"holidays" news and stories

• The Holiday Cookie Bake-Off results are in! Which cookies made the top ten?
• Speaking of prize-winning, check out this apple pie. Breaking a few rules makes all the difference.
• For an entirely different pie experience, head to Beijing Pie House in Monterey Park. It's worth your while.
• Angelenos, looking to go out for your holiday meal? Here's a restaurant guide to who's working on Christmas and New Year's.

For as many people who love to cook, there are probably five times as many people who don't -- but they do love eating. Edible gifts are therefore almost always appreciated -- especially if you know your recipient's favorite treats. But who said fruit baskets, popcorn and chocolate-covered-everything are the only gifts worth giving? We've compiled some of the best giftable foods we could get our hands on (and sink our teeth into) -- nary a stale mail-order item in sight. Flip through our gallery of gifts to whet your appetite.

Want gifts that don't come with an expiration date? Check out our gift guide for foodies and cooks. Also, check out all of our Christmas menus, recipes and entertaining tips. If you're all about cookies (who isn't?), we've got 25 days of Christmas cookies. If you want other sorts of sweets, check out Gail Simmons' Christmas desserts.

People who love to eat and cook often have a kitchen stocked with the essentials and possess an array of specialty gadgets or food-themed décor. So looking for a dinner party hostess gift or an on-point present for the passionate foodie in your life is often quite the challenge. This year, we've rounded up some of the coolest new tools and goodies we could find – items that are brand-new or unique – to make your holiday shopping just a little easier. What's even better? They're all under $50. Click through the gallery to see our top gift picks.

Hungry for more? Check out all of our Christmas menus, recipes and entertaining tips. If you're all about cookies (who isn't?), we've got 25 days of Christmas cookies. If you want other sorts of sweets, check out Gail Simmons' Christmas desserts.

Additional reporting by Lindsay Damast.

Diwali is a five-day Hindu festival that this year begins today (November 5th). But the enjoyment of the festival worldwide goes well beyond the circle of observant Hindus. In India , Sri Lanka , and among Indian immigrants to the Caribbean, the U.S., Australia , and Southeast Asia , the gala event is celebrated by individuals of many religions, including Sikhs, Jains, and Zoroastrians. The holiday is becoming popular among non-Indians, too, in places like the Richmond Hill, Queens, neighborhood of New York City, where everyone is swept up in the excitement of the nonstop street festivals and parades.

As with many holidays, Diwali commemorates a broad range of events in Hindu scriptures, most prominently the marriage of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi (not Padma, but the goddess of wealth and prosperity). Some make the elephant-headed god Ganesh the center of attention, while others celebrate Kali, the goddess of strength. The precise focus of the shindig is thus up to you. The climax of Diwali occurs on the third day, the Festival of Lights, marked by fireworks and the lighting of candles and diyas, which are clay lamps with cotton wicks, traditionally fueled with ghee (clarified butter).

In common with most religious holidays, there are foods associated with the festival, mainly snacks and sweet treats, which vary according to group and geographic location. On the BBC website, blogger Cyrus Todiwala, a Zoroastrian, provides a thumbnail guide to the foods of Diwali, which include puran poli (a flatbread stuffed with sweetened crushed lentils), karanji (a round pastry filled with coconut), chiwada (beaten rice cooked on a griddle with things like nuts, chiles, and fried vermicelli), and badaam paak (almond fudge). (Links to recipes for the sweets are also included in the BBC story.)

Let's not kid ourselves -- holidays have always been about the food. Hannukah has latkes. Thanksgiving has turkey. Independence Day has barbecue. Christmas is no exception, especially in Latin America. In Mexico and parts of the United States, Christmas is preceded by Las Posadas, a nine-day marathon of singing and eating. It begins Wednesday and lasts until Dec. 24.

The phrase "Las Posadas" translates to "the inns." It refers to the attempts of Mary and Joseph to find room at an inn for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Each night, celebrants and musicians gather for candlelight processions, led by children dressed as the Holy Family and the Three Wise Men, and travel from home to home singing and requesting permission to enter until welcomed by an "innkeeper." At last, the food!

Among the essential dishes of holiday parties are ponche (punch), antojitos (snacks or appetizers), colaciones (light foods like sugar balls), pozole (hominy, pork and chile stew) and, of course, tamales, the ever-present Mexican holiday food. Ultimately, the foods and recipes are regionally dependent, as much of Mexican cuisine is. Zarela Martinez, matriarch of Mexican restaurants in New York and owner of Zarela, likes to serve pozole during Las Posadas. "It is easy to do and everyone loves it."