Best Gifts for the Home Cook

Whether hosting a group or creating a snack board for two, having a selection of boards and trays on hand for serving is a necessity. Our recommendations include a mango wood serving tray with enamel bowls, a stylish two-tiered wood and enamel serving stand that gets an “A” for presentation, a handsome cheese serving board with knives with a swivel porcelain top, and a charcuterie board tricked out with salami, cheese, and spreads.

For the organized, well-dressed home cook, this set of kitchen linens with an apron and oven mitt makes for a thoughtful gift that’s also practical. The high-quality cotton apron will protect their evening wear when preparing a delicious meal, while the linens and mitt come in handy for wiping up spills and grabbing hot pans from the stove or oven. Harry & David fans will appreciate the Royal Riviera® Pears logo, and the classic blue stripe patterns on the flour sack linens and mitt add a stylish touch to any kitchen.

Gadgets like herb scissors make the home cook’s life easier. Its five blades allow for quick, symmetrical cuts, perfect for finishing a dish with an attractive topping of fresh parsley or adding chives atop an omelet. This tool is a serious time saver and is more efficient than chopping herbs with a knife and transferring them to a dish. Take this gift to the next level by adding an herb garden.

Laser engraved with your favorite home baker’s name set between two decorative leaf designs, this personalized rolling pin will become a point of pride in your recipient’s kitchen. Made from solid beechwood, it’s perfect for rolling out any kind of dough, from pie to pizza, and at 21 inches from handle to handle, it’s compact enough to fit in a kitchen drawer or countertop utensil basket.

Any homemade pizza convert will tell you that a pie tastes better when it comes out of a home oven. The key to creating a delicious pizza is cooking it on a pre-heated stone; you assemble the pie (you already rolled out the dough using the aforementioned rolling pin) and slide it into the oven and onto the 12.5-inch stone, which heats the undercarriage evenly and absorbs moisture for a light and crispy crust. This pizza stone kit also comes with a metal cooling rack — another key to making a pie that will outdo the best delivery pizza — and a stainless steel cutter for slicing.

Preparing a gourmet home-cooked meal is hard work. Reward your loved one with a gift they can put to use while cooking up a feast: Wine! Harry & David features award-winning wine gift sets that come in a wide variety of options and price ranges, from reds to whites to bundles with both. It also offers combo packs that include snacks to pair with the grape, such as a wine and cheese basket, or, for the wine lover with a sweet tooth, a wine and chocolate box. Cheers to all that!

Here’s a perfect gift for the home baker: do-it-yourself kits to create red velvet cupcakes and molten lava cakes. What more is there to say?

Your favorite home cook will appreciate the ability to experiment with flavor. Vital Choice Spice Blends are custom blended in small batches with organic ingredients. The seasoning sampler is a gift that will keep on giving, containing 2.5-ounce pouches with gourmet spice blends to elevate seafood, meat, and vegetable dishes. These seasonings pair well with Vital Choice wild seafood and premium meats. Sprinkle the lemon pepper seasoning on wild Alaskan cod for a healthy, delicious main, or rustic blackening blend seasoning to wild salmon.

For the home cook who follows trends, wow them with the gift of Vital Choice canned and pouched seafood. This is about more than making a tuna sandwich (though Vital Choice fish can help up any tuna salad game); home cooks are experimenting with preserved, sustainable seafood in pasta dishes, soups, appetizers, and more. The Vital Choice line includes top-notch options for wild salmon (great for fish cakes!), sardines (serve them with saltines as a snack), and mackerel (add umami to your salad). Best of all, this gift has an extremely long shelf life, making it a great pantry item to use whenever the mood strikes.

Sometimes, showing your favorite home cook that you love them means giving them a break. While a prepared meal won’t make them a better cook, it will give them the chance to enjoy a gourmet meal at home without having to do all the prep and cooking. Harry & David offers so many options, from a chicken parm meal with angel hair pasta, garlic bread, and a New York-style cheesecake, to a Create-Your-Own Prime Rib Feast, pre-seared for easy finishing in the oven along with heat-and-serve sides.