ICYMI: THE PANTRY SISTERS 3ᴿᴰANNUAL HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE! ⭐️🎁
We're back at it with our favorite gifts + Small Business Saturday picks
We pride ourselves on being good gift-givers. The kitchen is my domain, but Nat has a knack for finding obsession-worthy items. So for our third year in a row, we have created an Ultimate Gift Guide of all the things we love. Almost everything in it we’ve either owned or gifted and awarded The Pantry seal of approval. We hope you love our guide this year just as much as the last two years! (Items linked to our LTK page provide us a small commission ☺️)
We’d also like to give a special shout-out to our ‘for him/cook’ gift guide extraordinaire, Charles. Charles is a chef with great taste- no pun intended. Nat and I can come up with gifts for the gals all day long, but we struggle with the boys and Charles always comes through with the best picks!
We love to shop at small businesses so we thought we would add a bonus Small Business Saturday section to our gift guide this year! These are some of our favorite local and nationwide small business spots that we highly recommend you check out for holiday gifting!
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CHICAGO SPOTS
THE CENTER OF ORDER & EXPERIMENTATION
Despite its name, this is not a cult. It’s a women-owned gift shop and coffee bar with the most fun and whimsical gifts. We love all the food-themed candles, stationery, and vintage clothes in the back. And the oat milk lavender latte is delightful!
I was so excited when this vintage shop opened up down the street. It’s owned by four vintage clothing members (mostly female) and they also sell other small business goods like ceramics and jewelry. They host tons of fun events too that I will definitely be checking out!
If there is one store I always go back to and spend too much time in it’s RR #1. Every wall is covered top to bottom with goodies. If you need a gift, you will 100% find it here. The owners are also very sweet and helpful!
My 2025 New Year’s resolution is going to be buying more flowers. Steve’s is the best because you can walk in, tell them how much money you want to spend and what types of flowers/vibe you are looking for and they will put together the most beautiful bouquet. This is a great place to stop before heading to a friend’s house or holiday party.
This woman-owned bespoke fragrance maker creates some of my favorite candles and lotions. The atelier is open a few times a year, and if you can visit it is worth the stop. You can also buy her candles online or in stores nationwide (see the find a store tab on her website).
My mom, sister, and I happened upon this shop last spring and loved everything we bought. It is a woman-owned holistic beauty brand that has tons of amazing products. We especially liked the bath fizz, lip and cheek stain, and stress relief balm.
While I have not personally stopped into Sugoi Sweets I have only heard wonderful things about it. It is a woman-owned chocolate confection store that specializes in beautiful chocolate bonbons. It is definitely on my list if I need a sweet treat to bring as a hostess gift.
Flour Power has the best pasta in the city hands down. I joined the Flour Buds program last year and get to pick a pound of fresh pasta every month. I could not recommend it more. If you live nearby, this is a must and the Flour Buds program makes a great gift for someone who appreciates good pasta!
NATIONWIDE SPOTS
Our friend Maria owns Simply Wine in Northville. And let me tell you, Maria knows her stuff. She is always recommending the best wines to us (and knows exactly what we like). You can join or gift her wine of the month club if you want to try something new each month! Or stop by and pick up a bottle (or few… or maybe just get a case…🤪)
My friend, Glennie, recently told me about this brand after she purchased a few items and raved about them. Namai is a woman-owned, New York-based fashion brand that creates timeless, zero-waste clothing from repurposed antique Indian textiles. I love that each one is unique and can be worn inside out! There is currently a Black Friday sale!
BRICK APP - CHARLES’ PICK
This is for those whose social media brain rot is getting out of hand. There are 100s of software apps that block certain apps during the day so you focus. The problem is, that those are easy to unlock, and more often than not they get deleted quite quickly. Insert Brick. Brick is a physical magnetic device that can be placed anywhere in your house (the fridge is where I keep it). The device connects to an app where you can select which apps you want to brick and which ones you want to keep live. When you tap your phone to the brick it freezes your selected apps and won’t unlock them until you tap it again. It has really helped keep me in the moment and present when out with friends, on dates, and at work.
VIBAE SHOES - CHARLES’ PICK
These are without a doubt the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever bought. Not a day has gone by in the past year that I haven’t worn them. They have a bunch of different style options but the heel of the backed version can be flipped down, kind of like Crocs…they’re like acoustic Crocs.
686 OUTDOOR APPAREL - CHARLES’ PICK
I love their thermal dry snap-up shacket. For a fella who runs hot all year long, shackets have been a game-changer. They can be worn like a coat or layered under a vest or heavier jacket if needed. Great for winter, spring, and fall
THE PANTRY SISTERS’ CUSTOM ‘NAME’ WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS
Painting and drawing is our creative outlet. Over the years we’ve turned this hobby into gifts for our family and friends. Lately, we’ve been tag teaming on paintings for babies, teachers, and ‘friends of friends’ with particular obsessions (cat lovers, bookworms, runners lol). If you’re interested in one of our custom watercolors email hilary@thepantrymeals.com for more info.
Starting at $50
HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!
THANKS FOR READING!
Cheers 🥂
Hil & Nat
Don’t forget you can access the entire recipe library with all your favs here.