GIFT IT

SINCE MOST PEOPLE love eating and a whole lot of them like to cook as well, when it comes time for gifting, food and food-related items are often right on target. Here are some of the best food gift ideas that have landed in my inbox.
For the Green-minded

Those who want to take the extra step to ensure that they are not infusing their food and their environment with toxic chemicals should consider the new Eco-logic Cookware, a new line of non-stick ware that's coated with porcelain. The cookware is expensive -- it starts at $60 for a small saute pan -- but it performed really well in a one-month marathon test.
 http://www.beka-cookware.com/cookware/category/eco-logic

For the Wine-O 

Cheese Tiles from Placetile Designs
Only a true cheeselover (ME!) would appreciate the super elegant, embossed ceramic tiles that you write on with a dry-erase marker. Write the name of the cheese and either poke the pointy part into a soft cheese or tuck it under. I realize these aren't a must-have, but they are very classy.  They're $29.95 for a set of four. http://www.placetile.com/
Silly pads
For the wine aficionado who has a sense of humor, check out the "Knock Knock" pads, a series of notepads relating to food and drink. I like the "Rate that Wine" pads that ask the drinker to fill out the normal info re: a wine, including vintage, grape type and price, but also comments such as "Murky as a polluted lake" and "Rotten Eggs." Drinkers are asked to give overall rating via the question "Drink again?" -- to which the answers include a resounding "Hell, No!" The pads are $6.99 at specialty stores or online at http://www.knockknockstuff.com/

The Artful Winemaker
Now this gift is not cheap. It's more for the big-budget spender who needs a gift for someone who loves wine, and might like to dabble in the art of making wine herself. It's a winemaking system, ie: a container that comes with juice, yeast, bottles, caps and everything else you need to make and bottle a dozen bottles of your very own wine. The process takes 28 days, start to finish. Since my wine is still in the barrel, or plastic vat, as it were, I have no idea if it will be worth drinking or not. But the process is definitely a lot of fun. The kit is $99 through Dec. 31; $149 thereafter. Shipping is $19.95 in the continental U.S. *note that you get to choose what kind of wine you'd like to make. http://www.artfulwinemaker.com/


For the Foodie

 If you know someone who loves baking and likes to make their food special, there's the Breville Personal Pie Maker. I love this thing. It's about the size of a panini press. You put pastry dough into the four pie-shaped holes, use a form to press it in; fill your pies with anything, top them and close the lid. What you get is something that reminds me of my youth -- little pies that look like those Swanson pot pies. Love it. We filled them with pumpkin mash for Thanksgiving. $79.99 at Williams-Sonoma. http://www.brevilleusa.com/cooking/the-personal-pie.html