Kitchen Kapers assistant manager Mercedes Dennis with a Le Creuset air fryer.

by April Lisante

This holiday season, as you hit the stores and scroll the Internet for gift-giving options, there is a special type of person you can’t forget on your list: the foodie.

Just about everyone has a foodie in their lives – the grandmother who bakes everything from scratch, the millenials who can’t start eating a meal until they snap a photo, or that aunt who reads her Bon Appetit magazine cover to cover the day it is delivered.

Writing about food has always been my foodie outlet, a chance to imagine new recipes, learn a how-to process, or to salivate over all of the amazing food gadgets out there. And as I write this, I am particularly excited about some of the 2020 food trends headed our way.

Americans will be into more health-conscious cooking and ingredients, from oat milk to kale and cauliflower and even fermented foods, according to Business Insider. The year also promises to see a heightened interest in food delivery and meal services like Blue Apron, for all those foodies who want to recreate restaurant meals at home.

To celebrate the exit of 2019, I’ve curated some of the hottest gifts you can bestow upon your favorite foodie this year. Some are innovative, others classic staples no cook should be without. Here are the top ten products I chose for this year’s gift giving. Happy holidays – and happy cooking!

1. Le Creuset is the gold standard for home chefs. Ask anyone who loves to cook, and it’s all about the proper heat distribution. This year at Kitchen Kapers, the Le Creuset 5.25-quart Deep Dutch Oven is “selling like hotcakes.” Priced at $199.95, it is taller than most standard Dutch ovens and can tackle even pasta. At SurLaTable.com, the Le Creuset Eiffel Tower 2.5-quart casserole is also hot this year. Also at $199.95, it comes in red, blue or white, the colors of the French flag.

2. Making Mexican at home is another trend that shows no signs of slowing down, and the Churro Maker, a waffle iron-style gadget, lets you make churros without boiling oil. Drop the batter in and produce four churros at a time in minutes. $33.99 on Amazon

3. For those who like a perfectly toasted piece of bread, the Bella Pro Series Toaster even has a setting for gluten-free bread, which doesn’t always toast up golden the first time around. $49.99 at Best Buy

4. If making brunch is your foodie’s favorite pastime, the Chefman Waffle Maker anti-overflow waffle iron made Consumer Reports’ Best Of list for its reasonable price and its ability to perfectly golden waffles. It can also be stored standing up vertically, since space is always an issue for the foodie with a zillion gadgets. $29.99 on Amazon

5. The year 2019 was most certainly the year of the groaning board, a.k.a. the elaborate cheese board, festooned with cheeses, charcuterie, fruits and nuts. Whether the items were arranged in wreath or tree shapes, or arranged randomly as a bounty of appetizer happiness, the cheese board had its heyday this year. At UncommonGoods.com, their long, 4-foot cheese board steals the show at $110. If you prefer grazing from a board in the shape of your favorite state, they have that covered too at $48.

6. If you are trying to make the cheese board look amazing, the Girolle Cheese Curler churns out perfectly thin, and curled, cheese slices. And happy day! It can be used to curl chocolate for that perfectly topped mousse or cake. $39.99 on Amazon

7. I first saw this idea in Southern Living Magazine and went nuts. Buy your foodie a citrus tree and, depending upon the size and variety of the tree, they can leave it on the countertop or plant it and have a bounty of fruit next season. Tabletop citrus tree are around $65 on Amazon, and feature a mandarin orange-kumquat hybrid. Or go to Fast-Growing-Trees.com and find a multitude of varieties for delivery.

8. There is nothing like a good French fry, and the Cuisinart Air Fryer is a compact way to make it happen without using cups of oil. For $99.95 at Kitchen Kapers, the fryer eliminates grease and cooks them in a fraction of the time. This can work with sweet potatoes, zucchini, or anything you’d like to celebrate as a fried accompaniment to your burgers.

9. I can think of so many people I’d like to gift a personalized bowl. At PersonalizationMall.com, you can make your grandmother’s potato salad a permanent part of the holiday get-togethers. The ceramic bowls list a name and the contents, for example “Grandma’s Salad,” or “Dad’s Mashed Potatoes.” $49.99.

10. If your foodie loves fresh herbs, you can send them their own winter garden, from Gardenuity.com. For $52.99, it comes with all they need to plant an indoor herb garden.