There are times when it's not appropriate to actually buy someone a bottle of wine--say, if that person lives out of state and the crazy shipping laws don't allow you to. But that's not to say you can't still feed their wine habit with an accessory gift. Funny that the wine industry has an entire related industry of accessories--most of which, like kitchen gadgets, are novel, but utterly useless--but some of them are actually fun and handy. Here are strategies for getting just the right gift for the...

Novice: Anything wine-related is fair game, because the person probably just likes the idea of the "Italian villa" look in their home or the thought that they're sophisticated enough to have moved beyond frat-party beer and fruity mixed drinks. A wrought iron wine rack, a "Chateau Roberts" plaque, a cork board kit, or a T-shirt that says "I always feel better after I wine a little" will go over perfectly.

Enthusiast who is getting serious about wine: Think practical and useful items at this stage. This person needs to trade up her old K-Mart wine glasses for some more delicate stemware. Riedel is the top brand, and you can get a set anywhere from around $100 a glass to a little more than $10 a glass. Target carries an inexpensive but good-quality Riedel line that will buy you four basic red or white wine glasses for around $45. The new enthusiast could also use a decanter, vacuum bottle sealers, and Champagne stoppers.

Long-time collector: Realistically, this person has everything he needs, likely including a cellar. He's probably gotten every wine-type gift known to man, from Santa bottle stoppers (useless, but cute) to wine charms (useful only if you remember to get them out of the drawer). Skip the cutesy stuff and get something you know he'll use, like a gift subscription to Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, or the Wine Advocate (which he probably already gets, in which case the subscription will be tacked on to his standing order) or a magazine he may not get, like Wine & Spirits or Food & Wine. Or buy him a wine book--new releases this year include The Battle for Wine & Love, The Billionaire's Vinegar, the updated World Atlas of Wine, 1001 Wines You Must Taste Before You Die, The Wine Snob's Dictionary, and The House of Mondavi.

Any best and worst wine accessory gifts to share?

It's that time of year again when you're making your lists and checking them twice. I'm not talking about the list you're making for Santa (we're all grownups now, right?) but the list you're making for all those other people in your life. Your friends, family, boss, coworkers, book club, husband's office assistant...all those people whom you're not sure what to get for or whether they'll even like it.

Here are a couple of ground rules I use to make the gift-buying process very easy when the person hasn't actually handed me a list.

1. If the person is an adult, and is not a teetotaler, I buy wine (duh!).
2. If the person is an adult, but doesn't drink, I buy or make food.
3. If the person is an adult, but doesn't drink and is on a diet, I buy a book.
4. If the person is a kid, I buy toys (younger) or clothes (older).

Our other Slashfood bloggers will help with #2, and you're on your own for #3 and #4. But if you're stumped for #1, here are some tips on wine for everyone on your list right after the jump.

It's the time of year when just cooking someone a nice dinner isn't always enough. The people you love want to have things. They want to eat, too, but they'll never remember what you got them this year if they can eat it in one sitting.

There are some edible gifts worth giving, but many gifts for foodies can last for years to come. Plus, they can help your loved ones make you a nice dinner. Everyone wins.

Here is a list of gifts to fill the foodies in your life with delight and joy!

1. Tracey Porter Etched Liquor Glasses (right) - Festive, bright, and varied (so you remember which is yours).
2. Anthropologie Aprons - Affordable and totally unparalleled.
3. Nostalgia Retro Snow Cone Maker - Need I say more?
4. An Angel Wing Platter - For angelic cheeses, angelic fruits, angelic servings all year round.
5. A Michael Aram Coral Reef Candleholder - A gorgeous, non-denominational centerpiece.
6. An Alice in Wonderland Teapot from Alice's Tea Cup - Perfect for tea or even just to display on the shelf for your whimsical friends.
7. Wobbly Cognac Glasses - After dinner drinks have never been this relaxed.
8. The Slashfood Gift of the Day - Marisa McClellan's amazing edible series; some edible gifts really are worth giving!

We don't recommend #2 for your spouse, though. They're totally gonna take that the wrong way. Especially if they're male.

You may remember the first Teastick we reviewed in 2005. You know, if you're that cool and read blogs back then. Well, three years is a long time in Teastick development. Have a look at what's new - at right, the Teastick Gems.

Do they remind anyone else of Barbie shoes? Seriously, that's all I can think of when I look at them. But they're not Barbie shoes, they're not; they make tea.

"Teastick Gems are now made with Eastman Tritan™, a revolutionary new material that is FDA-approved, taste-free and with absolutely no Bisphenol-A!"

I have no idea what Bisphenol-A is, but I feel sort of excited that these don't contain it. I looked up what else is made with Eastman Tritan™ but a Google image search brought me a lumber rack, a synthesizer, and an impressive deer. So, let's assume this is a very new type of plastic.

In any case, Teasticks can go in the dishwasher and are obviously a very handy tea-making shape. The Teastick Gems' semi-clear design allow you to watch your tea pearls unfold and make a perfect 10-14 oz. cup of tea. Perfect for a tea lover's holiday stocking!

Still looking for some chocolaty Valentine's Day gift ideas? Why not try some kisses? We're not talking about Hershey's Kisses, although they are offering plenty of Valentine's themed candies, including Chocolate Truffle-filled kisses and Cherry Cordial Creme kisses. We're talking about upmarket kisses from Jacques Torres.

This Valentine's Day, Jacques Torres is offering a lot of sweet treats for lovers. In his stores, the offerings will include Jolie Kiss Chocolate Boxes (pictured) which are hollow kisses in dark, milk and white chocolate filled with chocolate X's, O's, hearts and mini kisses. He will also have Champagne Kiss Truffles, which are made with Taittinger Rosé champagne and chocolate ganache, then topped with a pink lip graphic. For those doing their shopping online, the Champagne Kiss truffles can also be purchased here.

Other, non-kiss treats include heart-shaped boxes filled with romance bonbons and other lovely truffles, three types of body butters - Love Tonic, Caramel Body Butter, and Raspberry Body Paint - to share with your significant other, and a huge basket called the Sweetheart collection for those who can't narrow down their options.

To go with your heart-shaped fried egg breakfast in bed on Valentine's Day, you will need some heart shaped accessories and tableware. Admittedly, "need" is a little strong of a word in this case, but Valentine's Day is one of those holidays where going over the top can be a good thing.

For tea drinkers, the Heart-Tea Strainer Set is a lovely way to prepare your tea. The strainer is in an arrow-in-heart design and is hand-cast out of pewter. It sits in a heart-shaped rest.

Coffee fans might get a little more use out of the coordinating Heart Coffee Scoop, which is shaped like one of cupid's arrows and is also hand-made from pewter. It holds about two tablespoons of coffee beans.

Once your coffee or tea is brewed and ready to serve, you'll want something to serve it in. Hallmark has a perfectly romantic heart-shaped mug (pictured) with a twist - the center well is heart-shaped, not the outside of the cup! They're only sold individually, so you might want to check out the similar six-piece set at Target, which includes matching heart-shaped mugs.

Perfect for a night in with a friend or a significant other, The Tasty Show's Chocolate Tasting for Two kit is a cute way to eat some chocolate, expand your palate and talk about food. The kit includes 15 different kinds of gourmet chocolate, a tasting guide and a couple of ratings cards so you can compare your reactions to the chocolate. The chocolates in the kit are small, but a good size for tasting so that you don't overdose on chocolate (yes, it is possible) and get bored before you get through all the samples.

An alternative to the kit is to simply buy several different types of chocolates from gourmet and specialty stores, but at just under $30, the kit really gives you a wide range of milk and dark chocolates - a wider range that $30 could buy you at many pricey gourmet stores - and you have the added benefit of getting some insight into chocolate tasting from the included guides. After you have something to work from, then you can head out to that specialty store and choose (and appreciate) your favorites, new or old.

Chocolatier Pierre Marcolini's seasonal collection includes a very creative 5-pointed holiday star, where each point features a different flavor of ganache filling. Even better, each of the points is split into a milk and dark chocolate section, so in that one item, you get ten different chocolate experiences.

More intriguing, however, is Marcolini's chocolate molecule. Set on a tablet of dark chocolate, the chocolate molecule is represented with chocolate "ions" in a total of four flavors. The White Ion is white chocolate filled with a Moroccan spice-infused milk chocolate center. The Gold Ion features a caramel, roasted pineapple and praline center coated in dark chocolate and accented with gold. The Brown Ion is dark chocolate with a dark chocolate and caramel canter. The Bronze Ion has a gingerbread-spiced ganache coated in milk chocolate. At $80 for each molecule, this is not an inexpensive indulgence, but it is significantly larger than a real molecule and clearly an ideal gift for someone interested in the sciences.

Recipe books aren't quite as popular as they used to be. More often than not, people buy cookbooks as gifts and pass those out to friends and family, not only because it's convenient (and the recipes are good), but because they don't necessarily have a collection of their own favorite recipes to pass on. Fortunately, as home cooking continues steadily growing in popularity, people are writing down what they like to cook. Often, these recipes show up on food blogs, but as gift idea, why not revive the idea of actually writing down those recipes to pass them on?

The Recipe Binder Set from russell+hazel includes two binders, each with recipe pages, recipe cards, menu planning sheets and measuring equivalent charts for easy referencing. There is room for photos and many computers will let you format recipes so they can be printed out directly onto the recipe cards. Alternatively, you might also have luck finding a blank recipe book at a stationary/card store, such as Hallmark.

When you finally get tired of the "good cholesterol, bad cholesterol" and the "good fat, bad fat" debates, you can make simply stop worrying and make things much clearer, at least where butter is concerned. "Christ Butter" and "Satan Butter" make it pretty clear which is "good" and which is not.

Actually, I'm just kidding. Much like the Cereal Bowl Light, these are not actually edible. The butter-stick-lookalikes are hand-carved in Charm City, Maryland from hardwood and then painted to look buttery before receiving the appropriate wrapping. The Christ butter is $9.99 a stick, while the Satan butter is only $6.66. The number (if you've ever seen The Omen) has significance, but when faced with two similar products, the lower priced one is certainly tempting.

Looking for a more secular spread? There is a "love butter" from this same line, or you could always stick with the real thing.

[via tsogb]

There are many food bloggers out there who take stunning, professional-quality photographs of food for their websites. There are an equal number who seem to suffer a bit from poor lighting and blurry images, though. Photographers will get better with practice, but it helps to have a good eye for composition and the ability to hold the camera steady when you're trying to take pictures - especially ones of food, which tend to be from close up and trying to capture a lot of detail. It's safe to say that there are three major elements that will really help anyone looking to improve their photography: a quality camera, good lighting and a tripod or stand,

You're on your own for the camera, but the Photo Studio in a Box offers the other two in a neat little package. It includes an adjustable camera stand, soft light box and backgrounds, two high output table-top lights (to eliminate unflattering shadows and highlight the details of your subject) and a nylon diffuser screen. It also comes with a custom carrier so you can use the studio when traveling, although restaurants probably won't be thrilled if you try to set it up on the table.

Cooking is so popular that aprons are actually a good choice for a holiday gift this year. Aprons provide pockets where you can keep spoons, dish towels or even small containers of spices close at hand. They're also very convenient for wiping your hands and keeping everything, from cooking oil to flour, off your clothes.

On top of their practicality in the kitchen, they also come in many surprisingly appealing designs - no old-fashioned frills or lace to be see. At least, there isn't any to be seen on any of the aprons from Anthropologie. The flower shower apron ($28, above center-left) features a brilliant color-burst in red or green and is as funky as it is feminine. The utility half-apron ($28, above far-right) is more like a tool-belt than an apron, and an even better choice if something less traditional is what you're interested in.

There are a lot of different types of foodies, from those who love to cook at home to those who eat out exclusively, those who relish a great selection of seasonal veggies and those to whom meat is the most important part of a meal. No matter what types of food they fancy, there is going to be something out there, something extraordinary, that will make your favorite foodie's mouth water with anticipation. It could very well be one of the items on our list here. These are top of the line gifts, so some are quite expensive, but each and every one will be well-appreciated.

You can't go wrong with a good balsamic vinegar. It makes a wonderful addition to salads, as well as to sauces and marinades for all kinds of meat and vegetables. If you get a really good one, aged 25-50 years, the flavor will be rich and strong to the point where you might only need a drop or two to finish of a main dish or dessert. Aceto balsamico di Modena and balsamico di Reggio Emilia are the best types you can get, and they'll cost quite a bit more than the average grocery store brand, but are well worth it. Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena - 25 Years, $150.

Like Hershey's Kisses or know someone who does? Even though Hershey's is not at the very pinnacle of the chocolate heap, many chocolate lovers have a soft spot for Hershey's kisses. It could be the fact that they are bite-sized and individually wrapped or that everyone just likes their cute, signature shape, but whatever the reason, even a die-hard dark chocolate fan can find it hard to pass on a kiss from time to time.

To Hershey's recently introduced their Kiss of the Month Club in celebration of their 100th anniversary in 2007. The gift series - which comes in 3, 6 and 12-month packages - starts off with a 100th Anniversary Candy Dish that is shaped like a giant kiss and filled with chocolates. The rest of the gifts vary from month to month and the treat inside each two-box gift tower will be surrounded by kisses. Some of the things to look forward to include Vanilla Thumbprint Cookies topped with HERSHEY'S KISSES Chocolate Truffles (March), Three KISS-shaped Brownies topped with Mint Icing and YORK Bites (June) and Peanut Butter Fudge in KISS-shaped trays (August). The Kiss-shaped trays are made of silicone and can be reused to make more kiss-shaped treats. Prices start at $95 for the 3-month subscription.

This isn't exactly trailer-park cooking (not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that), but it's closer than you're going to come with books like the Chez Panisse Café or The Pleasures of Slow Food. White Trash Gatherings: From-scratch Cooking for Down-home Entertaining is about cooking with family and putting family first, although the book will help you put some good eats on the table while you're doing that. It is the very definition of unfussy, although it does include some craft-y ideas for napkin rings, tablesettings and such, like "Obscenely Large Fake Ice Cream Centerpieces". The recipes are homey and perfect for "potlucking" or just having fun, regardless of the fact that they are unlikely to show up on the menu at a four-star restaurant. Be sure to try Maw Maw's West Virginia Funeral Cake, Tater Tot Casserole and Porcupine Balls. There are full-color photos to liven up the book, as well.

Even if you don't end up cooking anything from White Trash Gatherings, it would make a funny gift for a gourmet friend that is hard to buy for because they already have all the "high class" cookbooks they could want.