Holiday Gift Guides 2017: Ideas For the Hostess + Chef.

     Welcome to my first holiday gift guide post for this year's holiday season! I know that the blogging world can sometimes seem a bit over-saturated with gift guides during the next six weeks or so (especially if you yourself are also a blogger and also read a lot of other blogs!). I've tried very hard this year to make each of my gift guides themed and unique, rather than just something like "Gifts for Her Under $100" where every item is just something from the Nordstrom New Arrivals page. 😉 Because honestly.... that's not something very hard to put together, and if y'all are taking the time out of your day to read one of my gift guides, I'm hoping provide you with some actual creative ideas for gifts!! If you're familiar with the 5 Love Languages (you can take the free online quiz here and find out what yours are if you don't know what I'm talking about!), gifts are my #1 love language, and I love gift giving to those near and dear in my life. So holiday shopping is one of my favorite things, and I'm excited to hopefully share that excitement with y'all in my gift guides! Let's get to it! My first one for this season is some gift ideas that are great for any girls like myself who love to cook and practice hospitality!

 

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1. Mixing cups // 2. Cheese knives // 3. Printed kitchen towel // 4. KitchenAid Mixer // 5. Colorful polka dot apron // 6. Black and white polka dot apron // 7. Funny apron // 8. Christmas bakeware //  9. Cravings cookbook // 10. Better Homes and Gardens cookbook // 

     When I'm not in the radio studio or working on the blog, chances are I can be found in my kitchen! I adore cooking and baking, and when I lived in Charlotte I also loved entertaining. Currently, I try and cook dinner from scratch at least three nights a week (or two if it's a big meal with lots of leftovers!), and I have a lot of fun trying out new recipes. Although I do a lot of cooking from Pinterest, I am a cookbook enthusiast as well. One of my all-time favorite cookbooks is The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. I jokingly call this the "kitchen bible!" It has cooking and baking recipes for just about anything that a beginner cook could ever want to attempt, and the recipes are fantastic!! (My favorite-ever chocolate cake and icing recipes are found in here.) If you're looking to gift someone a more fun cookbook, you can't go wrong with Chrissy Teigen's book Cravings! A friend gave this to me in a gift swap last year, and I've loved trying out many of the delicious recipes in this book. Plus- if you follow Chrissy on Twitter you know she's absolutely hilarious, and her writing in the book doesn't disappoint! 

      I think aprons also make wonderful gifts. A cute apron isn't something that an aspiring cook will necessarily go out and buy for themselves, but it can be a delightful gift! Some of my favorite aprons were given to me as gifts, and I love wearing them. I think the aqua and red polka dot one is too cute, but an apron with a funny saying could be great for someone who loves the kitchen and also has a sense of humor! 

      One of my most prized possessions is my KitchenAid mixer.  My mom had my KitchenAid when I was growing up, but she upgraded to a better model of KitchenAid about 10 years ago, and put her first one away in storage, to save for me to have someday. KitchenAids seriously last forever so they are an amazing investment!! My parents brought it down to North Carolina when I moved into my first apartment last year after college graduation, and I have used it every single week (if not daily sometimes) since then. This would obviously be a very big Christmas gift, but it would be an amazing one too! KitchenAid mixers come in tons of colors... mine is white, but I obsess over the pretty blue and pink ones!

      Lastly- did you know that Kate Spade has an adorable home line?! A few of the things in this gift guide are from it- the black and white polka dot apron, the cheese knives set, and the cute printed dish towel. Kate Spade also makes dish sets, glassware, cutlery, and tons of other things that are perfect for a Bachelorette Pad kitchen! 

      My next gift guide will be posted next week! I have a few fun ideas for gift guides for the next few weeks, but I'd love to hear any suggestions that y'all have for them as well! 

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese