Holiday Gifts for Avid Cooks- Part 1

So, I decided I'd try to be helpful for those of you shopping for avid cooks with a list of really cool/useful additions to the kitchen that a cook would love. I'll keep posting for the next week or so leading up to Christmas to try to give you all the edge in the gift giving frenzy. To all my friends, this is not a thinly veiled wish list for me!

1. Ikea Koncis Garlic Press: This little kitchen tool, priced so well at $4.99 is the best garlic press I've ever had the pleasure of using. Yes, that's right, I said P-L-E-A-S-U-R-E. You can even put unpeeled garlic cloves in there! Ok, so it's not dishwasher safe, but nothing's ever perfect is it? This is a great stocking stuffer.
2. Blooming Tea: For the lover of tea and beautiful flowers, this is the perfect gift. It is a tea ball that blooms into a flower inside your teapot. For optimal gift bundling, throw in a glass teapot so you can see the blooms!
3. Le Creuset Dutch Oven: This is the ultimate gift for a meat-lover. It's pricey, but will provide for a lifetime of braised dishes! The oval dutch ovens are better than the round because you can fit roasts with a bone more easily.