Encourage home cooking with new must-have gifts for newlyweds
Gifts for the home and kitchen are on the agenda. Weddings are major events. Whether the recipients are unabashed foodies or just getting their feet wet in food preparation, there’s a gift for all budgets and cooking styles.
Superstitions about wedding gifts go back several centuries; “wedding spoons” take top honors. Considered one of the kitchen’s most important implements, handcrafted spoons were given to brides “to bless her new home” and in hopes of a large family to cook for in the future. Intricately carved, often hand-painted with gold-colored overlay, the practical spoon of past years (often including the newlyweds’ names) has become a treasured gift to hang on kitchen walls. Some cultures emphasized horseshoes as wedding gifts—to hang upside down in the new home. The luckiest horseshoes were made of cast iron, “the perfect marriage of fire and earth.” Hmm sounds like cast iron cookware would make a good gift!
Wedding gifts to avoid (more superstitions) include items with blades (knives) or items with sharp ends, considered a no-no in many European, Asian and South American cultures. The reasoning is that sharp ends could sever a relationship. Knife sets would not be appreciated; scissors are considered bad luck since they could “cut the friendship in half.”
Forget about a handsome clock for your Asian friends. In China and Taiwan, the word “clock” sounds like the word death. A ticking clock may mark how long the newlyweds will be living on this earth. More Asian superstitions: watches and candles represent limited life and if given as a gift may invite death into the home. Mirrors, contemporary or stunning antiques, are also off the list for wedding gifts in Asian cultures. Since they’re breakable (many cultures believe bad luck results when a mirror is broken) they’re an inappropriate gift for newlyweds looking forward to a long (unbroken) lifetime together. Other superstitions about mirrors are that there may be harmful spirits trapped in mirrors and/or looking at a mirror encourages vanity and selfishness.
Wedding gift registries are popular in this country, where close to $20 billion are spent each year for the registered “happy couples,” but gifts are not limited to what’s on the registry. These days it’s considered proper to include a gift receipt with your gift—in case the couple needs to exchange or return it. (I had friends who received four toaster ovens—a bit much, since they weren’t planning to open a restaurant!) How much you spend is not as important as how much your gift expresses caring for the couple!
Here are a few gift suggestions— that will bring extra pleasures and/or save time in preparing food.
An electric kettle is a top choice. Water boils more quickly in electric kettles than in pots/containers on the stove top or in microwave ovens, making them energy efficient. Today’s kettles have an automatic shut-off so if you’re on a long phone call and forget about your boiling water, not to worry—the kettle shuts off automatically when water boils. Most electric kettles have gauges so you can boil only what you need. They’re cordless, too, which means you can lift the kettle from the base for easy pouring. They come in different sizes, shapes and prices. I’ve been enjoying my Chef’sChoice 688 Smart stainless steel kettle (retails about $100), which lets you pour water at a selected temperature and detects the boiling point no matter the altitude. A newer glass kettle, Chef’sChoice Electric Glass Kettle 680, retails for $60 and is available at Amazon, Target and Sur Le Table Websites. It’s good-looking, has a comfortable handle and works well for right and left-handed people. The kettle holds 1¾ quarts and shuts off automatically when water has come to a boil. It also has boil-dry shutoff protection (for the very forgetful!)
Cast iron horseshoes for wedding gifts may be passé, but cast iron cookware makes a welcome kitchen addition for novice and experienced foodies. Delivering even heat distribution and retention, cast iron pans are perfect for frying, browning, searing and sautéing. Traditional cast iron is very heavy—a deterrent for some. Cuisinart has solved this problem with their CastLite cookware, which is half the weight of the average cast iron pan! The pans go from stove top to oven (stainless steel handles) and feature porcelain enamel exteriors (red or blue) and nonstick interiors. They’re great for indoor meat grilling (less fat), frittatas, Spanish tortillas, and skillet breads and desserts. The full line includes assorted-size fry pans, an 11-inch square grill pan and more. A bonus: They’re dishwasher safe and have a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty. Cuisinart’s CastLite fry pan prices from $25 to $50, depending on size; the square grill pan retails for $60. Available at Amazon.com and other Websites.
Looking for a gift for someone who already has a stocked kitchen? Consider Cuisinart’s Alfrescamoré outdoor pizza oven, which uses propane for baking. The extremely high heat needed for good pizza-baking is not available (or safe) in a home oven. Move outside to enjoy crisp, brick-oven-style pizza in 5 to 7 minutes thanks to the Cuisinart oven’s combination of convection, conduction and reflected heat. A built-in smoker box adds wood-fired taste and the included Cordierite pizza stone helps create a crispy crust. The oven can travel for tailgating, camping, picnics, etc., and weighs 35 pounds. A warming tray at the bottom keeps finished pizzas hot. Also included is a folding pizza peel and thermometer. Available at Amazon. com for $240.
If your gift recipient doesn’t own a good kitchen scale, go for it! Accuracy in baking depends on a scale. Weather and humidity or scooping method can yield one cup of flour weighing between 4 and 6 ounces! Conversions are made easier—from grams to ounces, etc.—especially helpful when dividing recipes or using foreign cookbooks. The Joseph Joseph switch scale top (lid) flips. Place items or bowls directly on its top or flip the lid to create a measuring bowl. The “add and weigh” function makes for a neater kitchen. The lid is the only container you’ll need since the readout can go back to zero after each added ingredient. Battery operated, it weighs items up to 5 kilograms, 176 fluid ounces, 11 pounds or 5,000 milliliters. Priced at $50, the Switch Scale is available at wayfair.com and allmodern.com (free shipping).
And finally, you may not be carving a “wedding spoon” for the happy couple, but an attractive “nest” of spoons that takes up very little space would be a welcome addition to any kitchen counter. The Joseph Joseph Nest Utensils Plus is a collection of five essential spoon-shaped kitchen tools resting on a storage stand that holds any utensils that aren’t in use. (Older models didn’t have the storage stand.) Nesting together, occupying minimum space, each tool is held securely in place by small magnets in the handles. Priced at $28 at available at alwaysmod.com (free shipping) and hsn. com (shipping $4).