OK, I'm going to be honest with you: I'm totally writing this category for myself. While I hate the term "foodie," I am an absolute slave to food, food gadgets, food reality television and conversations about food. I recently asked a chef friend at a party, "What's your favorite lentil?" So, yeah, I'm being real with you here: If you get any of the following pieces of gadgetry for the foodie in your life, you're going to be the recipient of some serious love and probably a lot of awesome home-cooked meals.
SPICEOLOGIST STARTER BLOCK
Any home cook worth their salt has a ridiculous cabinet of spices — jars of exotic flavors from places far from here, pouches of pungent leaves and roots and dried berries, tins of salts in every color of the rainbow. For a while, it was tough to find any spices that weren't oregano and celery salt in local stores, but one guy has changed that. You might have seen Pete Taylor — who calls himself the Spiceologist — at local farmer's markets, passing out tins of his spice blends for people to sniff. Recently, Taylor dreamed up a cool device for avid home cooks to store and artfully display the finest tools of their trade: the Spiceologist Block is part knife block, part spice holder. The starter block comes packed with 22 spices — and there's even a 44-spice block for the real home cooking freaks. $139.95 • savorx.com
CHARLES VIANCIN LILYPAD LIDS
When it comes to things local foodies want, Eric Frickle, one of the Kitchen Engine's owners, said it's Charles Viancin Lilypad Lids — all the way. He says his store sells thousands of them. The heat-resistant silicone lids are little champs in the kitchen, and can be used as a lid over a casserole pan, as a microwave cover or even over a tin can. They're the kind of thing that food nerds and complete cooking idiots can both find a use for. $8.99-$18.99 • The Kitchen Engine • 621 W. Mallon (inside the Flour Mill)
THE MIGHTY YOLK HERO EGG SEPARATOR
Here's a weird little tool for the baker or protein freak in your life: the Mighty Yolk Hero Egg Separator. Without using your hands, you can easily separate the yolk from the white without making a big ol' mess. And it'll hold up to three unbroken yolks in there! Amazing! And kind of like those things parents use to suck snot out of their baby's nose, it's just plain fun to play with. $7.95 • Atticus Coffee & Gifts • 222 N. Howard
CHEMEX HAND BLOWN 3-CUP BREWER
We don't know anyone into food who doesn't totally geek out over their coffee too. And at a place like Revel 77, getting totally nerdy about beans, grinds, water temperatures and latte art is completely acceptable. Kaiti Blom, one of the rock-star baristas there, says Chemex brewers are true works of art and science, "[combining] beauty and craftsmanship to create a beautiful cup of coffee." Pro tip: Blom says she'll share her brewing recipes with any fellow coffee freak who wants one. $38 • Revel 77 • 3223 E. 57th
HOPS CLUB AND VINO CLUB MEMBERSHIPS
If you're looking for something that will excite the foodies in your life all year long, check out the Hops Club and Vino Club memberships offered by the Valley's center of all things flavorful, Spice Traders Mercantile. A Hops Club membership, $25 per month, includes two 22-oz. bottles of craft beer, a bottle of aged balsamic vinegar and a bottle of infused olive oil, plus extra monthly surprises. For $30, the Vino Club rotates red and white wines, plus the same vinegar and olive oil as the Hops Club. You can pay as you go or subscribe to a whole year of baskets — all available for pick-up only each month. $24.99 & $29.99 • Spice Traders Mercantile • 15614 E. Sprague, Spokane Valley
NUTRIMILL GRAIN MILL
Stumped by what to get a home chef or aspiring baker? I can almost guarantee you they'll be pleased as punch when they open a Nutrimill Grain Mill — a device that will raise an amateur home baker to new levels, allowing them to grind their own grains and make their own flour. And for people who are gluten-free or celiac, grinding their own flours at home will save them serious cash. Bonus locavore points if you fill their stocking with locally sourced wheatberries they can grind up for a fresh Christmas morning loaf. $239.99 • The Kitchen Engine • 621 W. Mallon (inside the Flour Mill) ♦