Here are some last minute Christmas gift ideas for foodies that are the right price! 
Oh Christmas! It’s a coming. Christmas always invokes lots of fun traditions with my family from picking out our live tree as a family off of “the property” (ask me sometime about the year that we got stuck and lost in a blizzard – SCARY!), to acting out the Nativity with all the sibs (blankets serving as robes), to the traditional Guymon Christmas breakfast that had to occur before any gifts were opened (yes, somehow all of the kids agreed to this – my dad made some pretty good pancakes, ok?!)
Now that I’m married with my own family, it’s fun to start some of our own traditions. But I like to keep things really simple. I honestly get a little frustrated with all of the consumerism that I see swarming the masses. And honestly, it seems to creep up and start sooner and sooner each year. I mean, this year, it seems like Black Friday sales started being advertised the day after Halloween. For real? Let’s still take some time and eat some turkey and pie before we get so engulfed in the spending spree please. [End rant.]
I’m happy to inform that I already have everything done for my kids (this is a fabulous accomplishment for me to not be totally last minute), minus a few little Dollar Store stocking stuffers, well, and a little “work,” I guess I should say, for a very cool project with some free lumber that I snagged. But I’m mostly focusing on a few big, fun, and durable items versus lots of “things”.
I’m not to say that I don’t get caught up in the consumerism. I try not to, but I still have my weaknesses. The problem for me? Well, my problem is that I just always want things for the kitchen. Yes, seriously. Maybe it seems weird for some people to get a spatula or a digital thermometer for a present – for me it’s AWESOME! When I have to pick between a pair of boots and a Blendtec, well, you know which one wins! Hahaha! Oh, the problems of a foodie.
Well, Tammy and I, since we are always looking for stuff for the kitchen in our mad woman cooking and baking adventures, but still do want to have thoughtful spending, and on a budget, we put together a quick last minute gifting list for foodies of 15 kitchen items that we really love that are under $15 (or a couple that are pretty stinkin’ close and worth the extra buck). Most of these items are found on Amazon and have prime delivery (we kind of love Amazon) which means that you could still get them in time for Christmas if you order soon! We own most of these exact items, or felt that the brand didn’t really matter so we looked for the best deal or delivery timeline for ya on those.
15 Essential Foodie Christmas Gifts for under $15
Did you know that oven temperatures can vary up to 15 or 25 degrees up or down from your actual setting? That can play into your baking a lot with certain things. Obviously if you have thousands to spend on a really expensive high-end oven, you may not deal with this as much, but it;s definitely wise to make sure you know the actual temperature inside your oven. I just have a simple clip thermometer that I use so I can know when the oven is heated up and make minor adjustments if needed (mine stays true in certain ranges and then as I get hotter temps, it tends to go up a little hotter than I set.)
Norpro 681 Anti-Freeze Ice Cream Scoop $5.50
My friend had an ice cream scoop like this when I was a kid and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Just a couple quick shakes, and even the coldest ice cream can scoop out easily. Ice cream in December? For me……well, the answer is simply YES. You can also get a spade style.
Set of 3 Silicone Basting Brushes $6.25
I absolutely love silicone basting brushes. I used to have old traditional nylon hair ones – but they just seemed to fall apart and they were sooooo hard to clean. These are a breeze. I love using them, especially with candy making to wipe down the sides of the pan or with anything egg wash.
Norpro 165 Grip-EZ Meat Mallet $9.16
When I bought a meat mallet and used it for the first time, it was one of those DUH purchases. Just thinking about how many times I grabbed a glass or whatever I could find to pound out my meat…..This is worth the $9. You can find much more expensive ones, but this one does the job just fine.
Misto Brushed Aluminum Olive Oil Sprayer $9.29
If you are like me, sometimes those aerosol cans with all these fake propellants and stuff get a little old. I love this sprayer we discovered that can use natural oils. You pump it to add propellant. We actually bought this for popcorn to do a light coating of oil for some flavorings to stick. For that alone, it was worth the purchase!
Weber 6492 Original Instant-Read Digital Thermometer $9.99
I struggle with cooking meat (been served uncooked one too many times), so a quick digital probe thermometer can be really handy! And even though I have a candy thermometer, I find myself using it for that as well.
Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Paste 4 oz $10.64
This is a great way to get fantastic vanilla bean flavor without having beans on hand. This paste preserves the beautiful little speckles beautifully and has wonderful flavor. It is the foodie go-to vanilla, I tell ya!
Kuhn Rikon 3-Set Original Swiss Peeler $11.20
I love these peelers because of the way the blade layout is – so much easier for me to peel than a side handled type. And Kuhn Rikon are a good low-end but still high quality product for peelers, knives, etc.
Silpat AE420295-07 Premium Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat, Half Sheet Size, 11-5/8-Inch x 16-1/2-Inch $13.89
Non-stick baking mats rock my world. Silpat is still the original ruler, although you can find some knock off brands that may work well, too.
Zyliss Classic Rotary Cheese Grater $14.71
This is like the grater that you’ll see in a lot of restaurants when the server asks “do you want some freshly grated Romano on top of that? Well yes, yes I do.
J.A. HENCKELS INTERNATIONAL Take Apart Kitchen Shears $14.93
I don’t know how I could live in the kitchen without a pair of shears. I use them for everything. Especially love em for cutting meat. These Henckels are great – they take apart and are easy to clean. You can put the blades to a steel as well to keep them nice and sharp.
Calphalon Nylon Pancake Turner $14.93
Seriously, an oversized spatula for flipping? Yes! Tammy totally sold me on this one because it’s just so much easier than trying to get that perfectly fast flip (that usually becomes a FLOP for me).
KRUPS F203 Electric Spice and Coffee Grinder with Stainless Steel Blades, Black $15.99
This one is exciting because I just got one! (I guess I should technically wait until Christmas….but I’m impatient.) I love fresh ground spices and so I figured that this was kind of a must have for me. This is definitely a little bit of a novelty, but I will make it a necessity I’m sure with the new blends that I’m gonna start mixing up.
Microplane 38000 Professional Coarse Grater $16.40
I’m in love with Microplane anything really. They are great for shredding a variety of things, from hard cheeses, to nutmeg, to zests, to ginger…… love ’em! I listed the coarse size here, but they have a variety of sizes, so you can look into them and see what suits you best.
Continue to have fantastic holidays and make lots of delicious memories!
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