2023 Holiday Gift Guide
Nifty gifties, some even thrifty.
Welcome to my first annual holiday gift list. I figured ol’ Saint Nick, Hanukkah Harry and the Good Fairy could all use a little inspiration this time of year. What will not surprise you is that all the recommendations are cooking or food-related.
I’ve tried all these selections, and all were bought with my own money. No freebies, payola or pay-to-play were involved in the making of this list.
Next week I’ll send out a list of my top cookbooks and general food books for the year, along with a guide to great cookies for mailing.
Let me know your favorite presents to give or receive below.
To Sleep, Perchance to Wash
Sponges work so hard every day, so the least you can do is give them a nice place to rest in their downtime. Also, anyone who does dishes deserves to have a little levity when facing the sink, which is why one of my favorite gifts to give is this plastic bed, complete with pillows and a grate where the mattress would be to allow the sponge to dry in between uses. The entire Ototo Design site is full of whimsical gifts from a Nessie-shaped ladle to a wine-opener that looks like a bat. $18.95
https://ototodesign.com/products/clean-dreams
A Lot lot of Chocolate
I discovered this family-run candy store when I was reviewing chocolate shops in New Jersey for the New York Times. (I know, I know, whoa is me, hard job, someone had to do it, etc.). Located off a small highway in central-ish New Jersey, the building looks incongruously like a barn. My daughter often used to compete at a nearby horse stables, and I have never been so excited to go to a horse show as when it also meant a trip to The Fudge Shoppe in Flemington, New Jersey. Once I realized they would ship to my house, Daughter was free to compete wherever!
My go-to is always the chocolate-covered fresh fruit (especially the raspberries), but their peppermint bark, fudge, toffee, truffles, non-pareils, foil-covered turkeys, and oh yes, I could go on, grace our table every holiday and get sent as gift boxes to a few lucky friends. If there is a cocoa lover in your life, be sure to order a package of their teeny-tiny cutest marshmallows ever.
Prices vary, a Santa pop costs $1.50; a 1-pound box of almond butter crunch is $23;
Melter Skelter!
There are many online sources for cheese these days, but as a former reporter on the New Jersey food scene I have a triple-creme-soft spot for Valley Shepherd Creamery The cheeses are made from the milk of the cows, goats and sheep that live on the farm. You can choose from nearly 20 types of cheese, including Pepato, an aged Manchego-style cheese studded with white peppercorns, and the best-named Melter-Skelter, which I use in place of Raclette.
When it comes to gift baskets, they pride themselves on their personal touch: “We are a dairy farm. We 'shop' for your items in our store and put REAL stuff in our gift boxes…whether you are sending this as a gift or to yourself or to someone else, you will be getting a bunch of hi-end gourmet products right off the shelves of our farm store.” Speaking of which, don’t forget you you can order your own fine self a few nice chunks of cheese. Gifts start at $44.99 for a cute bag full of cheeses and range all the way up to a cheese-of-the-month option that starts at $220 for 4 months of mega amounts of cheese.
https://valleyshepherd.myshopify.com/
Greasy is the Word
Created for hard-working chefs, these hardback water- and greaseproof notebooks are meant to be used in the kitchen. They come in red, brown and black and make a nifty gift for all recipe creators in your life. If they were spiral bound, they would be perfect. Notebooks are $21.95.
https://www.stonejournal.co/product/classic-red/
Tea for Me (and Thee)
I first fell in love with Vahdam’s turmeric and ginger tea, which packs a real ka-pow of flavor. This was the tea that woke my palate up last year after I had Covid. I now have a cupboard full of the company’s other turmeric teas, including one with ashwaganda, which promises to de-stress! Vahdam’s website is a treasure trove of gift choices, and with a big sale going on now, prices for tea collections range from 14.99 for an assorted loose-leaf tea Christmas sampler to a gorgeous $120 Advent calendar that if you buy for yourself I won’t tell a soul.
Hot, Chocolate
For all my love of cookies and cake, I love a hot fudge sundae perhaps best of all. And while I am perfectly capable of making my own hot fudge sauce, why should I when there is Herrell’s? I’ve been eating this hot fudge sauce since I went to college only a few miles down the road from Herrell’s flagship ice cream parlor in Northampton, Massachusetts. It’s deeply chocolatey, and I just discovered they sell three-packs, so if you’ll excuse me…
A 10-ounce jar is $7.95.
If Life Gives You Lemon Plants
Fast-Growing Trees is my number one source for indoor and outdoor plants. Over the past few years I’ve bought from them a number of small citrus trees as well as an apple tree. Their products arrive in miraculously good condition. If they don’t, customer service is first-rate and ready to make things right. Citrus trees and New Jersey aren’t made for each other, but they spend the summer outdoors and the fall and winter in a sunny window. Joyce Vance taught me the importance of proper fertilizing, and now I get treated to an abundance of orange, lemon and lime blossom smells in the late spring and fruits in the winter. My plants are still young, but they are immensely gratifying to grow. If Santa Claus is reading this, the Eureka pink variegated lemon tree pictured above is next on my list.
Spice is the Reason for the Sàzon
Sazón and adobo are spice mix cornerstones in Puerto Rican cuisine. I’ve been buying spice mixtures from the brilliant Eric Rivera since he was owner and chef at the popular Seattle restaurant Addo. He has since closed his restaurant, moved across the country and has re-thought what it means to be a chef. He now offers crazy-clever pop-up dinners, and among other things, has developed a roster of hot sauces and spice mixes. He is doing all sorts of specials for the holiday season. You can go fancy and order the Buy One, Send One Spice Mix of the Month, where for $25 a month, Eric will create a new and unique spice blend for customers. Sign up and you’ll get one and your favorite friend will, too. Or stock your pantry, stuff your stocking and buy 4-ounce jars of his sazón and adobo blends for $12 each. I cook with them nearly every day. Sometimes it’s the bounce I add to a pot of rice, other times it’s what I slather all over chicken thighs before sauteeing. I add the spices to soup, meatballs, hmmm, it would probably also be nice on buttered popcorn. Oh! And it always goes in my cheese crackers.
Pets Peevish
I’m no good at pet present suggestions as my cats and dog are pretty cheap dates. Clyde prefers nabbing soft Christmas ornaments off the tree to any actual cat toy, and this morning Calvin stalked and killed a large twist-tie. A little hit of catnip now and then, and they are golden. My dog is a self-flagellist, as he prefers sleeping on the wooden floor to any sort of comfy, supportive mattress we’ve bought him over the years. If we buy him a big, chonky bone, he’ll gleefully grab it, then bury it somewhere in the yard, never to be seen from again—until one day in fall when I uncover one while planting crocuses and screech.
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What are your go-to gifts? Any holiday must-haves around your house?
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My daughter and her partner are coming from northwest MA to visit me over Christmas. I've had their presents mailed to their home in MA (they really don't need to be dragging presents home on the plane) but I also got a couple of Christmas stockings for them and I've been wondering what to put in them. I'd decided on gift cards and then I read your email and discovered Herrell’s which is only about 15 minutes from their home. I'm going to order a couple of the hot fudge jars for myself and a gift card for each of them. I'm addicted to good ice cream and my daughter also shares my passion. When I visited them in August they took me to an ice cream shop in Easthampton, so I know they'll enjoy Herrell's. I also think the sponge bed is fantastic. Thank you for the suggestions.
On your recommendation, we ordered fudge and almond butter crunch from The Fudge Shoppe (for us and for family gifts). Our order arrived yesterday (we're in California) and of course, we had to try them. Heavenly!!! Thanks for highlighting this small business. 🙏🏽