What do you get for the woman who lives a simple life? The trick is to find something practical and perfect, right?
Of course you can always fall back on chocolate, which has a lot of value in my opinion.
My children ask me every year what I'd like as a Christmas gift. I usually wrack my brain and can't think of anything at all, or else I come up with items that my children think are too plain, too common, too useful.
The Ball Blue Book of Preserving is the perfect companion to a pressure cooker - or to a water bath canner too.
A Versatile Stock Pot
A mortar and pestle is handy to grind herbs and spices. I also use mine to grind my Himalayan pink salt into a finer consistency and to crush dried herbs from my garden.
My children ask me every year what I'd like as a Christmas gift. I usually wrack my brain and can't think of anything at all, or else I come up with items that my children think are too plain, too common, too useful.
Before you think "but I shouldn't give a woman something practical," if your loved one has ever said "pressure cookers are SO expensive!" it might be a good gift.
And especially if she has said that she wishes she had one, or lamented that they are so hard to find this year and if only she had one... you've probably come up with a great idea.
I hope that one or more of the following suggestions will be perfect (even if that hard-to-buy-for woman is you!).
Some of the links below are affiliate links, but they are products I use myself and love or that are on my own wish list.
How about a pressure canner for the woman who wants to preserve food?
This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I might earn a small commission, but it doesn't affect the price you pay. Read my disclosure here for more info.
Canning supplies
Water bath canners are often the first step a person takes into the world of food preservation, but you can only water-bath-can high-acid foods such as fruits and tomatoes. (I know, I know, tomatoes are fruits.)
Preserving vegetables and meat, and combination foods such as soups and salsa, requires the use of a pressure canner. This Presto 23-quart pressure canner from Amazon is the one I use.
Preserving vegetables and meat, and combination foods such as soups and salsa, requires the use of a pressure canner. This Presto 23-quart pressure canner from Amazon is the one I use.
Or look here for pressure canners at Lehman's.
The Ball Blue Book of Preserving is the perfect companion to a pressure cooker - or to a water bath canner too.
A Versatile Stock Pot
A new stock pot can handle anything from jelly making to turning a turkey carcass into stock and making cheese or yogurt - and can function as a water bath canner too when you add a rack for the bottom of the pan.
Racks come in several different sizes, so choose one that will fit the stock pot you choose.
You can read more about using a stock pot as a water bath canner and other frugal canning hacks in my post here.
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A Mortar and Pestle
A mortar and pestle is handy to grind herbs and spices. I also use mine to grind my Himalayan pink salt into a finer consistency and to crush dried herbs from my garden.
It's important to "season" a new set before using it the first time. I wrote about how to season a mortar and pestle here.
And for the produce from her homestead or suburban garden, a food dehydrator will preserve the garden's bounty. I use the L'Equip dehydrator and love it. Another excellent brand is the Excalibur.
A Foodsaver is for more than just vacuum-sealing your homegrown vegetables and home-butchered meat for the freezer.
Many local hardware stores carry a small selection, or you might order a new piece of cast iron from Lehman's.
Last spring I saw one of these cow tea kettles in person and it was adorable! I've wanted one ever since. Maybe your homesteader would love one too?
After warming up the water for tea with the cow tea kettle, steep one of these artisan loose leaf tea blends from Farmhouse Teas. CeAnne and her family handcraft their own herbal teas to not only look beautiful but also to taste great.
If your loved one dreams of swapping a crazy, over-processed life for a slower, more natural existence, give her a gift of Sweet Maple by Michelle Visser.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I might earn a small commission, but it doesn't affect the price you pay. Read my disclosure here for more info.
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Dehydrator
And for the produce from her homestead or suburban garden, a food dehydrator will preserve the garden's bounty. I use the L'Equip dehydrator and love it. Another excellent brand is the Excalibur.
Foodsaver
Add marinade when you package meat, freeze it, and the meat will marinate while it defrosts. Or read this post to see how you can vacuum seal almost any jar in your kitchen using a Foodsaver, so you can preserve rice, pasta and other dry goods.
Cast Iron Cookware
I asked my readers which piece they would recommend to someone new to cast iron cooking; they suggested either a large skillet such as this one from Amazon, a Lodge 14.5" or a Dutch oven like this one from Amazon.
The Dutch oven can even be used to make bread, while you can make cake, cornbread, fried chicken and much more in a large skillet.
A cookbook such as Cast Iron Cooking for Dummies or The Cast Iron Cookbook would be a helpful companion gift (both links are to Amazon). I've found the "Dummies" books to be very helpful on many topics.
Many local hardware stores carry a small selection, or you might order a new piece of cast iron from Lehman's.
An Adorable Tea Kettle
After warming up the water for tea with the cow tea kettle, steep one of these artisan loose leaf tea blends from Farmhouse Teas. CeAnne and her family handcraft their own herbal teas to not only look beautiful but also to taste great.
My favorite is the orange spice blend, since I grew up sharing orange spice tea with my mom. This seasonal Gingerbread Spice tea is a close second though.
More Than a Cookbook
This book is more than a guide to tapping maple trees - although it does that admirably - and it's more than a cookbook, even though it includes recipes for cooking and baking with maple syrup.
It's the quintessential guide to all things maple and the tale of a family's move to New England. I was sorry to reach the last page and say goodbye to Michelle's family and their lovely surroundings.
Michelle recently wrote on my blog about how she and her family ditched refined sugar for all-natural maple syrup, boiled from the sap from the trees on her family's little homestead. She also shared a recipe from her book with my readers that I'm sure you'll love.
But your homestead woman doesn't live where there are maple trees? That's not a problem. Maples aren't the only trees that can be tapped and their sap turned into delicious sweetness. Sweet Maple contains a list of the more than twenty tree varieties that can be tapped - and I think you'll be surprised.
Although I buy maple syrup to make it, we love the maple pulled pork sandwich recipe from Michelle's Sweet Maple book!
Michelle recently wrote on my blog about how she and her family ditched refined sugar for all-natural maple syrup, boiled from the sap from the trees on her family's little homestead. She also shared a recipe from her book with my readers that I'm sure you'll love.
But your homestead woman doesn't live where there are maple trees? That's not a problem. Maples aren't the only trees that can be tapped and their sap turned into delicious sweetness. Sweet Maple contains a list of the more than twenty tree varieties that can be tapped - and I think you'll be surprised.
Although I buy maple syrup to make it, we love the maple pulled pork sandwich recipe from Michelle's Sweet Maple book!
Did you find the perfect gift idea in this post? Tell us in the comments!
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