The 7 Kitchen Gifts My Mom Has Been Low-Key Hinting At

My mom loves to cook and thus has a bountiful kitchen full of gear. Still, like any parent’s kitchen, there’s a lot of room for improvement, as many of my mom’s favorite appliances and tools are, um, let’s just say, a bit outdated. Fortunately, she also loves to complain about it and cannot help herself when it comes to pointing out the precise pieces that she feels could be replaced.

For example, fresh bagels are a huge part of my family’s dietary pyramid. At one point, I greatly improved my mom’s bagel game by getting her an amazing bagel slicer. This genius move on my part helped the conversation progress to her admitting she now needs a new toaster oven. On that note, her cutting board game is very weak, so I’ll be getting her some new boards. She also mentioned her too-loud, too-old coffee grinder at least a dozen times, so a choice grinder replacement could be coming. Here are the holiday gifts my mom has been low-key hinting at all year.

Best Mom-Approved Amazon Christmas Gifts

• Our Place Wonder Oven, $175, originally $195
• OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder, $68, originally $100
• Gorilla Grip Plastic Cutting Boards, Set of 3, $22
• EZPB Peanut Butter Stirrer, $9
• Luigi Bormioli 18.25-Ounce IPA Beer Glasses, $29, originally $38
• Nordic Ware Naturals Aluminum Half Sheet Pan, Set of 2, $28, originally $30
• Urban Villa Placemats, Set of 6, $22

Our Place Wonder Oven

My mom is highly reliant on her toaster oven. She’s alluded many times to it not toasting bagels thoroughly enough or failing to properly heat up salmon the way she likes it. I think Our Place’s Wonder Oven would solve this problem: It can air fry, toast, roast, bake, broil, and more. Plus, it’s very attractive and will look super cool in her kitchen. (I’m also considering this an investment in future bagel and toast consumption for my wife and me when we visit.)

OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

My mom absolutely hates how loud her current coffee grinder is. I hate it, too, since it happens to be my de facto alarm clock every time I visit. I actually enjoy sleeping past 7 a.m. on holidays and weekends, so I’m getting her this OXO Brew coffee grinder that Food & Wine calls the best value grinder on the market.

Gorilla Grip Plastic Cutting Boards, Set of 3

There are two main problems with my mom’s current cutting boards: They’re unbelievably old, and there aren’t enough of them. Every time I’m home and helping cook for the holidays, we have to take turns using her ancient bamboo cutting boards. It’s time to change that with this set of plastic boards that has over 42,500 five-star ratings at Amazon. Shoppers say they’re durable, attractive, and don’t slide around at all.

EZPB Peanut Butter Stirrer

My mom really loves eating peanut butter — it’s one of the foods that’s guaranteed to be in her fridge or pantry. This peanut butter stirrer is just a fun gift that can improve the snacking experience of any peanut butter lover. It also makes a great stocking stuffer.

Luigi Bormioli 18.25-Ounce IPA Beer Glasses

The guy my mom’s been dating loves cracking an Athletic beer from time to time, but her boring set of water glasses undercuts how awesome it is to drink beer, so she needs an upgrade. This set of beer glasses from Luigi Bormioli is perfectly shaped for prime brewski enjoyment. (A great alternative are these classic, versatile tulip glasses from Libbey, which I also love.)

Nordic Ware Naturals Aluminum Half Sheet Pan, Set of 2

If I had to make an educated guess, I’d say that at least half of what my mom cooks for family meals involves baking sheets. She loves throwing latkes, roasted veggies, cookies, and, indeed, large batches of bagels into the oven, but her current sheet pans look like they’ve seen too many kitchen battles. Even she points out how bad they look. Since I’m not sure that “seasoning” applies to nonstick baking sheets, it’s probably better to just replace them with these highly rated pans from Nordic Ware.

Urban Villa Placemats, Set of 6

For better or worse, my mom’s placemats perfectly capture the charm of living in the suburbs of St. Louis. (Which, fine, she does.) I think even she has pointed out a couple of times that her placemats could be a bit more stylish, though. For the record, they’re fine, but I think these woven cotton placemats could bring a little flair to the table.