Happy December friends! I’m back with my annual gifting guide that I honestly love throwing together every year. It’s hardly any work at all, since I’m basically just showing y’all some of the lovely gifts I’ve received from my fabulous friends over the year.

I think the gift guides from 2016 and 2017 still hold up pretty well if you need even more ideas!

In the meantime, here are my new favorites to give + get.

1. Where Chef’s Eat / Anthony Bourdain Cookbooks / Six Seasons Cookbook

I think any foodie receives a good deal of cookbooks, but these three are in my top-10 most coveted list if you’re looking for something that should make a food-lovin-friend smile. Where Chef’s Eat is such a fun guide, especially for those who love to travel + EAT. We’ve referenced it nearly anytime we visit somewhere new and it’s never let us down.

Sigh. I’m still not over the loss of Anthony Bourdain this year. I found him to be such an inspiration and guiding force on how to experience the world. I think celebrating his life through his recipes is a nice way to keep that light alive.

Last, but not least – I was gifted this fantastic cookbook, Six Seasons, by my friends D and Laura. Dave and I have been OBSESSED ever since first cracking it open. It breaks the year out into six seasons and provides recipes for what is in season, so it is very vegetable-focused, but includes meat situations too. 😀 Everything we’ve made has been a winner, like – in all caps WINNER. This grated carrot salad with burrata I posted is one of the recipes we tried out and really dug. Beyond having really innovative recipes, the book itself is just beautiful. Lovely photographs and design throughout.

2. Foodie Trivia Games

I was given both of these games from good friends on my birthday, and they are so fun! Dave and I played the trivia game during the fall in front of our fire pit outside with a cold beer in hand. It was lovely. And the competition game is basically like chopped, only your friends are judging you and the food is imaginary – still pretty fabulous to see how creative your friends can get with grape jelly, shrimp and carrots. Oh my.

3. Food + Herb Scented Candles

This Tobacco + Bay Leaf candle by Detroit Rose is the best smelling candle in my whole life forever and ever, for realsies, period, the end. I found this awesome candle maker at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this weekend and this scent blew me away. It might sound a little wacky, but it’s earthy and herby and bright. I’m gifting this away to a dear friend (which I’m certainly having second thoughts on)…hee hee. Another one I love is the Jonathan Adler tomato candle. Ahhhhh, so good.

4. Ring Holder

I love this idea for anybody who loves to cook! My dear friend Katrina from Pottery with Soul and Baking with Soul made me this adorable gold-flecked ring holder for Christmas this year. I love the idea of giving a ring holder to a cook because usually our hands are getting pretty messy! Whether it’s meatloaf mashin’ or kneading dough, it’s great to have a cute little holder to secure your rings on until your hands are goop-less.

Look at how cute my 10-year anniversary black diamond surrounded by snakes rings look on this darn thing! Romantic, aren’t we? 😀

5. Smiling Spoons

I’m of the mindset one can never have enough wooden spoons. And while this design might seem pretty simple, I’ll be damned if using one of these doesn’t put a smile on my face every time. They just make me jolly and make for some cute photos if you’re into that take-pictures-of-yourself-cooking kind of thing. Again, props to D and Laura for gifting me these funny little guys. You can find a variety of these on Etsy.

And that’s what I’ve got this year! Hopefully something on this list might bring a smile to someone on your nice list. <3

What are you guys gifting your family and friends that dig being in the kitchen this year? I'd love to hear from you all, as I'm always looking for new ideas and I've basically bought everyone I know all of the above. People – act surprised. xo