Mother's Day Gift Ideas
My mom likes to cook, and loves to entertain even more, so when I think of what to get her for her birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day/anytime gift - it's 9/10 times going to be something for cooking. I previously worked at Sur La Table and was exposed to all of the kitchen gadgets and gizmos available. Luckily I was also exposed to very nice cookware with a nice employee discount so I have a pretty well-stocked kitchen. We would always get people coming in asking for gift ideas for whatever reason, and one of my favorite things was building gifts. I love giving gifts because I try to really find something the person will like and use. It's all about the process for me and finding practical and long-lasting gifts. There's still plenty of time to get your gift and hopefully, my top ten gifts for mom will inspire you to give her something great. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
Kitchen Towel & Spatula
While simple, this can be a very heartfelt gift. I know that my mom and I use and abuse both kitchen towels and spatulas because they’re used all the time. A nice hand towel and spatula, they can be as plain and possible, are always welcome in my kitchen. It’s not something I think to replace often and I probably don’t replace them as often as I should. I didn’t realize until a few years ago that there was a difference between a hand towel and a drying towel - I mean, they both dry things - but it really does make a difference and had I not gotten one as a gift, I would have never known.
Salt Block
My mom loves two things - to grill, and to salt the shit out of her food (she’s a self-proclaimed salt addict). So when the salt block trend came around, I sent her the block as fast as I could. There’s definitely a learning curve to it, but once that’s established it’s a really fun way to add flavor, and presentation, to food. You can cook everything from steak to seafood, to veggies, to even making salted caramel on it. Definitely an experience for cooking and lasts a long time!
Staybowlizer
At Sur La Table, they have plenty of trinkets that allegedly help people cook, and yes, I’m very skeptical about most of them. The Staybowlizer, however, I can’t get enough of. It’s a silicone ring that stabilizes bowls on the counter so you don’t need to hold the bowl in place while you try to whisk and pour at the same time. It’s also a good option for makeshift double boiler support. I got my mom one of these for Christmas a few years ago and I think it’s one of her favorite gifts.
Cooking Class
For Christmas this past year, my parents came down to Texas to visit me and to escape the Wisconsin winter. I wanted to do something different for my mom, and with my mom, so a cooking class was in order. I signed us up at Sur La Table for a date night class, got a bottle of wine, and walked from my apartment to SLT. The class itself was about two hours with a break to peruse the store, and you actually get to cook. It’s like you’re on the food network because everything is prepped for you and you just toss it in the pan. We had a lot of fun, ate good food, and walked away with some souvenirs. A great gift for any time of year.
Nonstick Skillet
This doesn’t have to be sold to you. Get a nice nonstick skillet. I have ScanPan exclusively as my nonstick pan of choice and I love it. Scratch-resistant even with metal utensils, all models are oven safe, and they have a lifetime warranty on their ceramic titanium nonstick coating. I have yet to find a better skillet and I’m sure your mom would thank you as you’re using this pan to make her breakfast.
Cast Iron Skillet
At Sur La Table, people would ask me all the time what my favorite pan was to cook in. 9/10 times my answer was cast iron. It’s a labor of love for sure, temperamental at times, but the best pan in my kitchen is a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. Really this is also a gift for yourself because it will last forever and no matter what happens the pan can be brought back to life. Just think of it as a long-term investment in your cookware future as your mom seasons it for years for you. You can go for a classic Lodge, or a fancy Le Creuset or Staub if you'd like to splurge. But cast iron is cast iron no matter what name you put on it.
Phillips Pasta Maker
This pasta maker is definitely a fluff item for the kitchen. Absolutely not necessary. Extra. Bougie. Entitled. Extravagant. All of the above. But wow, does it make good pasta. I can take flour and water in here and in 10 minutes, have fresh pasta. But that’s just the basics. Have you ever had fresh pasta with lemon zest and basil in it, only for that pasta to be turned into lobster mac and cheese? I don’t think so, probably because only a handful of people have ever come over for that, but it’s life-changing. Change your mom’s life for the better. Splurge on this pasta maker and then make her lobster mac and cheese. Win best child of the century. (Still waiting on that title, mom!).
Chef's Knife & A Penny
It’s important to have a well-made chef’s knife. It’s the epicenter of the kitchen. The workhorse to go from ingredients to a meal. The quintessential item needed for almost all cooking. Get a good knife. Wusthof is a good brand and the ikon is my favorite line they have. The handle is slim and contoured to fit all hand sizes. The blade is fully forged and has a full tang, so the metal from the blade goes all the way through the handle. This would be a great knife on its own for someone who doesn’t cook a lot, or a nice addition to a knife collection. There is a superstition about giving knives away as gifts, that it will cut the relationship, so oftentimes you’ll see knives be gifted with a penny. To each their own, but as long as everyone has a good chef’s knife I’m good.
Le Creuset Dutch Oven
The end all be all of cookware - the Le Creuset Dutch Oven
I am in the process of displaying my DOs in my apartment. Yes, I display them. Yes, I have multiple. Yes, I have an addiction to enameled dutch ovens but it could be worse okay?! I won my first one off of a food blog probably 5 years ago and it’s still my favorite one (sentimental value > everything else). It’s a 5.5 qt so it does everything I need it to do and more. It will not disappoint. Treat your mom this year, after all, she did put up with a lot of your bs. It sears, it fries, it braises, it simmers, it keeps your cash safe when you can't make it to a bank, it looks great on a shelf and comes in lots of colors your mom will enjoy.
A Cookbook
Do you have a favorite cookbook? I have lots of them and could never pick just one. My top three cookbooks to give as gifts right now are The Food Lab - for the person who likes the science behind food, Half Baked Harvest - for the person who's trying to up their own cooking, and Cooking for Jeffrey - for the person who's focused on making others happy with good food. When I give a cookbook out, I try to match them to the right person, always put a personal note in there, and sometimes will include the ingredients for a recipe I’ve bookmarked for them. It can be a meaningful gift, and one you could also get yourself so even if you’re long-distance, you can make the same recipes on the same night and have a long-distance dinner.