Happy Holidays! Gifts I’m Giving.

How’s your gifting this year? Do you have everything checked off your list, already wrapped, under the tree, in the mail?  Yea… meee neither.  It’ll all come together.  I just need to find my packing tape, my brain, and a little bit of free time.  Shouldn’t be too hard.

Here’s a peek at what I’m gifting the year.  If we’re the sort of friends that exchange gifts, consider this a spoiler alert.

1  •  Give the gift of cookies without actually preheating your oven!  This Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix from Not Without Salt makes the most lovely dark chocolate cookies. We’re all so inundated with sweets over the holiday season, gifting a mix means that cookies can be made in the future-future… like during the dark days of the January diet days.

2  •  Good coffee is such a luxury.  This monthly Blue Bottle Coffee Subscription is like morning luxury, delivered. Put your fancy pants on.  This mess is legit.

3  •  Unique cocktailing is a fine fine gift.!  I love Art in the Age’s SNAP.  It pairs perfectly with bourbon and apple and ice and a straw.  See:  Apple Snap Cocktails

4  • Never have there been softer kitchen towels, more luxurious kitchen towels.  Hard-working Turkish linen!   LoomedNOLA super plush kitchen towels.

5  •  ALOHA subscription!  You know I love this green powder!  This is a great subscription to gift going into a heathy new year.  Also… should we be doing all the Bikram Yoga?  Probably.

6  •  I know you know… I wrote a book!  Could you do me a quick favor and buy it and share it with everyone you know? Fantastic.  That would be great.  Homemade Decadence!   Grab a signed copy by calling Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.  They’ll ship you a signed copy.  504.895.2266

7  •  Quality cocktails with dreamy Morris Kitchen Syrups.  My favorite is the Grapefruit Hibiscus.

8  •  Chocolate is a gift.  Always.  Jonathan Grahm of Compartes Chocolate makes some of the most wonderfully whimsical flavor combinations, the packaging is stunning, and it’s chocolate… really great chocolate.  I got to know Jonathan when he showed me around his Los Angeles chocolate shop.  It was bonkers awesome! 

9  •  More chocolate, because more is more!  I discovered Glacier Confections on my trip to Tulsa Oklahoma this year.  The truffles are a work of art!

10  •  A subscription to CherryBombe magazine is a fantastic gift!  CherryBombe is the most beautiful, smart, and relevant food magazine on the shelves these days and the latest issue just dropped!  Also fantastic:  CherryBombeRadio the podcast.

11  •  Masculine, waxed cotton + leather Dopp Kits from Sivani Designs.  Beautifully made and a thoughtful gift for dudes.  I mean… any way we can keep a dude from carrying toiletries in a bunch of plastic bags is important.

12  •   You know what’s nice?  A box cute clothes on your doorstep every month.  Thank you Stitch Fix!  That’s good gifting.  

13  •  The end of the year always feels both reflective and full of promise.  It’s a great time of year to gift inspiration.  John and Dana of Minimalist Baker have created a fun, super approachable, and very extensive food photography course that we can enjoy in the comfort of our own homes, at our own pace.  Everything from camera know-how to photo editing and social sharing.  It’s absolutely mega and would make a great gift for anyone that wants to learn more about food photography!   Food Photography School!  ( And here’s how to give Food Photography School as a gift if you need a little more explaining.)