The other night, I decided to peruse Etsy in search for recipe cards that appeal to my foodie fanaticism. Of course, I was once again out of luck, but I did find some other great foodie pieces I had to share.

• Stand Mixer Hand Carved Rubber Stamp -- I just love this little thing, pictured above. It's wonderfully simplistic, but can also come personalized so that all of your foodie correspondences can have your stand mixer stamp. It also comes with a recipe card template.
• Fork Easel -- These are ideal for holding your recipes, notes, business cards, or even place cards at the table. All are made with old and varied forks, so it's also a classy way to reuse tossed items.
• "This doesn't taste like crap:" Recipe Cards -- They're not what I'm looking for to fill my own recipe box, but these suckers never fail to make me laugh every time I look for them. They're perfect for cheap and unique gifts for your spunky and unconventional cooks.

So you've bought Alinea for your favorite wannabe gastro-physicist and The River Cottage Cookbook for your farm-to-table friend. At a loss for the other foodies you're shopping for? Here are the three books that top my own wish list.

For the locavorous turophile: American Cheeses: The Best Regional, Artisanal, and Farmhouse Cheeses, Who Makes Them, and Where to Find Them by Clark Wolf. American cheese certainly doesn't mean processed and cellophaned anymore, but for many it does still just mean Humboldt Fog and Maytag Blue. No disrespect to those two venerable cheeses; it's just that there's much more out there hidden amid our amber waves of grain. Luckily, we've got Clark Wolf to unearth these treasures. More than a primer, American Cheeses qualifies as an ode.

For the literary-minded homebody: Second Helpings of Roast Chicken by Simon Hopkinson. As the title implies, this unassuming volume serves up more of what Hopkinson offered in last year's sleeper hit, Roast Chicken and Other Stories. It's hard to say whether the well-curated recipes or the charmingly told narratives appeal more; luckily, both abound.

For the kitchen experimentalist: The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of American's Most Imaginative Chefs by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. Another sequel of sorts, this follow-up to Page and Dornenburg's award-winning tome on wine pairings, What to Drink with What You Eat. could have been titled What To Eat with What You Eat. I, for one, am a sucker for lists, and in this book, lists abound. In an entry on avocados, for instance, I learn that the ingredient complements a range of flavors from arugula to yogurt, with over five dozen in between. The idea? To equip the home cook to innovate, but logically.

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.

How about some good news from the business world for a change? That sound you hear is the collective sigh of immense relief from workers in office towers and business parks country-wide, for it turns out that this year many offices are choosing to forego their annual office holiday party. But wait, it gets better -- for, in many of those offices that are still having parties, the event is not just being scaled down financially but scaled up culturally. Welcome to the phenomenon of the office book party.

An office book party is one in which, in lieu of the usual God-awful wrapped "present" for an agonizing round-robin of anonymous Kris Kringle, everyone brings a wrapped book. This way, rather than leaving with wrapped bottles of hotel hand lotion or regifted chocolates, everyone leaves with a book. For some book parties, there is a theme -- for one such I've seen, it's "your favorite novel," in which you leave your name inside the cover with a note about why this novel is your favorite -- but for most of them, the only rule is to bring a book someone would like to receive as a gift.

My friend Nicole swears by Ethel's Chocolate. Seriously, she said, "They are the greatest chocolates I have ever eaten." That's high praise as Nicole loves her chocolate.

I checked out Ethel's online and their chocolates are gorgeous, like, audible gasp-gorgeous. These are obviously the best host gift (or loved-one gift, or self-gift) chocolates for this holiday season. Their holiday-themed packages are stunning, and even the regular sets, as you can see, are colorful and exciting. That's right, I said "exciting." They're also affordable; a 12-piece box is just $16.

Ethel's actually has lounges in Las Vegas and Chicago (and surrounding areas), which I certainly did not know. They cater to those passionate about chocolate who want to explore and experience "one of life's greatest pleasures." There are drinks. I shall consider these lounges chocolate brothels. And I want to go.

If you're not in Vegas or Chicago, like most of the world, Ethel's chocolates, in a stunning array of colors, are available online here. Check out our gallery for some great holiday gift ideas!

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!

OK, so you didn't start making glacé fruits last month, to be tenderly rolled in sugar and wrapped in handmade paper for Mother's Day. And you didn't pre-order the fancy chocolates from the local chocolatier, the coconut truffles that say "I love you mom" in pink-dyed white chocolate. You didn't even remember to go the grocery store to get more butter to make her a batch of oatmeal cookies. Now it's Sunday morning. What to do? Here are a few ideas.

1) Buy her a subscription to Bon Appétit, Gourmet, or Cook's Illustrated Just order online and go to the bookstore to pick up this month's copy and roll it up with a ribbon and a flower. If she's far away, just forward her the confirmation email and an e-card.

2) Take her to the movies and smuggle in several bags of her favorite childhood candy (my mother's partial to Charleston Chews and those jaw-killing Jujubes). Have an illicit movie theater candy picnic.

3) Create an electronic recipe box for her on Epicurious.com - you can compile your favorite recipes and make comments about them. Email her the password.

4) Show up with a shopping bag full of ingredients and suggest you bake a cake together. Eat half the batter raw. Eat the rest while watching cheesy movies on TV.

5) Send her some virtual chocolates at virtualchocolate.com. One caveat: you must follow it up in a few days with some real chocolates. I'm partial to Moonstruck Chocolates these days - check out the friggin cute chocolate ladybugs.

Who knew gamers -- the ones who hole themselves up in their basements alone with their consoles for weeks at a time -- could be so lovey dovey?

Paul Pape designed these little Mii milk, white, or dark chocolates that come two in a box that's shaped like a console. The figures inside have tiny red hearts to indicate their love. They're totally cute for Valentine's Day, but they are sold out! OH NO! If you're creative enough, I'm sure you could put together something like this, or something even better, for your gamer love.

[via: Scanner]

When I went to Indonesia in the summer of 2001, my mom's best friend Maria requested that I bring her back some white peppercorns. Towards the end of my five weeks there, I hit a grocery store in order to do a little gift-buying (because who doesn't like to receive gifts of random foodstuffs from other countries? It's always my favorite thing to receive). I got several bags of white peppercorns, some for Maria and then some so that I could play around with them as well.

When I returned, I discovered that I didn't really like the taste of white peppercorns. They had a woodiness that I didn't enjoy and since I've never minded sullying light colored sauces and soups with flecks of black pepper, I've just sort ignored the existence of white peppercorns and gone on my merry way. However, I discovered last week, as I trawled the vast expanse of food writing available to me on the internet that white peppercorns are just black ones that have been soaked and had their outer hull removed. They do get a bit fermented in the process of being stripped of their black outsides, which may lend the taste that I found so unappealing.

Do you have a pepper-color preference? And while we're at it, what's your favorite grind? I tend to go for a coarser grind, but I keep several pepper mills around at all times, set to different grinds, so that I always have plenty of options.

[via Chicago Sun-Times]
Photo link

About five years ago, two of my good friends got married within a few months of each other. I was still pretty fresh out of college back then and working hard at my first real job. As is true with most first real job, this one paid peanuts and so I wasn't able to afford much in the way of gifts for them.

Instead of splurging on items from their registries that I couldn't afford, I bought two plain, spiral-bound notebooks and decoupage the covers with pictures of food cut from magazines. I pasted in tabs about every 35 pages or so to divide up sections between Main Dishes, Sides, Soups, Salads and Desserts (there may have also been a Miscellanous section). At the beginning of each section I wrote in two or three recipes I particularly liked, leaving plenty of space for them to add in their own recipes over the years.

This gift doesn't work for more of the devoted cooks who tend to amass binders full of recipes (like me), but for the folks who like to have a stash of tried and true recipes easily available to them, this is a good way to go. I know my friend Jamie still uses hers frequently, as when I went over to her house last summer, she greeted me at the door with the words, "I made your mayo-free potato salad yesterday. It was so good!" If you're looking for ideas for holiday gifts you can make, this might be one to tuck into your bag of tricks.

If you want to create a cookbook that requires a little less work that a hand decoupaged and written one, check out the new feature at Epicurious. They've partnered with Tastebook to give you an easy way to drag and drop recipes from your Epicurious account straight into a book template. A personal cookbook with up to 100 recipes can be had for $34.95.

So today is not only Valentine's Day, it's also a great day for hot chocolate (for much of the country, anyway...you stay classy San Diego). So let's combine the two and see what we get.

And that would be Hot Chocolate Cones! They're cocoa, mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, and a red gum drop placed inside cone-shaped cellophane wrappers. Makes a cool gift:

3/4 cup cocoa mix
two 6" x 12" cone-shaped cellophane bags
2 clear rubberbands
scissors
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup mini marshmallows
1 large red gumdrop

In the US, Valentine's Day celebrations are generally geared towards couples, with a slight bias towards women when it comes to the marketing of chocolates, flowers and other gifts - a bias that is meant to have women encourage men to buy gifts for them. In Japan, things are a little different. The chocolates and other Valentine's Day items are marketed towards women, but they're marketed for them to buy and give to men, rather than the other way around. Barentain Dei calls for gifts to be given to boyfriends and husbands, as well as for giri-choco, or obligation chocolates, to be given to male bosses, coworkers, classmates and friends. About 80% of Japanese women participate in the tradition, spending an average of $20 on their most chocolate important purchase and $6 on each of their other chocolate gifts, averaging $56 per woman for a total of over $400 million countrywide on the holiday. This doesn't include additional gifts or fancy dinners.

If this all seems a bit unfair, as it is more one-sided than the US version of Valentine's, not to worry. On March 14th, the Japanese celebrate "White Day" as in reciprocation for Valentine's Day, where men buy gifts, from chocolates to expensive jewelry, as a sign of affection

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.

The presents have been unwrapped and the discarded holiday paper, boxes and ribbon have (hopefully) been discarded. And what are we left with? Memories and a few useful kitchen gadgets! I know I was incredibly happy with every aspect of my Christmas celebrations, from the crepe brunch to snacks of Christmas cookies, peppermint bark and hot chocolate. The time spent with loved ones is invaluable, of course, but I have to say that I love the things that I was given, too. I got a silicone egg ring, which is designed to keep fried eggs at just the right size and thickness. I am also planning to use it the next time I make a batch of crumpets to see if it can help keep them round as they "bake". I also received a lovely apron from Anthropologie and a new Aerolatte, a gadget that makes frothing milk for cappuccinos as easy as can be.

Did anyone else get any exciting new kitchen gadgets or other food-related goodies?

Except for Santa (and other gift-bringers), no one knows exactly what will be waiting under the Christmas tree tomorrow morning. I'm not one to want to ruin the surprise, so I don't shake boxes, trying to guess what is in each package, before they are ready to be opened. Instead, I'd rather think about some of the great gifts I got in previous years (as well as family, friends, world peace, etc.) and hope that this year will be similarly successful.

What are some of your kitchen highlights from past Christmases? And what are you hoping to find under the tree this year? Anything kitchen or cooking related is always welcome as far as I'm concerned, but a few new baking books wouldn't hurt, nor would some flavored salts, fancy vanilla extracts or other specialty ingredients. Last year, I really enjoyed my aebelskiver pan, a specialty pan for making little Danish pancakes, and a selection of coffee from Terroir.