Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge - 10 Gifts for People Who Like Cooking/Baking

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but if you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Visit the other bloggers participating to see what they discuss that week. Comments are appreciated.  

Here we are stumbling upon Wednesday again. This week's topic will allow me to discuss something else I enjoy: cooking and baking. While I don't spend as much time in the kitchen as I would like, I enjoy those moments when my kitchen is filled with all kinds of delicious scents. If you enjoy cooking and/or baking, or know someone who does, here are ten gifts that might be good for you.*

Can you believe the cost of food these days? These handy jar scrapers are just the thing to make sure you get every bit of food that you have paid for. I am always using a scraper for sauces, peanut butter, and scraping every last bit of the food I've made into a fresh container when we have leftovers. I wouldn't mind finding these in my stocking.

I have stackable cooling racks at home for when I bake cookies, but check out this collapsible cooling rack from Geesta. We have limited counter and storage space, so having a rack that I can take out of the pantry when I need it, and then collapse to take up less space, would be helpful. I wouldn't mind seeing this under the tree. 

Admittedly, I have never tried these As Seen on TV Spurtles, but I do own the Spoonula from Modern Prairie, which I love. My wooden utensils get a ton of use in the kitchen, whether I am stir-frying, mixing, or tossing. This is another great stocking stuffer. 

Since I cook with olive oil almost every day, I find having a dispenser close to the stove is a real time-saver. The husband also likes to have oil and vinegar on his salads. Lugging out the larger bottles of those dressings just to add a tablespoon or two doesn't make sense. I love the look of this 2 in 1 Glass Oil Sprayer and Dispenser. They would make a great little gift for someone who spends time in the kitchen. 

It seems like no matter how many oven mitts you own, you can't find one when you need it. These Custom Oven Mitts and Pot Holders that they personalize with your photo or text would likely be a great addition to any kitchen. They could also make a nice decoration hanging off a pot rack if you decided they were too nice to use.  

I never realized how satisfying it would be to "cut the cord," but once I ordered a cordless hand mixer, I realized what an amazing decision it was. I love KitchenAid appliances and accessories, so buying a KitchenAid cordless hand mixer was a no-brainer. No more shuffling around my utensil holders or unplugging countertop appliances to make room to whip potatoes or blend baking ingredients made me one happy cook/baker. 

One thing I bought myself a couple of years ago that I have been thankful for ever since is a hand blender, a/k/a immersion blender. Many people use them to make smoothies. I use mine to puree butternut squash and to emulsify ingredients in creamy soups and sauces. 

For much of my adult life, I avoided making food in a Crock-Pot/Slow Cooker. Before Internet recipe sharing became such a big thing, I struggled to find the right recipes. I rarely had the ingredients on hand when I found a recipe I wanted to try. Oh, and I never seemed to start the meal early enough to get it ready in time. Then came working in the evenings and meal planning. We couldn't afford to eat out every night, so I invested in some Crock-Pot cookbooks and found a way to make it work for me. These days, I use my slow cooker once a week, so it was nice when my family gifted me a new one a few Christmases ago. 

Another newer addition to my kitchen is an Enameled Cast-Iron Dutch Oven. I make soups and one-pot dishes in mine, and it saves me time cleaning up because I am only using a single pot. This was a huge factor in my buying one. I haven't tried breads or desserts in it yet, but that is coming.

A food scale is one tool no home kitchen should be without. I use my scale at least once a week to weigh uncooked pasta, meats, vegetables, and more. I find this such a helpful tool that I have a backup scale in case something happens to the one I love and use all the time. 

Hope you or your family show your favorite home chef or baker some love this season. 

*If you order from a link, I might earn some affiliate income.