Make Mom's Year with These 10 Great (and Affordable!) Kitchen Gifts
Getty / Candice Estep / EyeEm
Mother's Day is right around the corner, so it is time to start thinking about what the best thing might be to gift her! If your mom is passionate about eating and cooking, there is no better time to get her something fantastic for the kitchen, and luckily, there are still plenty of great options that are affordable. Here are our top 10 choices with something for every mom!
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Courtesy Amazon
For the mom who loves appliances: Chefman Food Processor
Small appliances can often run towards the pricy, but Chefman hits the sweet spot of affordable and good quality—perfect for Mother's Day! I'm a new fan of this 4-cup food processor with its cool "up and down" blade motion that really does a terrific job of chopping, mincing, and pureeing. Even better? It also works as a blender for smoothies for one or two. Small footprint for storage and a super sweet price.
Buy it: Chefman Electric 4-Cup Food Processor + Blender ($34.95), amazon.com
Courtesy Made In Cookware
For the mom who loves cookware: Made In Porcelain Baking Dish
Finding great quality cookware can often come with a high price tag—especially porcelain cookware. Luckily, Made In has just launched a line of French porcelain products that are really terrific. They come in standard 9 x 13 deep casserole dish, an 8 x 8 square, and an oval gratin dish. Whichever you choose, your mom will love cooking and baking with these elegant dishes. If you're splurging, go for the 3-piece set; but this 8-inch square is the most versatile piece in the bunch.
Buy it: Made In 8 X 8 Porcelain Baking Dish ($69), madeincookware.com
Courtesy The Spice House
For the mom who loves big flavors: Specialty Spices
If your Mom loves to cook with big bold flavors, getting new and unique spices, salts, and blends will thrill her. Let her do the buying with a gift card to these top purveyors. The choices are stunning, from the blends like Chili Lime at Spicewalla, to my favorite French Picnic Salt at Beautiful Briny Sea, to unique items like Turkish Oregano Buds or Buffalo Ginger at Burlap and Barrel, to new releases like dill pollen at The Spice House. Whether you choose a variety of cards or just pick one site and go all-in, Mom will love exploring and experimenting.
Buy it: Gift Cards to Premium Spice and Salt Companies ($10 and up), Spicewallabrand.com, beautiful-briny-sea.com, burlapandbarrel.com and TheSpiceHouse.com
Courtesy Simply Chocolate
For the chocoholic mom: Neuhaus Carre Pencil Box
Chocolates are always a great gift, but it can be a bit overwhelming to find the right ones. And let's be honest, sometimes what is ostensibly a "gift" for Mom is really just a snack for the whole family. This year, give your mom a box of chocolate squares, small enough to hide in her desk drawer or nightstand, for those little moments of pleasure that are truly all hers. I love this Neuhaus Carre Pencil Box, which comes with five different flavors (two different intensities of plain dark as well as orange, sesame, and raspberry) and has a generous 40 squares of chocolate.
Buy it: Neuhaus Carre Pencil Box - Dark Chocolate ($39.99), 1800Flowers.com
Courtesy Amazon
For the mom who loves utensils: GIR Silicone Ladle
It might seem odd to be recommending a ladle as a Mother's Day gift, but that is just because you have never used a GIR Silicone Ladle. The bowls of these ladles do what no other ladle in history can do: They flex to get into every crevice of a pot. For anyone who has ever dealt with having to pick up a heavy, hot pot to try and get the dregs of chili or soup out, this is life-changing ladle technology. They come in two sizes—a generous ¾ cup and a mini 1/3 cup version, and both come in a range of fun bright colors. Get Mom the large one for sure if you don't want to buy both.
Buy it: GIR Silicone Ladle 3/4 cup ($16.95), amazon.com
Courtesy Simplicity Teas
For the mom who loves tea: Simplicity Teas Subscription
If your Mom lives for her cuppa, sign her up for a fun tea subscription from Simplicity Teas. These customized and curated monthly tea shipments will give your mom something to look forward to every month, and you can sign up for as little as $9 per month. She can choose caffeinated, decaf, or a mixture, and will get the gift of premium loose-leaf teas for a month to month, three-month, or six-month subscription.
Buy it: Simplicity Teas Subscription ($9-20), simplicityteas.com
Courtesy Amazon
For the mom who loves the spa: DW Home Farmhouse Candle
Whether it is covering kitchen cooking odors or providing some much-needed aromatherapy, a great candle is always a lovely choice, especially if it comes in a pretty, reusable glass container. DW Home Candles has a terrific range of food-inspired scents like Mandarin Sage, White Sage Cilantro, and Sea Salt and Thyme, a light and fresh herbal scent ideal for the kitchen. Even better? The pale green glass container comes with a wooden lid with leather handle, so even after the candle is gone, the container can live on as a pretty place to store toiletries or small trinkets.
Buy it: DW Home Farmhouse Series Sea Salt + Thyme Candle ($28.96), amazon.com
Courtesy Yeti
For the mom who is always on the go: YETI 30-Ounce Tumbler
If your Mom is out and about, she deserves a travel cup that can get her through her whole day (or hydrating if she's busy in the kitchen). I love YETI tumbler cups and rambler bottles for their generous capacity and ability to keep beverages either hot or cold all day long. But I'm especially in love with the new colors—this Prickly Pear Pink is everything. Even better? They are customizable with text, icons, or logos, so you can make it special and one of a kind just for her. I vote for the 30-ounce tumbler with magnetic slider lid and big capacity that still fits easily in her car's cupholder.
Buy it: YETI 30 Ounce Tumbler with Mag Slide Lid ($34.95), yeti.com
Courtesy Eat Your Books
For the mom who loves cookbooks: Eat Your Books Subscription
If your mom is a cookbook collector, but you never know which book to buy her, think outside the box this year and gift her a premium subscription to EatYourBooks.com. This site allows members to enter all their cookbooks easily and quickly into the database, and then search for recipes by title or ingredient, making for the most amazing way to put your hands on the recipe you want almost immediately. Even better, Mom can also add her favorite foodie websites and blogs to her bookshelf, so that she also has those sources at her fingertips, and with the premium subscription, her searches are unlimited and there are no ads.
Buy it: Eat Your Books Premium Subscription ($30/year), eatyourbooks.com
Courtesy Amazon
For the mom who loves to read: A Laurie Colwin book
The only thing foodies like as much as cooking food is reading about it. Whether it is the biography of a famous chef, a nonfiction book about a culinary tradition or special ingredient, personal essays or fiction with strong food themes, great food books are often as useful as traditional cookbooks in informing your culinary practice. And Laurie Colwin's essays about cooking and eating, and her novels with strong food themes, remain among the very best (Colwin died in 1992). Publisher Harper Perennial has decided to celebrate her writing by re-releasing her books all year long, one per month. In time for Mother's Day you can buy her final novel, A Big Storm Knocked It Over, or pre-order some of her other books like Home Cooking and More Home Cooking.
Buy it: Laurie Colwin's A Big Storm Knocked It Over ($16.99), amazon.com