Sunday, December 14, 2008

'Tis the Season: Holiday Gifts


Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah. It's the season for giving, when I do a service to my reading public and comb through my year of blogging and eating and make gift recommendations from the best stuff I've had. On Wednesday, we will cover whiskey gifts as part of our regular Whiskey Wednesday.

1. Bonbon Bars

This was a year of chocolate for me. Lots of great chocolate. And what makes a finer gift than chocolate. I'd say, of the many great ones I tried this year, the top gift recommendation would be the wonderful, hand made candy bars from Nina Wanat's BonBonBar. As a whiskey lover, I love the Scotch Bar, but every time I give these bars as a gift, the one that gets the most raves is the excellent Caramel Nut Bar, filled with lusciously gooey caramel, nuts and cacao nibs. One commenter wrote, "If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to be reborn as this candy bar." It really does set a new standard for candy bars. Get them here, but order soon because she makes them all by hand and you want to allow some time.


2. Sur La Table Cooking Classes

This is actually a gift I received last year: a Sur La Table gift card intended to be used for a knife skills class. As I reported last month, when I finally got around to using it, I loved everything about the class and am eager to check out their other classes as well. If you know a novice cook who's looking to improve, this is a fabulous gift.


3. Diplomatico Rum

The spirit that blew me away this year was Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum from Venezuela. It's now become fairly available and has a deep, sweet molasses flavor. Really wonderful stuff.


Coming this Wednesday: my whiskey gift recommendations.

No comments: