gifts for the chefs, entertainers, and wellness queens
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Kosher salt
10 min read
The article emphasizes using kosher salt from a salt pig as essential for cooking. Most home cooks don't know why it's called 'kosher' (it's for koshering meat, not that the salt itself is kosher) or why chefs prefer its flaky texture and lower density over table salt.
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Low-level laser therapy
14 min read
The article features an LED red light therapy face mask as a top wellness gift, with claims about skin brightening and reducing fine lines. Readers would benefit from understanding the science behind photobiomodulation, its evidence base, and how near-infrared light interacts with skin cells.
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Magnesium
14 min read
The article recommends magnesium bath flakes for soothing aches and improving sleep. Understanding magnesium's role as an essential mineral, its transdermal absorption debate, and its relationship to muscle function and the nervous system provides valuable scientific context for this wellness recommendation.
Today kicks off our annual gift guide week here at What To Cook! If you’ve found your way to this newsletter, chances are you’re a person who likes efficiency, and we hope these guides will help make finding special gifts for the people you love as easy and efficient as possible. We’ve put many, many hours into tracking down and vetting cool, fun, fresh ideas — many from small businesses! several free ideas! — and we’re so excited to share them with you.
We’re kicking things off with gift ideas for the chefs, entertainers, and beauty- and wellness-loving people in your life.
Ideas for the people in your life who love to cook — or who are trying to love to cook. All of these are tested, vetted items that I use every day in my own kitchen.
A quality cutting board is a must for every kitchen, and Epicurean’s gorgeous Gourmet Series paper composite cutting board is an excellent gift for any home cook (or aspiring cook) in your life! I get asked nearly every day which cutting board I use in lieu of plastic, and this is the one! It’s dishwasher-safe, dual-sided, offers a juice groove, and won’t dull your knife blade. You can gift just one (the bigger the better, IMO!) or one of each size.
A salt pig is such a great gift. No one should be cooking with a salt shaker — pinching your kosher salt out of a pretty salt pig is the only way! I love my salt pig from Emile Henry, and I recently got this salt sphere from Material.
Nordic Ware makes my fave practical sheet pans, and Great Jones makes my fave fun, colorful ones (that are also practical and great quality!).
My recent ragù recipe made me realize how many people do not own immersion blenders! They’re a wonderful tool for making sauces and soups without having to transfer everything to your big blender. I own and can vouch for that Vitamix one, but this one is a much lower price point and has great reviews. It would be fun to gift someone a blender with a few favorite soup recipes printed out and laminated in a binder!
A big ass box of the best cooking salt (the salt that most chefs and recipe developers, including me, develop recipes with!). Pair this with a salt pig from
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