Some cooks have a favorite recipe book that opens almost by itself to the pages they use most. Others remember a dish but spend a few minutes finding which book contains it. A personal bookmark can fit that familiar pleasure without asking them to make room for another cookbook.

Choose this kind of gift for someone who enjoys the physical books: the notes in the margin, a particular photograph or the recipe they return to every winter. The gift recognizes how they cook and read, rather than guessing at a new diet or cuisine.

Name-and-birth-flower bookmark

A personal page marker belongs with the recipes they already like returning to.

• Listed at 18.3 × 2.5 cm
• Name and birth-month flower design

View the name-and-flower bookmark

Think about returning, not collecting more

A page marker can keep a currently interesting recipe easy to find. It can also mark the place to return to after reading the introduction or comparing another dish. That is a smaller, more specific job than reorganizing an entire cookbook shelf.

If the cook uses only a phone or tablet in the kitchen, this is unlikely to be the right object. If they already like a particular handwritten scrap as a marker, the new bookmark need not replace its history; it can have a place in another book they use.

Make the design theirs

The listing describes a name and birth-month flower bookmark, measuring 18.3 × 2.5 cm. Its long, narrow shape and tassel give it a different presence from a small adhesive flag. Picture it in the kind of cookbook the person actually opens.

Choose the flower for the birthday connection and the color for their taste. Brown, Dark Brown, Dark Green, Purple, Pink, Beige and Wine Red are the listed colors. A quiet color that suits their notebooks can be as personal as a bright one.

Give the name-and-birth-flower bookmark as a reading accessory, kept with the books when the wet and messy cooking begins. It is not meant to replace the kitchen tools. Its value is the little moment of returning to a recipe they want to make again, with a name and flower chosen just for them.