping whatever you're cooking from getting soggy.  A Wooden Spoon Most people already have a few stirring tools in their drawers, but not all spoons are created equal. This wooden Le Creuset model has a flat end, which makes it perfect for scraping up fond or stirring vegetables.    Brooklyn Biltong Dried Beef​ We admit, beef jerky isn't exactly the sort of glamorous gift you want to wrap up with a snazzy bow, but it makes a perfectly tasty stocking stuffer. South African–style biltong is made by putting the beef through a flavorful vinegar bath before it’s dried, giving it a mellow tanginess.   A Mountain of Chocolate No stocking is complete without at least a few pieces of chocolate, but more often than not, the candy is nothing more than a sweet afterthought. That’s where this assortment of single-origin chocolate bars comes in: The bars are beautifully wrapped in colorful paper, and they offer the recipient a fun way to explore the world of chocolate and learn how different beans and countries of origin can affect its taste. See the Rest Right Here     Serious Eats 88 35th St Ste 602 Brooklyn, NY 11232 Click Preferences to control which emails you receive from Serious Eats. Clicking Unsubscribe will remove you from all Serious Eats emails…which would be sad. Preferences  |  Unsubscribe

The Best Time of Year: When Everyone Wants to Bake

Gingerbread everything! No Images? Click here   Dear Serious Eaters, For me, the holidays truly are the most wonderful time of the year, a brief window when my normal nine-to-five becomes a seasonally sanctioned way of life. Everyone's in the kitchen making pumpkin pie and hot cocoa and gingerbread, and otherwise channeling their inner baker like never before. Dessert is often considered frivolous or unnecessary, but come December, it's easy to see how it occupies such a special place in our family traditions. I couldn't love it more. The Holiday Recipes That Speak to Me Classic, Quick Gingerbread Could there be a more festive Christmas cookie? It's loaded with holiday spices, decorated to the nines, and so thin you can get away eating half a dozen at a time. Gingerbread Sheet Cake I love how the tart ’n’ tangy cream cheese frosting plays off the ginger's heat in this rich and spicy cake. Plus, the sheet cake format is an easy way to feed a crowd, especially for more casual holiday gatherings. Gingerbread Ice Cream Sensing a theme? 'Tis the season for brown sugar and spice! After rolling (and re-rolling) and cutting out all those gingerbread men, don't toss out those scraggly dough scraps. Instead, bake them off to grind into crumbs, then churn up a batch of this supremely Christmasy ice cream.   My Must-Have Gift Pick A French Rolling Pin If you plan on tackling those gingerbread cookies, you'll need a rolling pin. Tapered French rolling pins are more maneuverable and more durable than other styles, and they're easier to clean as well.     Serious Eats 88 35th St Ste 602 Brooklyn, NY 11232 Click Preferences to control which emails you receive from Serious Eats. Clicking Unsubscribe will remove you from all Serious Eats emails…which would be sad. Preferences  |  Unsubscribe

Festive Gingerbread Ice Cream

Your Recipe of the Day No Images? Click here Gingerbread Ice Cream​ This recipe is a great way to polish off the scraps left over from making Stella's gingerbread, but feel free to use your own favorite recipe or store-bought cookies instead. A brown sugar base plays up the molasses notes of gingerbread, for an ice cream that packs all the hearty flavor you'd expect from its namesake cookie. It pairs brilliantly with the cranberry jam in our holiday trifle and makes for a fun twist on cherry pie à la mode. Read More → The Kitchen Essential An Ice Cream Machine With a properly frozen canister and a well-chilled base, this ice cream will turn fluffy and light as it churns. Some good news: It looks like you can still get our favorite canister ice cream maker just in time for Christmas. Grab it while you can for a sweet end to the year. Shop Now   Serious Eats 88 35th St Ste 602 Brooklyn, NY 11232 Click Preferences to control which emails you receive from Serious Eats. Clicking Unsubscribe will remove you from all Serious Eats emails…which would be sad. Preferences  |  Unsubscribe