gift guide

Holiday Foodie Gift Guide 2023

Welcome to our 4th Annual Women Who Brunch Holiday Foodie Gift Guide 2023! If you’re a foodie like me or have an aspiring home chef in your life this guide is for you.

This year we’re including categories like Home Chef Essentials, Amazon Food Finds, the Best Cookbooks of 2023, and in honor of supporting local we’ve included twelve of our favorite local Hudson Valley Businesses. We put out a call and with over 40+ submissions it was truly hard to narrow it down. These are businesses that we chose had a good mix of women-owned, friends we’ve worked with this year and all around good people and products. I hope you’ll support and shop local on these picks!

Some important reminders… you can view previous gift guides for inspiration below.

Previous Gift Guides: 2022, 2021, 2020.

And for easy access, we’ve put most of these gifts in our 🛍️ Amazon Storefront under “Gift Guide” here.

Food and gathering around our loved ones each holiday season is the heart and inspiration behind these gift guides. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and full holiday season.

xoxo,

Nicole


Amazon Kitchen Finds

  • Over the Door Pantry Organizer: Heavy-Duty Metal Over the Door Organizer, 6-Tier Pantry Door Organizer for Easy Install. Maximize small pantry spaces with this pantry organizer.

  • Silicone Faucet Mat for Kitchen Sink: Perfect sink splash guard for your Kitchen or Bathroom Faucet. Catches Water and is a sink draining pad behind your faucet.

  • Purriko Refrigerator Deodorizer: Lasts for 10 Years in your Refrigerator. Eliminates order.

  • Kitchen Mat: Cushioned anti-fatigue kitchen mat. Waterproof non-slip. Heavy Duty Ergonomic comfort foam for Kitchen, Floor Home, Office, Sink, Laundry. I love having these in the kitchen for cooking and dishes.

  • Jar Opener: 5 in 1 Multi Function Can Opener Bottle Opener Kit with Silicone Handle

  • Clip On Food Strainer: Silicone for All Pots, Pans, Pasta Strainer

🛍️ Shop the Amazon Finds in our Amazon Store under Gift Guide


Essentials For the Home Chef

🎁 Caraway Home - Cookware Set:

Non-toxic, ceramic-coated non-stick home goods, pans, cookware, and bakeware.

I have the Cookware Set in Navy and am in love. I love that it’s non-stick and so easy to clean. It comes with a frying pan, sauce pan, saute pan, dutch oven, and storage.

🎁 Great Jones - Dutch Oven:

Great Jones is a women-run, New York Based small business that wants to equip and empower you to cook at home and make your kitchen a happy place. They have everything from cookware and bakeware with bold vibrant patterns and colors. An essential item for any home chef IMO is a dutch oven but their pans and stoneware also make great gift options.

🎁 Burlap & Barrel: Spice Sets, Gifts, Passports, and Spice Club Membership:

Burlap & Barrel sources single origin spices for professional kitchens and home pantries. By partnering directly with farmers, they are a Public Benefit Corporation building new international spice supply chains that are equitable, transparent and traceable.

They have some really unique spices and collaborations too. Encourage you to check out some of their gift sets and best sellers here.

🎁 East Fork Pottery:

East Fork makes and sells contemporary ceramic dinnerware made by hand with regional materials and a lot of integrity in Asheville, North Carolina. Every host needs good tableware.

🎁 Made In - Chef Knife Set:

One tool every good chef needs is a chef’s knife. Made In Cookware, came to popularity this year from it’s rich 100-year old, family-owned restaurant supply business. Co-founders Jake & Chip started Made In to bring restaurant-quality, performance kitchenware to home cooks around the world.

They collaborated directly with leaders like Chefs Grant Achatz, Mashama Bailey, and Matt Horn and even partnered with a few chefs, like Nancy Silverton and Tom Colicchio.

🎁 Hedley & Bennet - Aprons:

Hedley & Bennett was born in a restaurant kitchen out of the need for a better working & better-looking apron. Founded by Ellen Bennett. Their aprons are made from high-quality materials, offering the perfect balance of protection, functionality, and comfort.


Cookbooks of 2023

📚 More is More: Get Loose in the Kitchen: A Cookbook - Molly Baz

It’s time to crank up the heat and lose the measuring spoons because the secret to cooking is hiding in one simple motto: MORE IS MORE. In her bestselling debut cookbook, Cook This Book, Molly Baz taught the cooking essentials and put her love for mortadella and dill on blast. In More Is More, she’s teaching cooks how to level up their cooking, loosen up in front of that ripping hot pan, and seek deliciousness at all costs.

📚 Let’s Eat: 101 Recipes to Fill Your Heart & Home - Dan Pelosi

In his debut cookbook, larger-than-life personality Dan Pelosi offers up a warm hug of home cooking, sharing both comfort food and connection with 101 of his nearest and dearest Italian American recipes. Some have been passed down through his family, and others have been cooked up from scratch.

📚Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Table to Yours - Adeena Sussman

As a child, Adeena Sussman looked forward to the magic of Shabbat—the traditional Jewish day of rest—all week. A treasured time when family and friends come together to relax, unwind, and revel in one another’s company during open-ended, tantalizing meals, Shabbat has been practiced all over the world and throughout history. In Sussman’s home, then and now, the Shabbat table is a centering force, a nourishing place where one and all are welcome. It’s an opportunity every week to feed the soul.

📚 100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen - Sarah Kieffer

From celebrated blogger Sarah Kieffer whose pan-banging cookie technique "broke the internet," this is a go-to baking book featuring 100 recipes for spectacular cookies, brownies, bars, and more!

📚 The Official Disney Parks Cookbook: 101 Magical Recipes from the Delicious Disney Vault - Pam Brandon

Some of the best vacation moments happen during a great meal, and this collection of official Disney parks recipes is the perfect ingredient to sharing similar food, love, and laughter with friends and family at home!

📚 That Sounds So Good: 100 Real-Life Recipes for Every Day of the Week - Carla Lalli Music

Great food is an achievable part of every day, no matter how busy you are; the key is to have go-to recipes for every situation and for whatever you have on hand. The recipes in That Sounds So Good are split between weekday and weekend cooking. When time is short, turn to quick stovetop suppers, one-pot meals, and dinner salads. And for the weekend, lean into lazy lunches, simmered stews, and hands-off roasts.

🛍️ Shop the Cookbooks in our Amazon Store under Gift Guide


Shop Local in the Hudson Valley

🍎 Elizabeth Grubaugh - Cards, Prints, Scarves, Tableware. Sterling Forest New York

Elizabeth Grubaugh print designer, Textile designer, graphic designer, creative director, prints for kids, wall art.

🍎 The Spice Beast - Spices, Hot Sauces, Salts, Olive Oil & Balsamic, Gift Sets - Campbell Hall NY

We are an all natural spice and herb company. Originally started out with 16 spice blends and have recently branched out to have three hand crafted blends of hot sauce and 6 hand crafted blends of smoked salt. All made in Campbell Hall NY.

🍎 The Ardent Homesteader / Cara-sel - Salted Caramel - Arden, NY

To make the Cara-sel Salted Caramel they melt the sugar well past the color of copper. It’s toward the edge of being too dark (almost burnt, but not!) until the moment the luxuriously rich dairy comes into play. 

Making this dangerously dark caramel is worth it because you can taste it in the sauce. It adds a bittersweet complexity you can’t get from lab-made “flavorings.” Speaking of which, there aren’t any. No preservatives either. Just some sea salt and vanilla to elevate the flavors.

🍎 Raspberry Fields Farm - Granola, Cookies, and Gift Sets - Marlboro, NY

Small batch, from scratch food purveyors. We mix simple ingredients to create an opulent taste experience.

🍎 Mundane - Cold Spring, NY - Candle Shop & Custom Scent Experience.

Foodies! Create your own custom foodie candle! we have new scents like caramel, blackberry and sugar cookie. perfect for holiday gifts whether your purchase a single scent or an experience for someone to create their own.

🍎 Ash Hopper - Soaps, Cleanser, Oil - Warwick, NY

Skin Friendly Ingredients and Consciously Sourced Raw Materials. Free of Chemical Fragrances, Sulfates, Phthalates, Parabens.


🍎 Hudson Valley Cotton Candy: Cotton Candy

Custom cotton candy confections for all to enjoy! From cotton candy cakes, to pops, treat bags and live spinning events, we put a great deal of love into our sweet treats. Our products are gluten free, dairy free and vegan.

🍎 Halfsie Cookies: Cookies! - Marlboro. NY

Cookies are made from scratch in the Hudson Valley, NY.

🍎 Jesha's - Sourdough Baking Mixes

First-ever Sourdough Baking Mixes, made with simple organic ingredients, not a lot of sugar, and naturally fermented whole grains.

🍎 The Vegan Stuff - Vegan Ice Cream & Baked Goods - Beacon, NY

Where plant-based dreams come true! Born in Beacon, NY, we started with handmade vegan ice cream, delivered locally with love. Now, our family has grown to include vegan & gluten-free baked goodies! Order online for nationwide bliss, and rock our cool merch too!

🍎 Tiny Greens Farm: Microgreens & Micro-Farm

On a mission to grow functional food with gratitude and joy. Tiny Greens is a woman-owned, veteran family micro-farm producing sustainable and soil-grown microgreens in East Fishkill, New York. We provide a high-quality, hyper-local product that is healthy and fresh 365 days a year. With organic practices in mind, we deliver our produce to restaurants, grocery stores, and establishments within 24 hours of harvest.

🍎 Oxymoron Coffee: Coffee

Two friends who started learning how to roast coffee during the pandemic. Currently sold online, Adam’s Fairacre Farms and now the most recent collaboration is the quintessential Eggbert from Devitt's Nursery and Farm. Roast, package and deliver locally.

🍎 Inglenook Marketplace - Montgomery, NY - Candles, Oils, & Incense. Candle Classes.

Inglenook Marketplace exudes cozy, comfort, and aims to be a beautiful place both online and in-store - allowing our customers to find something unique and special to bring home, share, or gift to others.

*Note - Their last day at their brick & morter store will be December 16, 2023, but can still order candles and goods online.


Holiday Foodie Gift Guide 2022

Happy Holidays Fellow Foodies!

How’s your 2022 been so far? For me, this year has been filled with some of the best food events from covering new products and brands at Speciality Food Association - Summer Fancy Food in NYC, ExpoEast in Philly, and New York City Wine and Food Fest (NYCWFF); to interviewing 21 epic women in food and business on our Brunch & Learn Podcast.

This foodie holiday gift guide covers a little bit of everything for the food lover in yourself or family. Every year we include women owned food businesses, and this year we’re including must have cookbooks, gift sets, and kitchen gadgets.

Most products can easily be found in our Amazon Storefront (both current and past gift guides), or have linked them below!

Happy Holidays Foodies!

*chef’s kiss* - Nicole


Support & Shop - Women-Owned

  • Fly by Jing - Fly By Jing's is 100% all-natural and non-GMO fire Sichuan sauces and spices. Founded in 2018, Jing was inspired by her hometown flavors of Chengdu. Servings up Sichuan Chili Crisp, Zhong Sauce, and Pork Soup Dumplings as some pantry staple you must have.

  • Challah Dolly - NYC's favorite challah bread, created in Los Angeles. Dolly is reimagining traditional Jewish bread as a cool, modern, and necessary staple.

  • Happy Grub - Created for Parents by Parents. Squeezable Instant Pancake Mix kids love. Organic & Natural ingredients. Banana, Apple, Whole Wheat, & Buttermilk. Ashley Davies, the Founder of Happy Grub was a guest on our Brunch & Learn Podcast this year; we talked favorite flavors, stories behind the characters, and family meals. Take a listen to her episode here.

  • Jamie’s Farm New York - Granola with creative flavors and farm fresh ingredients Flavors include vanilla bean with sour cherries, chai streusel, and a collab with Partners Coffee on Coffee Soil Crunch.

  • Revival Foods - Craft Almond Butters - Founded by Rachel Klein, she buys straight from the farmer, using the freshest almonds that are dry roasted to perfection, and then ground into glorious butter for your tasting pleasure. My personal favorite flavor Raw Cacao Coconut.

  • Omsom - Japanese, Korean & Chinese classic sauces, aromatics, & seasoning for an authentic taste. Vanessa + Kim Pham, the sisters are the co-founders behind Omsom. Daughters of Vietnamese refugees, who grew up at their family’s kitchen counter, watching their Mẹ cook Viet dinners from scratch every night.

  • The Sister Yard - Unique recipe their Coconut Cold Brew combines sustainably-sourced coffee beans with 100% pure coconut water and fair-trade toasted coconut. Founded by two sisters born in Venezuela who called Miami home for 12 years before making the big move to New York City.

  • Queen Majesty Hot Sauce - Founded by New York local Erica Diehl, started in 2013 these hot sauces are vegan, organic and made without sugar or preservatives. Her hot sauces have been on the hot wing talk show “Hot Ones”. And flavors include: Scotch Bonnet & Ginger Hot Sauce, Jalapeño Tequila & Lime Hot Sauce, and Red Habanero & Black Coffee Hot Sauce.

  • Maie - Perfectly portioned wines, single serving, from Jaclyn Johnson & Neha Kumar delivered straight to your door. Sourcing the highest quality grapes from California.


2022 Cookbooks

  • The Cocktail Snob’s - Free Spirit Cocktails - Collection of 40 zero-alcohol recipes, easy-to-make drinks without the hangover. Author is Camille Wilson, a wonderful internet friend and guest on our veteran guest on our Brunch & Learn Podcast. Check out here new & first book and take a listen to her podcast episode here.

  • Home is Where the Eggs Are - Molly Yeh - Home Is Where the Eggs Are is a beautiful, intimate book full of food that’s best enjoyed in the comfort of sweatpants and third-day hair, by a beloved Food Network host and new mom living on a sugar beet farm in East Grand Forks, MN.

  • Brunch with Babs - Barbara Castello - If there was any food celebrity I’d like to meet it would be fellow brunch lover Babs. Her instagram is my favorite, her party and life hacks are next level. This one is on our wish list. The cookbook covers all of the holiday recipes and motherly advice you need to make every celebration special.

  • Cook This Book - Molly Baz - Molly Baz is an American chef and food writer. She was a senior food editor at Bon Appétit magazine and appeared frequently in videos for the magazine's YouTube channel before leaving in 2020. Her cookbook is a staple, with simple yet delicious recipes. Her Poached Chicken over Brothy Rice with Cilantro Scallion Sauce is my go-to, warm and an extremely comforting dish.

  • GILMORE GIRL FANS - There’s two great cookbooks out there: Eat Like a Gilmore by Kristi Carlson and Gilmore Girls: The Official Cookbook by Elena Craig - Coffee, muffins, Santa pancakes, and Luke’s Diner dishes…sign me up.

  • Eating Out Loud - Eden Grinshpan - Eden is a chef, food personality, current host of Top Chef Canada. This cookbook is a playful new take on Middle Eastern cuisine with more than 100 fresh, flavorful recipes. The Sesame Schnitzel Sandwich with Harissa Honey and Tartar Slaw is my FAVORITE dish to make out of this cookbook.


Food Gift Sets

  • Knack Shops - Let’s Do Brunch Gift Set or Sunday Morning Pancakes - Savor the sleepy Sunday morning ritual of pancakes and coffee with is brunch gift set. Includes cookbook Let's Brunch by Belinda Smith-Sullivan, Belle Epicurean Classic Blueberry Scone Mix, Chicago French Press coffee, and Girl Meets Dirt preserves.

  • Small Packages - In case you missed it, on the Brunch and Learn Podcast we interviewed Small Packages CEO Julie Schechter on the “Power of Gift Giving”. Not only do they have a great selection of curated gift and care packages for any occasion but they are launching this fall a Women in Food box.

    The box comes in two sizes: $55 and $110. As long as you order by December 14th, it will arrive in time for Christmas! The box features some of our favorite women-owned brands: Brightland, Fly by Jing, and Omsom.

  • Stonewall Kitchen - Brunch Gift Basket - A variety of tasty treats to enjoy in a beautifully crafted Nantucket-style basket. It’s the perfect brunch set - with scone mix, Bloody Mary mixers, pancake mix, syrups, and jams. Sign me us for their Mimosa Jam!

  • Mantry - Food subscription-based gifts for men, comes in 1-, 3-, or 6-month options.


Gadgets for the Kitchen

  • Plant Terrarium with Wooden Stand - Retro wooden plant propagation station glass for your kitchen, perfect for growing houseplants.

  • East Fork Pottery - Wide variety of home goods, pottery, plates, mugs, cookware, and more. Beautiful, Durable, Stoneware Made In Blue Ridge Mountains.

  • Hadley & Bennet Knife Set - Best known for their epic aprons (and woman-owned), H&B recently launched this year a new knife set, durable and beautifully designed for both the home and professional chef.

  • Papaya - Resuseable Paper Towels -The Reusable Paper Towel that replaces 17 rolls. Proving size doesn’t matter after all. All Natural. 100% Compostable.

  • Joseph Joseph Cutting Board - Folio™ makes the food-prep process more efficient and enjoyable. The chopping board set includes four color-coded boards with knife-friendly, textured surfaces and non-slip grip feet for safer slicing, chopping and dicing.


Explore Previous Year’s Guides

Holiday Foodie Gift Guide 2021

Happy Holidays fellow foodies!

This year we’re kicking off our favorite food lover picks from kitchen gadgets, items for food babies and kiddos, to women-owned food businesses and more.

Some of our top food gadgets and wish lists can easily be shopped on our WWB Amazon store front here.

Hope this inspires you to shop local this holiday season or even spoil yourself with some food gifts. And please let us know in the comments any business business, gadgets or products your eyeing this year that we might have missed so we can include them next year!

xoxo,

Nicole

Kitchen Gadgets:

  • Ember Mug - Heated Coffee Mug - Keeps your beverages at the perfect temperature from the first sip to the last drop.

  • Food Huggers: Designed to reduce waste at home. Food Huggers help keep your produce fresh for longer and save you money. I can’t tell you how well these have been working on my avocados, lemons, onion and any other fruits and vegetables I save half of in recipes.

  • Milk Coffee Frother: Love my morning coffee with some frothy milk on top, this Milk Boss Amazon frother does the trick.

  • Bitters Glass Bottles: Found these gorgeous glass bitter bottles on Amazon, perfect addition to your home bar cart.

  • Dash Mini Waffle Maker: Fun and kid-friendly. My favorite ones are the holiday themed ones like the snowman and snowflake.

  • Souper Cubes: Best way to freeze and store your soup, stock, broth or sauce in perfect portions. Has also been a lifesaver for my postpartum freezer meals this year.


Women Owned Food Gifts:

  • Rockerbox Spice Co. : Garlic powders, onion powders, spice blends, and pickled garlics.

  • Tache Artisan Chocolate: Tache Artisan Chocolate serves chocolates with the vision of pastry chef Aditi Malhotra, drawing inspiration from around the world.

  • Dam Good English Muffins: Women owned and local out of Peekskill, New York.

  • Brooklyn Delhi: Premium Indian condiments developed by chef and cookbook author Chitra Agrawal.

  • Overseasoned: Feminist merchandise and apparel for food lovers.

  • Yes Bar: Snack bar that’s women owned, Plant Based Protein, Vegan, Paleo, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Low Sugar.

  • Legally Addictive: Salty & sweet things in NYC. Woman owned and founded.


Women Who Brunch - Foodie Gift Guide Splurge Gifts

Splurge “Treat Your Self” Food Gifts:


Foodie Baby & Kids:



  • Piccoliny: Boutique baby and children's gifts perfect for your foodie baby and home of the original Hotdog Pretzel NY tee.

  • Lalo: Baby High Chair play chair built to grow with your child.

  • The Dough Project: All natural play dough is made from organic, food-grade ingredients & 100% plant-based colors.

  • Ezpz - Food Mats: Mat-based products that promotes safe and independent eating.

  • Kiwico Yummy Crate: This crate unlocks the science of cooking and help kids gain confidence in the kitchen. Family-friendly, kid-tested recipes, now your kiddos can experience the joy of preparing and sharing a meal. All while taking a bite out of big scientific ideas like biology and chemistry in the kitchen.

  • Loulou Lollipop: Baby brand for eco-friendly silicone suction plates and bowls, silicone bibs, silicone teethers and pacifier clips. I can’t handle this Sushi teether.