Eat, Drink, and Give the Gift of Merry
Don't get me wrong - I love consumer goods as much as the next red-blooded American. After all, going to the mall (if you can avoid getting gunned down by some nut) helps keep the economy afloat.
But eventually, you can only accumulate so much "stuff," and start to see the wisdom in buying consumables - things to eat, drink, enjoy, and then be done with. It's the experience, after all.
Here are a few sites I'm shopping at this holiday season that offer edible (or drinkable) gifts for the gourmet or gourmand on your list.
GIFTS OF TEA
Tea is so good for you. It's good for the soul, good for the mind, and good for the body.
If you want to buy tea as gifts, try some of these sites:
I really like Numi teas. They're fragrant, beautiful, and definitely unusual. All good attributes for a holiday gift.
I have a little glass Numi teapot of my own (individual size), into which I put a flowering bud and hot water. The bud blossoms into a wonderful flower that at the same times gives you - guess what, a flower tea.
The Numi website includes groupings of inexpensive teas and herbal "teasans", bamboo-packaged gift selections, loose tea, tea ware, and flowering teas. Anything would be a treat for a tea lover, but I definitely recommend (unless they already have one) that interesting little glass teapot with which they can see their tea bloom.
For a broader selection of different kinds of teas, try:
Adagio
For the benefits of green tea, try:
Rishi Tea
CHOCOLATE GIFTS
Godiva is the gold standard in chocolate gifts, and they make the online ordering process for gifts quite easy. Every year they come out with something new in the gift area, although their truffles are always an exquisite classic. Be careful at Godiva, though - if you spend enough on gifts, they'll give you a box of the stuff for your own use.
If you want to branch out and try some other brands, you might also try:
Artisan Confection, with Joseph Schmidt, Scharffen Berger, and the organic Dagoba Chocolates
Candinas Chocolatier - Swiss made and preservative free
SPICES AND EVERYTHING NICES
A friend turned me on to Penzey's Spices a couple of years ago, and I've been buying their spices by mail ever since. They have considerable depth and breadth to their offerings (this is more apparent if you actually order their catalog or go to one of their retail stores) and they have some really interesting spice samplers for anyone you know who loves to cook. Their Website is slightly retro, and takes some thought to find what you're looking for, but the quality of the spices is really worth it.
Oh, and the other great thing about buying things to eat and drink as gifts - you can be pretty sure they won't be returned! Ho ho ho.
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