When it comes to assembling the bar for your holiday party, there's a certain list of basics you must have on hand--vodka, gin, whiskey, cola, tonic, etc. Such a bar will certainly serve to make a decent drink and satisfy most customers, but won't add anything special to the festivities. The easiest--and cheapest--way to add a little magic is with unusual mixers. Here's five that will add a twist to your cocktail menu.

1. Canada Dry Sparkling Green Tea Ginger Ale
It mixes equally well with bourbon, vodka and light rum and works nicely in a punch. The antioxidants listed on the bottle may come in handy when battling the holidays' excesses, but the large amount of sugar won't help with that Christmas waistline.

2. Sence Rose Petal Nectar
If you wish to offer chick drinks that are more Deneuve/Dietrich than Carrie Bradshaw, rose petal nectar can come in handy. Try the elegant American Beauty--not the brandy version, but one made with vanilla vodka, lemon juice and rose petal nectar.

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.

We're back on Target. Or rather, we're back to looking at Target's in-store brand, Archer Farms, and some of the products they offer.

I mentioned the Chocolate Chip Petite Cookies last week, which were fine, but not worth running off to Target, battling the Soccer Moms in SUVs in the parking lot, and waiting in a confusing doubled-up line for 15 minutes. They're chocolate chip cookies, for goodness' sake!

Key Lime White Chocolate Cookies are the next installment of my Archer Farms Target Finds. The cookies are packaged in the same way as the regular chocolate chip, but everything is green -- in case you couldn't figure out that there is lime somewhere in the cookie.

In case some of you aren't aware, super mega store Target has its own line of grocery store products, Archer Farms. If you think about it, Archer Farms is just a fancy rooster sticker on the generic white store brand, but that is beside the point. The point is that though I knew about Archer Farms, and though I go to Target on a regular basis for "stuff," I never actually stopped to try any of their foods. The only thing I ever eat from Target is pizza from Pizza Hut because really now, I could never, in good conscience, eat Pizza Hut outside of a discount superstore.

This week, my Slashfoodie friends, it is "Sarah Tries a Lot of Foods From Target and Blogs About It!" Week because I somehow found myself with all kinds of "rare and wondrous foods" from Archer Farms ("rare and wondrous" are their words, not mine) in my pantry and my countertop.

First up, it's the Chocolate Chip Petite Cookies -- "rare and wondrous" indeed!

Personally, I just adore my Calphalon frying pans and have no plans to swap them with anything else in the future, but I will admit that they are a little bit plain, since they are all black. Black, silver and copper are all common colors for cookware and most chefs don't expect to see color on their stove top unless they are using an enamel-covered piece of cookware, such as a Le Creuset dutch oven. At Target, however, they have started to carry a line of frying pans that have vibrant designs painted on the sides and bases. The pans are made in Italy by Esprit and all measure 10-in. across. They have a nonstick coating on the interior, "stay-cool handles" and are dishwasher safe.

The pans are only $13 each, so you may not want to run out and replace some of your more expensive cookware, but they're certainly appealing to the eye and I can see them working well as a much-used piece of equipment in a college apartment.

Perhaps they are responding to Wal-Mart's increased offering of organic products. Perhaps they are extending their business philosophy of organic growth into their actual products. Whatever the reason, Minneapolis-based Target will be putting more organic products on their grocery shelves.

Target already offers orgaic option in their SuperTarget stores around the country. Their produce departments are certified organic, and they offer hundreds of national-brand organic products. However, Target plans to add their own products under a private-label, Archer Farms. The line of foods will include pizzas, pastas, frozen dinners and dairy products.

With quite a few food blogging events coming up that focus on cold things (sweets in particular), an ice cream maker is a great thing to have in the kitchen. (Unless, of course, you want to do a rainbow jell-o mold). However, if you've got more than one person in your household, or heck, your tastebuds have a double-personality, you might need to do more than just one flavor. Enter, the double ice cream maker.

The Koolatron Double Ice Cream Maker makes two flavors at once in your freezer. It's available from Targat, and you'd think that a double ice cream maker would cost twice as much, but this one is only $16.99. Target also has a model made by a different manufacturer, the DuoTreat Ice Cream Maker, which is a few dollars more at $19.99.

Two great tastes that taste great together!

I don't know what it is with me, but if something, even as useless as a garlic peeler, is pink, I want it. This set of pink stemware isn't quite useless, but it certainly isn't necessary for my bar that is already equipped with Champagne flutes, a whole family of wine glasses, shot glasses, martini glasses, and margarita glasses.

But they're pink and pretty, and for only $19.99 per pair from Target (excuse me, I meant "Tar-zhay"), I think I need them. No, in fact, I know I need them. They're made of glass and are dishwasher-safe.

Apparently some Choxie Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls were masquerading in a box of Choxie Double Dark Truffles, sparking concerns of undeclared allergens. Galerie, the company that produces the Choxie line of chocolates sold at Target, has issued a recall of all 4.95 ounce packages of truffles and balls. Other items recalled include Chocolate Truffles, Chocolate Caramel Balls and, just for good measure, Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. An FDA recall press release is available here.

When you're baking for love, you need to have lots of heart(s). Why not add your measuring cups into the mix? I can't possibly think of anything but romance and sugar when I bake with these. I found them in the dollar section at Target - yes, $1! It's a delicious sweet silliness that's entirely worth the space on your gadget hooks.

What do I want from a nearly $2 chocolate bar? I'm done with that sticky raspberry filling from Lindt bars, or the rather mundane truffle filling in a European Milka bar or those little chocolate bar packs from Trader Joe's. I want something that combines smooth and creamy with crunch, and a little salt or spice for interest.

Choxie's peanut butter pretzel bar filled all my criteria. I picked one of these up when I was absolutely starved, at the end of a very long Target trip where I'd spent too much money and carried my 20-some-pound baby around far too long. As I stood in the checkout stand watching the money melt away, with five minutes to spare before the doors got locked down, I saw this bar and couldn't resist.