Oh. holidays.
Despite life being seriously bonkers right now, I wanted to stop by for a little chat. What’s new with you?
We have a house! It was touch an go there for a bit {a month}, but after an impromptu trip to Asheville, losing the most perfect house, and then finding our wonderful bungalow right in West Asheville, we officially have somewhere to call home. I am completely aware that this is a food blog not a design blog, but you’ll just have to indulge a few of the home posts that are going to be coming up next month. {Or not, but I’ll be posting them regardless.}
We are staying with my folks through Christmas—making up for lost family time the past two years. We are spending the weekend working on projects for the new house, wrapping gifts, and making lots of Christmas goodies. I’ll pop back in before Christmas to share one or two of those with y’all, but until then you can be dreaming of date ball cookies and delicious, buttery dutch apple cake.
Christmas is drawing closer and wish lists for the folks on my shopping list are seemingly nonexistent. What does one buy for the cousin you haven’t seen in two plus years that has no obvious hobbies and an aversion to alcohol? {Seriously, what?}
While I might not be able to solve my own gift dilemmas, I certainly can help you out with yours. I spend a ridiculous amount of time daydreaming about kitchen gadgets, pots and pans, etc. There are some beautiful, practical, and lovely things out there that might just be the perfect gift for the cook in your life. Most folks already have their basics, but I assure you everyone also has their ‘nice to have’ list. You know, the pretty stuff that they might not buy in their own, but you would be champion of the day if you got it for them. It’s all under $30 and any of it would be a sure fire hit in the Kiwi+Peach household. Here does.
1. Tupelo Honey Cafe
Love Southern food with a twist? Love farm-to-table? Love beautiful photography? If you only buy one cookbook, get this one. It’s hands-down my favorite cookbook of all time. Full of practical recipes that you can and will actually make at home, it’s a staple in our house.
2. Squirrel nut cracker from Target {$14}
Seriously, just look at it. It doesn’t get much cuter than that, right? While it might not be the most practical of nutcrackers, it will certainly look cute on their counter.
3. Copper measuring spoons from West Elm Market {still available in stores, $16}
These would make me smile every time I used them. Classy and a little fancy with some precious typography, they would be the perfect thing for all this Christmas baking!
4. Stoneware egg crate and fruit basket from Anthropologie {$12, $20}
The perfect things to store your farmers’ market finds in.
5. Goat tote from West Elm {$18}
This bag cracked me up. Perfect for toting groceries and your farmers’ market haul.
6. Farm Anatomy
This beautifully illustrated paperback is full of informative diagrams of anything you ever wanted to know about farms and farm animals. It’s certainly on my list.
{This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. That means that if you head over to Amazon from the link and choose to buy the book, a tiny bit of the money you spent on the book will come back to me for the referral.}
Kiwi + Peach 