Last Minute Food-Inspired Gifts

Have you looked at the calendar yet? If not, maybe you should just avoid it all together. I’m so excited it is Christmas week (even more excited that I’m off work until the New Year), but I can’t believe it is already the 21st!

I had planned to do 10 leisurely posts throughout December highlighting some of my favorite things to serve as gift ideas. Well I’ve done 2 and there are 4 shopping days until Christmas. Yeah, the math doesn’t work out so well.

So let’s scratch that plan with the countdown and I’ll just give a few more of my favorites. If you are anything like me you still have shopping to do. Today I’m a baking machine, tomorrow, I’m headed out to brave the crowds and finish up the gift buying.

If you need a stocking stuffer, I love these little kitchen scrubber shaped like fruit from Loofah-Art. I picked one up for a friend and I think this watermelon is the cutest. The scrubbers are described as eco-friendly and bio-degradable. The company works to support impoverished farmers certified to grow loofah in developing cultures. I picked mine up at Harry and David’s.

I read The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life  by Ann Vanderhoof this summer for a book review I did for The Lost Girls World. This is such a great book about Ann’s adventures with her husband to sail the Caribbean islands with a mission to learn all she could about cooking the local foods. It is adventure novel, documentary and cookbook all in one! Check out my review if you’d like to learn more about it.

 

We returned from Jamaica last week. Considering how my interest in cookbooks has spiked over the past year, I had my eye out for a souvenir that would teach me more about Caribbean cooking. I found it in Eat Caribbean by Virginia Burke. There are recipes for traditional foods from around the Caribbean islands such as Jerked Chicken with Avocado and Papaya salad and Pepperpot Soup. It is also filled with recipes for spice mixes, rubs and dressings, not to mention gorgeous food and travel photography.

I also reviewed several cookbooks this year that top my list.

Canning for a New Generation – A must if you want to preserve foods that are a little more adventurous and creative than the traditional things grandmother used to make.

Good to the Grain – If you like to bake with whole and alternative grains, you need this book!

Good Meat – A guide for the home cook about small scale meat production and sustainable methods; how to find it and how to cook it. It’s an excellent resource.

Jonathan’s Bluegrass Table – The best of Kentucky cooking with a gourmet twist. The recipes are some of the best southern fare you will find.

Do you still have holiday shopping to finish up?