{"id":10489,"date":"2025-12-08T21:41:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T05:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/?p=10489"},"modified":"2025-12-11T21:26:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T05:26:34","slug":"the-best-damn-food-drink-gift-guide-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/the-best-damn-food-drink-gift-guide-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Damn Food & Drink Gift Guide 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey friends! It\u2019s been a crazy few months what with flutters hands, gestures to the burning tire fire just outside the window.<\/em> The point is, December caught us completely unawares this year. We genuinely thought that November was followed by \u2026 Smocktober? We apologize for the delay on the gift guide this year, but fear not: we\u2019ve got all sorts of goodies \u2014 from mouthwatering treats to accouterments that will make you look as delectable as the dishes you\u2019re serving. We\u2019re also welcomed this year by a new contributor – the amazing Kristy Morrison<\/strong>, who joined our weird little family as Rand\u2019s Chief-of-Staff<\/a>, and has made all of our lives better for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As a reminder, here is your distinguished panel of judges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanda Natividad<\/strong> (yours truly): Le Cordon Bleu graduate, feeder of not-so-picky-anymore children, and has a self-proclaimed palate of the people. I’m snobby enough to invest in a Ratio Eight coffee maker and single origin beans, but I also enjoy a chestnut praline latte from Starbucks (one pump of syrup please, and thank you.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rand Fishkin<\/strong> (originator of this gift guide): Once made cacio e pepe at 11pm with his eyes practically closed because he was that tired after I (Amanda) sheepishly mumbled, “I’m hungry and I didn’t have a chance to eat dinner at SparkTogether.” He is also never too tired to pronounce “cacio e pepe” with the correct Italian accent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristy Morrison<\/strong> (Rand’s chief-of-staff): New-ish to the SparkToro team, Kristy is a big reason we decided to follow through with the gift guide this year. She has killer recommendations in this list, all locally sourced and simply beautiful. And fun fact, she went from “couch to 5k” to running literal marathons, and she looks like a superhero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geraldine DeRuiter<\/strong> (James Beard-award-winning food writer): Incredible baker who can just make any cake or cookie without breaking a sweat, buyer of all <insert here>-flavored things<\/a> from Trader Joe’s, and fellow Maxxinista. She is my very dear friend, and there is a rumor she is married to Rand. Buy her best-selling book, “If You Can’t Take the Heat<\/a>.” (It makes a great gift for yourself, or for anybody who gives a second thought to how food shapes our culture today.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Heimendinger<\/strong> (food inventor, literally yes, that is what he is): Scott is easily the most brilliant and the kindest, most humble person I’ve ever met. He invented the sous vide cooker for home cooks, and most recently, he shrunk down ultrasonic technology for the consumer \u2014 which means that in just a few short months, you can use a regularly-looking chef’s knife to effortlessly cut tomatoes, potatoes, baguettes, ice cubes, anything, precisely and without squishing. (Spoiler: his invention is our first pick.) It may be no surprise to you that he’s quite picky about what he keeps in his kitchen, and what he gifts to friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, without further ado, let\u2019s get to the best damn food and drink gift guide you’ll see all year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(By the way, don’t forget to peep the past editions: 2024<\/a>; 2023<\/a>; 2022<\/a>; 2021<\/a>; and 2020<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the foodie you love most:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seattle Ultrasonics’ Ultrasonic Chef’s Knife<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
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Look, we realize that this is a little self-serving because founder\/inventor Scott Heimendinger<\/a> is a regular contributor to the gift guide, our legit bestie, and probably Rand\u2019s eighth cousin or something. But we swear he\u2019s not just another pretty nepo baby. He spent the last six years making the impossible, possible. You see, for decades, commercial kitchens have used ultrasonic technology to perfectly slice difficult-to-cut foods (think: soft breads, cheesecakes, butter) without damaging or squishing the food itself. But, this technology has been inaccessible to home cooks (wait for it) \u2026 until now. Scott has created the first ultrasonic knife available for home use, and in addition to being unbelievably sharp, it also has incredible food release (so those pesky onion slices don’t stick to the side of your knife) and badass edge retention (i.e. the blade doesn’t dull as fast from use).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you preorder it now, it won\u2019t arrive until after the holidays, but that just means you\u2019ll be a hit well into 2026. It also means that if this ends up being a totally last-minute, pretty much too-late purchase, you won’t look like you simply forgot to buy a gift. You can see it in action on YouTube<\/a>, where it’s already inspired a half million views:<\/p>\n\n\n\n