You know what would be really great? If someone I didn’t know that well, or who was at a loss for what to give me, skipped the slippers and just got me something really delicious instead. Some suggestions:
Vosges Minis
Vosges chocolate comes in outrageous and crazy-delicious flavors like Naga (with curry and coconut) and Bacon (with, um, bacon). I highly recommend the Barcelona (with sea salt and almonds). With this, you can create your own set and give someone 6 different flavors for a very friendly price.
Mix n’ Match Minis, $12.50 for 6 at Vosges
Quince & Apple Shallot Confit
“Onion jam?” you ask? Oh yes. Spread this on some bread with tomato slices and sharp cheddar cheese for the most insanely delicious grilled cheese sandwhich of your life. Or, if you’re a traditionalist, serve with a big bloody steak. Either way: delicious.
Shallot Confit with Red Wine by Quince & Apple, $5.99 at Foodzie
Moravian Spice Cookies
Crispy, spicy, and addictively delicious. No one will care one bit that your signature Christmas cookies aren’t homemade.
Moravian Spice Cookies, $13 at Amazon
Passionfruit Vinegar
Oh my god. This vinegar is insane. Make a light vinaigrette for a salad of greens and fruit, use it to dress some fresh strawberries or, my favorite, drizzle it straight onto some grilled fish. Interesting, unusual, and delicious (and, at this price, a STEAL.)
A L’Olivier PAssionfruit Vinegar, $14.97 at Amazon
Beeline Honey
This honey has it all: great packaging, small-batch production, and the knowledge that you’re supporting a great cause. (Beeline products are made by participants in a workforce training program for ex-offenders who are trying to reenter the workforce. Cool, right?)
Beeline honey, 12 oz jar, $9 at Beeline Store
Yum.
Green
I truly do mean this in the nicest way, but none of these things look good. They all look like things meant to be be perceived as fancy gifts. Here is a good food gift: Crate and Barrel sells these pretzels covered in white chocolate that come in a tin that is silver and has white snowflakes on it. They sell this every single year. It’s awesome.
December 4th, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
Lisa G.
I’m actually really tempted to try the recommended chocolate site, if only to sample some of those totally weird flavors (I can’t even imagine how anyone could conceive of pairing bacon and chocolate, and the chocolate and mushrooms is a real head-scratcher too). But the Habana bar with the plantains sounds genuinely good, as do the Gianduja, the Matcha, the Naga, and the Woolloomooloo. Well, there’s my 6 I guess. Both my cravings and my curiosity would be sated with those. Maybe I’ll take the plunge and actually try those. The passionfruit vinegar sounds very tasty as well.
December 6th, 2009 @ 11:32 pm
Lisa G.
Whoops, I just went back to the site with the intent to buy, and I realized that it’s $12.50 for 6 bars that are each 0.5 oz, which is like a teeny-tiny mini candy bar. That’s $12.50 for 3 total ounces of chocolate. To put it in perspective, I just paid about $2.50 (one-fifth of that price) for a whole bag full of mini-Heath bars, totaling 12 ounces of something I already know I like. I’m still dying to try those Vosges bars, but maybe I’ll wait until I see them in stores and there’s no shipping or something. I was thinking of getting some for my cousin who’s impossible to buy for and who likes crazy, exotic, international stuff, but I just don’t think the mini’s would be enough chocolate to constitute a gift, and to buy enough to actually constitute a gift would cost a mint.
December 8th, 2009 @ 9:57 pm