The nicest thing about gift-buying is that it admits the impractical. The most exciting presents don't address what the person on your list really needs; they speak to what that person would truly love. No one wants to unwrap a DustBuster. You buy what pleases, what excites, what stirs desire.
You buy, of course, what you secretly want for yourself.
We scoured the stores and the catalogs and gathered the gift for food lovers that caught our eye or just made us feel happy. And then we noticed what they all have in common: outstanding design, perfect form that follows function.
Sleek-looking bamboo cutting boards are attractive enough to use as cheese boards or platters for hors d'oeuvres, they're reasonably priced and the wood is so warm and pretty, you just want to stroke it. No one really needs a rich, red soup tureen, but what a wonderful thing to have. It just makes you want to have soup. Then there is the useful that carries a touch of whimsy: the Victoria anthracite/brass kitchen scale, with so many markings and numbers it seems like a postmodern art project. But the numbers turn out to be our ticket into the 21st century: The weights are shown in imperial and metric systems, so you can grasp in a glance that 4 pounds is about 1.75 kilograms. And, of course, the least necessary highly functional item of all -- the drink mixer in retro green -- is the best looking. So why not make an egg cream? I mean, how long do we have on this earth?
Most of all, these are items to brighten the immediate aftermath of the holiday and the rest of the year as well.
Laurie Winer
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High polish
and wood grain
Lots of shiny stainless steel caught our eye this year, and so did beautiful woods. They happen to look marvelous together.
Essential: If we could own one saucepan, this 3.2-quart baby from Demeyere's Atlantis line might just be it. The Belgian company is known for making cookware with superior heat conductivity. This pan has a heavy seven-layer bottom that conducts heat like a dream, and the handle never gets hot. $189.95 at Sur la Table in Pasadena, (626) 744-9987; Los Angeles (Farmers Market), (323) 954-9190; or Santa Monica, (310) 395-0390; or online at www.surlatable.com.
Surface beauty : Harder than maple and gorgeous to boot, bamboo cutting boards make wonderful cheese boards or hors d'oeuvre platters. A 14- by 11-inch board is $25, a 13 1/2 - by 6-inch board is $12.95 at Surfas in Culver City, (310) 559-4770.
