Recipes in a jar - muffin mixes, cocoa mixes, soup mixes, and the like - are featuring big on our gift-giving list this year. They're perfect for teachers, neighbors, and co-workers, and they look beautiful wrapped with just a simple bow. These ideas from the Food Network sound especially tasty! More

Pound cake with real vanilla beans, fondue drizzled with truffle oil, a pasta with slivers of Parma ham...It's such a treat to get to cook with the real deal, isn't it? This year why not give your favorite cook a few of these small luxuries - and ask for one or two yourself! More

It's graduation season. That means thousands of young people are headed out into the world, getting new apartments, settling into new routines . . . and reaching for the takeout menus.

But it doesn't have to be that way. We're going to a friend's graduation this weekend, and so we've been shopping for a good gift, and pulling together a few suggestions for you all as well. These aren't necessarily the same as the items on our stocking a new kitchen list. These are things that someone who barely cooks will find useful, and thus will be encouraged to use his or her kitchen more. More