Holiday gift guide for thinking food folks and people who love trying new things

Plus 50% off classes and 30% off paid newsletter subscriptions

I am not an easy person to shop for, I’ve been told.

I don’t really need more stuff (unless you’re getting me a really niche old cookbook on food preserving, which I do probably need), preferring experiences instead.

But how do you gift an experience to someone who is far away? And make sure that experience is actually meaningful to them?

I’ve thought about this a lot over the years: For me, it’s culminated in annual December or January trips with my dad, where we go explore a new-to-us town for a few days rather than exchanging piles of gifts.

But I’ve also started gifting experiences in the form of workshops and classes, particularly self-study virtual ones, which reduce my worry about if they’ll be able to make it to the class or if it fits into their schedule.

It also helps me keep from adding to the clutter in people’s houses, or potentially buying an object they will begrudgingly accept, only to shove into the back of a cabinet.

I’ve compiled this list of some of my favorite ideas: A few tangible objects, and some virtual ones.

If you have a specific person you’re shopping for and not sure what to get them, I’m happy to offer recommendations in the comments!

Unique gifts for food lovers

Pleasure reading

Books make fantastic gifts: I enjoy bundling cookbooks with narrative nonfiction or fiction books (or, sometimes, a small book of poetry) for folks who like hands-on cooking but who also want a more traditional reading experience:

When choosing books, I find it helpful to find one word that either describes the recipient or that evokes the experience I want them to have with the books I’m giving them: Ease, fun, escapism, thrifty, curious, etc.

Then I use that word as a guide for my selections: Do the books I fit match? This gives me some focus, and makes the gift cohesive and meaningful in other ways it might not be, and it gives me an easy way to explain or describe my choices to the giftee, if asked.

Buying books is an opportunity to support what you love: Small bookstores make a lot of their sales during the holiday season, and buying from them helps keep those community institutions around.

You can support independent bookstores remotely through Bookshop or IndieBound.

And of course, by visiting them in person: Your local independent bookstore may have signed copies of books by local authors (Charis Books carries signed copies of my books, and they ship), and can also order and ship titles for you.

If you want a signed copy, you can always check the author’s social media or website to see where to get one.

So what books am I most excited about this year? Frankly, too many to put on any one list, but I did compile several recommended book lists here on Bookshop, each around different themes in this newsletter, to give you some inspiration.

I’m always growing my book lists (please let me know what you’d like to see!): Two current favorites for holiday gifting are preserving and fermentation books, and books about forests.

If you buy one of my books for the holidays (like Our Fermented Lives, The Fermentation Oracle, Underserved Patrons, or Afternoon Tea: A History) I’d love to hear about it!
I’m happy to write a (virtual) gift note to share with your giftee, too.

P.S. I get a small affiliate commission if you buy a book from Bookshop with the links above, and you support small bookstores. So, a win-win!

Virtual classes and experiences

Virtual gifts have become my go-to:
We’re at a moment where we have countless experiences at our fingertips, and that means we can share them with anyone, anywhere (as long as they have a computer and internet connection).

I love virtual classes for gifts I send to folks internationally, for people who are curious and excited to try new things but who absolutely do not want more stuff, and I especially love them when I sign myself and someone I love up so we can do a class/workshop/event/whatever together.

There are a couple guiding principles I use when choosing virtual classes, similar to how I choose books:

1. What kinds of experiences does this person like, or what are they hoping to learn/do in the near future?

2. And, especially important: What do I want them to get out of this gift?

For example, do I want to support them as they start planning a new business?
Do I want them to have a chance to unplug and relax while learning a new hobby?
Or to really deeply explore a specific interest, or engage their creative mind in new ways?

There are tons of online courses and experiences out there to choose from.
I designed mine to go beyond just how-tos to also encourage self-reflection, creative expansion, and offer space to explore new ideas and ways of working.

Here’s who I’d pick each class for:

𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀:

For your artistic friends and herbalist friends who want to bring some more color to their plates.

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀 + 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀:

Practical guidance for preserving your papers longterm for the family cookbook lover, keeper of grandma's recipe boxes, and genealogists and historians.

𝗠𝘆𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗹 + 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲:

For your spiritual friend who loves walks in the forest and has a house full of jars.

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆:

For that person who wants to deeeep dive into their own connection to food and into food storytelling in a multi-month course.

Food Writing Playground:

For my writer friend looking to reconnect with the fun, playful feeling of writing, or explore the topic of food in new ways, in a supportive, low-key environment.

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲:

For your sustainability-loving friend who is trying to cut down on food waste, but is short on time and energy.

Just for newsletter subscribers:

If your loved one is a culinary professional (or just an avid cook), or a creative professional, who’s looking for clarity and inspiration on their path, I’m offering mini intuitive guidance sessions for $30 if you buy through December 10th.

These sessions are perfect for people wanting to deepen into their creative work, but who want clarity about how to do that, or who are facing obstacles in pursuing their work and want to find a path forward.

I offer a version for culinary professionals and other food-related folk (like fellow food writers) as well as a version for creatives more generally.
Just let me know which you want!

Readings are entirely remote: No appointment required, and will be done after December 10th, in time for holiday gifting.

If a mini-reading would be a great gift for your loved one, please email me by December 10th to arrange it!

hello@root-kitchens.com

To celebrate this being the very first holiday season the Culinary Curiosity School is open, take 50% off all classes with the code GIFT.

Plus, as I’ve talked about in other newsletter issues, I’m offering other holiday-specific goodies like a giveaway for a 2-for-1 entry to Finding your Food Story, and free digital gift cards for your recipient (just email me at hello@root-kitchens.com)

Who are you shopping for?

Leave their interests in the comments and I'll recommend the perfect culinary class for them (and if I don’t offer it, I’ll help you find who does!)

Consumable gifts

A great physical gift is one someone can use and enjoy: Great for folks who love to cook, enjoy trying new flavors, and for folks who you want to give a ‘thing’ to open, but who don’t have a lot of space to store things long-term (or who are preparing to move or downsize).

Some of my favorite edible gifts include spices (like Burlap & Barrel), high quality oils, vinegars (like Vinegar Works), and preserves (this is a great place to buy from local makers), or drinks (Botanist and Barrel makes unique, delicious ciders, for example, they also have a cider advent calendar).

Local farmers markets, herb shops, cooking and gourmet shops, and health food stores are great places to look.

Finally, there’s subscriptions: Which can be virtual or can come in the form of subscription boxes.

Newsletter subscriptions are a great way to help them deeper dive into an interest area, and subscriptions to various food-related clubs (like Burlap and Barrels’s spice club), provides a regular rotation of new foods to try.

If you want to gift (or give yourself) a paid subscription to my newsletter, they’re 30% off through the end of the year.

Paid subscribers get big discounts on all my online classes and priority booking in my calendar for private sessions.

Starting next year, paid subscribers will get more good stuff:

• We’re starting off the year with an Our Fermented Lives book club, with never-before-seen first drafts and an author Q&A session on Zoom.

• We’ll also have virtual potlucks 2x/year (or more, depending on demand), based on different themes and on different books. I’m thinking I’ll bring on special guests for these, too, to talk about our theme while we all snack: if you have ideas, let me know!

• Paid subscribers are also getting way, way more giveaways: In addition to class discounts, I’ll be launching paid subscriber-only giveaways for books, 2-for-1 entry to virtual classes, private fermentation lessons, and more.

I’m continuing to add more goodies to paid subscriptions, which means the price is going to go up (probably early next year), so it’s a good time to join now before it does.

Need gift recommendations? I’m here! Just leave your giftee’s interests in the comments and I’ll give you some ideas!

Baking loaves for a holiday potluck during my doctoral student days