A gift that is personal and shows thought is always nice. When my friends got married and moved into their own place, I knew that they liked to cook a lot but didn't really have their own pots and pans. I got them a 12-piece cookware set and a couple of big Tupperware containers to help store leftovers.
Now, whenever I go over and visit them, they always make sure to cook something delicious and send me home with some. I don't even ask for them to, but I appreciate it, just as I know they did their gift.