• Why not make candy to give as gifts this Christmas?
• There's no reason to be afraid of baking.
• Lighter latkes.
• An interview with Simple Cooking publisher John Thorne.
• Who makes the best frozen french fries, McCain, Oreida, Goya, Alexia, or Stop & Shop?
• Restaurant reviews: The Select Cafe, Gulu Gulu, and Haru.
• More recipes: Pumpkin Cranberry Loaf, Potato Fritters, and Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Toasted Breadcrumbs.

If you order a dozen or so holiday cookies from a bakery, you don't expect them to be piled up on a plate and covered in saran wrap, although this seems to be a perfectly acceptable presentation for gifts of homemade cookies. It's true that it is the thought that counts and that good cookies will over come any packaging, but it doesn't take that much more effort to take that packaging to a new level, which will keep the cookies fresher and make a homemade gift a showstopper.

This week, along with their collection of eight great holiday cookie recipes that are all going to be a bit more impressive than your average batch of chocolate chips, including Coconut Orange Macaroons, Scottish Shortbread, Ginger Drops and Candy Cane Cookies, the Denver Post has some great tips for packaging. For kids, try packing up "blank" gingerbread cookies in a small toolbox with frosting, sprinkles and other things they can use to customize the cookies. For cookies that will long outlast the holiday season, giving an unbaked roll of cookie dough (choose an attractive one, like the Chocolate-Coconut Pinwheels the article includes) and baking instructions wrapped up in an elegant tube that will put any store-bought dough to shame. And for the baker, consider wrapping the treats up in or on a pan, so they'll have something to use when they want to bake a batch themselves.

About.com says that this recipe for Cashew Brittle is perfect for Christmas, but I see no reason why we can't move it up on our schedule and make it for Thanksgiving, right? Though it does seem like a nice gift to give someone, in a cool tin with a ribbon around it, for Christmas.

But don't make it for Arbor Day. For God's sake, don't make it for Arbor Day!

The chocolate fountain is now officially the totem of faux-luxe extravagance and over-the-top pop materialism. Why? David Beckham bought one for his lovely wife, Victoria (a.k.a. Posh Spice). Evidently, though, it wasn't his idea - he used a personal shopper from Harrod's.

Victoria's chocolate fountain was stocked with Belgian chocolate and delivered with fruits and assorted sweets for dipping. No word on whether those Beckham boys - Romeo, Brooklyn and Cruz - got their own miniature versions.

In a feature in the business section of the Oregonian today about the popularity of high-end spirits, the writer of the story suggested that one's Christmas list might include "A bottle of Bushmills 16-year Single Malt for the boss." Other gifts so popular they've been stripped from the shelves in OLCC stores: Kahlua coffee liqueur, McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt whiskey and Hennessey VS cognac. For the lush in cash as well as liquor, Hardy Perfection Cognac Air or Courvoisier L'Esprit sell for around $5 or $6K each (in Oregon, one bottle of the Hardy and 15 of the Courvoisier have been sold in the past year).

While I've never given a gift of spirits, I can see the appeal. It's luxurious, it's thoughtful, and a gift of good liqueur can really show off your expensive tastes. Problematic, though, is the commodity characteristic: there's one price for liquor in most states, so everyone will know exactly what you spent. Local bartenders suggest Shakers Rye vodka, William LaRue Weller uncut, unfiltered bourbon and Hangar One Fraster River Raspberry vodka. My husband's buddy, who's in a pirate band (??), recommends the Sailor Jerry's rum pictured. What do you recommend for spirited gifts this year?

[photo Sarah Gilbert]