Holidays in the Valley : New Kitchen Gadgets Do It All for You

Useful gifts have gotten a bad wrap over the years.

True, kids often don’t appreciate getting clothes instead of toys, but most adults prefer function over frivolity. The key is to find functional items with flair.

Your relatives may not gush over a new ironing board or vacuum cleaner--or other items associated with housework--but they might go gaga over the lastest kitchen gadgets and appliances.

And just as those certain someones in your life won’t bubble over a new chamois or shovel, present them with an indoor electric grill, oversize apron and cookbook, and they’ll be beaming as they barbecue.

Today’s trendiest small appliances are do-it-all-for-you bread-making machines, shut-the-lid sandwich grills, back-from-the-past pressure cookers, pasta processors and electric rice steamers.

For all-in-one gifting, smart shoppers can’t beat this season’s multipurpose kitchen center. It combines a mixer, food processor, dough maker and blender in one appliance.

Or look to ice cream makers, espresso-cappuccino machines, deep-fat fryers, food processors and any appliance that attaches under the counter.

A classic cookbook for the masses is “The New Settlement Cookbook” edited by Charles Pierce (Simon & Schuster). This is the newest edition of a cookbook begun in 1901 as an outgrowth of a class that helped immigrants learn American ways. Adapted and updated through the years, it still includes heirloom recipes and foreign favorites from immigrant cultures, but it also provides how-tos for creating cuisine using food processors and microwave ovens.

Nearly every kitchen can use new cutlery sets and revolving wooden or plastic spice racks.

And no matter what the family chef’s other interests, there’s certain to be some decorative ceramics that suit his or her style. Water pitchers and vases, canisters and cookie jars are available in whimsical and earthy animal motifs, art-deco designs or sleek-and-neat lines.

For a fistful of fun that goes on and on, toss together a grab bag of gadgets that people rarely buy for themselves. Consider a pizza wheel, mushroom slicer, lobster cracker and bibs, honey dipper, tea infuser, apple corer, butter curler, ice cream scoop, egg timer, kitchen shears or pepper mill.