Gift Guide 2011: In the Kitchen

My favorite gifts for the resident home cook or food lover in your life. This is a carefully researched collection of really good things that will be well-used and appreciated for years to come, from one of the best cookbooks of the year to a beautiful gravy boat with some seriously graceful lines, to a delicious custom spice blend that will make everything from fish to steaks taste better. Also included: a beautifully-crafted Schmidt Brothers knife set, made affordable via a collaboration with West Elm, an Astier de Villatte mug with playful red and blue striping (atypical for the venerable French brand), a good bottle of red with some awesome bottle art, and some of the most delicious goat's milk caramel around. xo

1. The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria, by Ferran Adria, $17.32, at barnesandnoble.com
2. Fat Toad Farm Original caramel, $8.95, at fattoadfarm.com 
3. Howell at the Moon 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, $75 for 750 mL bottle, at gilttaste.com 
4. Schmidt Brothers basic knife set, $49.95, at westelm.com 
5. Match pewter gravy boat, $172, at barneys.com 
6. Alessi Todo cheese grater, $92.99, at bedbathandbeyond.com
7. Gold wishbone, $48, at jaysonhome.com
8. La Boite a Epice Ana spice blend, $19, at theingredientfinder.com 
9. C. Wonder Ikat nesting bowls set, $58, at cwonder.com 
10. Astier de Villatte tricolor cup, price upon request, see astierdevillatte.com for more info
11. Williams-Sonoma striped towels, set of 4, $19.95, at williams-sonoma.com