The Ultimate Cooking Gift Guide

With Mother’s Day approaching I’ve been thinking through what to get my mom, trying to avoid waiting until the last minute. Well here we are, basically at the last minute - Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 9th folks! Obviously I think stationery is a great gift and my mom is the one who taught me to love vintage so I’m biased in that department. But the other thing my mom taught me is to appreciate quality cooking tools. Thanks to her I’m a firm believer in getting what you want the first time, an item that is high quality and built to last, take care of it, and not have to replace it for years. That applies to everything in life really but I find it especially true in the kitchen. So, if you have a mom like mine who appreciates quality and likes to spend time in the kitchen, I compiled a list of my favorite kitchen tools, pots, and baking pans, most of which both my mom and I love.

For the record, I’m not sponsored by All-Clad or any of these companies. I just really, really love their products and the fact that most of them are made in the USA.

All-Clad Spoonula

Silly name, ultimate tool! It’s easy to cook with, stir with, and then continue to use to serve with or dish. Think - making tomato sauce and then getting it out of the pan or mixing chocolate chips into cookie dough and then using it to scoop the dough out of the bowl to roll into balls for baking. It’s pretty rigid but obviously covered with silicone so its safe on non-stick surfaces but has enough structure to do its job.

All-Clad 8 Quart Pot

You’ll see a lot of All Clad products on this list because they are really the best. I’ve had this pot since I got married and use it all the time. It’s large enough to make a lot of soup but small enough that, even full, it’s not too heavy to pick up and move if necessary. Plus it has good handles. I know that sounds like a trivial thing but if you’re moving a pot of 212 degree liquid, you know you don’t want to loose your grip. Additionally it’s heavy duty enough not to warp too because you know a good chili needs to spend hours on the stove.

All-Clad 3 Quart Sauté Pan

I use this pan ALL THE TIME. I’m terrible at cooking for 2 people and assuming you have siblings, your mom probably is too. My theory is, why would I cook for 2 people when I could cook for 6 or 8 or 20 and have leftovers. For lunch the next day or to freeze for someday when I don’t feel like cooking. So I use this pan for things that people probably normally use normal pans for. It’s perfect for a couple of pounds of ground beef plus a can of black beans plus corn plus an onion and poblano and so on and so forth. It gets used on a weekly basis if not daily.

All-Clad 14” Non-Stick Fry Pan

Y’all, I know it ain’t cheap but I got so tired of always running out of room in my 12” pans (all of which are also All-Clad) when I was trying to meal prep for the week that I finally broke down and got a 14” pan. I currently have an 8”, 10”, 12”, and 14” pan and use each of them. But the 14” pan was a game-changer for me! I take extra good care of all of these pans and that includes trying not to use them on super high heat and washing all of my non-stick pans!

All-Clad Jelly Roll Pan

I don’t know why it is so difficult to find the Jelly Roll Pan that I have. I use it for everything! From roasting vegetables or chicken to cooking meatloaf, it is yet another All-Clad pan that I use on a weekly basis at a minimum. I’m actually not sure I’ve ever used it to make a cake, though I’m sure it’s great for that too. I don’t have this exact same pan but it’s made by All-Clad so I imagine, like everything that they make, that it is probably incredibly good quality and will take a beating and last forever.

All-Clad Measuring Cups

I actually had a friend over the other day and we made cookies and she commented on how much she loves these measuring spoons. I know lots of companies make measuring cups, I even have a second set by a different, very nice company that just sits there in the drawer and never get used. There’s something about the shape of these All-Clad ones and the shape that make them my go-to measuring cups. I often just use the 1-cup measuring cup and use the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 marks on the inside to measure everything else so I only have to get one thing dirty instead of four.

All-Clad Cookie Sheet

I know you can get a cookie sheet anywhere but I go back to quality over quantity every time. I’ve only had these pans for about 5 years now but I do not see myself ever needing new cookie sheets. They’re not flimsy, they don’t warp, but they’re not so heavy as to be unwieldy. Obviously a good cookie starts with a good cookie recipe but it finishes with the pan. On a related note, I’ve been using the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House bag since I learned how to bake from my mom. Sub the butter for Crisco (so the edges of the cookie don’t get too thin) and I never measure the chocolate, just put in as many as I feel like, and they turn out great every time.

Pastry Scraper

This falls into the category of tools that I use all the time but rarely for what it was originally intended. Sure it’s great for baking bread and manipulating dough and cutting the edge off a pie crust but I use it all the time when I’m cleaning too. It’s perfect for scraping off the countertop after making pasta or that stubborn crack between the oven and the counter. Maybe I’m just a mess (I’m definitely a mess) but in my opinion this is a must-have kitchen tool.

Omelette Turner Spatula

I think my mother-in-law actually gave me this tool for Christmas one year. I pretty much never make omelette but I imagine it’s good for that too. What I actually use it for is when I’m baking a cake. It’s thin and coated so it fits perfectly between a cake and the side of a non-stick baking pan and helps to separate the cake from the side of the pan without damaging either the cake or the pan itself. Maybe I’m just terrible at greasing pans (I’m definitely not a pro), but I love this spatula when I’m baking. Admittedly I never really use the other tool in this set but I imagine it does it’s job pretty well. In my opinion it’s worth buying the set just for the omelette turner/cake spatula either way.

ThermoWorks Instant Read Thermometer

If you want to really impress your mom, get her an instant-read thermometer. I had a traditional thermometer that worked perfectly fine until my mom actually bought this one for me because I refused to buy one for myself. She insisted it was a life-changer. She was right. Again. Because it reads immediately it’s more accurate. Plus, when I’m roasting or baking something like chicken breast, which is often, I don’t have to keep the oven open as long, letting out lots of heat and causing the temperature to fluctuate.

This is the Thermapen that both my mom and I have. Click on the photo to follow the link.

Hot Pads

I’d be remiss if I didn’t actually mention something from my own shop. I use these hot pads in my own kitchen an love them. Of course I’m obsessed with ticking so I obviously think they’re cute, but they’re also 100% cotton so they’re easy to wash.

Click on the photo above to follow the link.

Apron

Okay lets be honest, you mom probably doesn’t need an apron because she probably has a million already. BUT, and I know I’m biased, I love this apron. I have one of my own and wore it this weekend in fact. It matches the hot pads and has 3 big pockets (or can be customized with 2 big pockets and 2 small pockets) and like the hot pads is made of 100% cotton fabric so it can be easily washed.

Click on the photo above to follow the link.

I know I write about restaurants as part of my job (and I love them all) but I also spend a lot of time cooking in my own kitchen so I really appreciate having quality cookware. I don’t want to worry about warped pans or fraying teflon or whatever. The only thing I’ve had to replace in 8 years of marriage was my original 12” non-stick pan that I used almost every day during that time and lets be real, teflon just isn’t going to last forever. Eight years is a solid run in my opinion. My entire kitchen is full of almost exclusively All-Clad products and I don’t see myself ever changing that. I do recognize that pretty much everything on this list is expensive. You get what you pay for in my opinion but I also know its not in everyone’s budget. If you’re looking for something a little cheaper for Mom but want to stay in the realm of the kitchen, try any cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen. I have a subscription to their magazine Cooks Illustrated but they also have other magazines, a tv show, and more. Try The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook for something a little lower in price but just as high in quality as everything listed above. If you’re still looking for something feel free to email or DM me on Instagram and I’d love to help!

Happy cooking and Happy Mother’s Day!

-Griffin