Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

I know that a lot of people hate Valentine's Day with a passion, but I love it!  It is the one day when Cynical Me actually likes to tell people that I like them.  So since it is officially February today, I thought I would create a list of delicious goodies you could give someone special or share with a friend while you are watching Somethings Got To Give.

Lets start with chocolate:

L.A. Burdick has these adorable chocolate mice.  They are just too cute to pass up.  The chocolate hearts and cigars are fun too.

An expensive, but fancy gift of Champagne with Rose Truffles from Vosges would be perfect for the traditional romantic.  Vosges also carries Champagne with Exotic Truffles too.

You can also by the Exotic Candy Bar Library and divide the bars of chocolate among friends.  I love the Woolloomooloo bar :)  Vosges really has an extensive selection of gifts, so be sure to check out their website.

Candy:

I cannot say enough good things about Bequet Caramels (click here to read my review).  These caramels are to-die-for.  Instead of the traditional chocolate, try the Chipotle Caramels to spice things up, or the Celtic Sea Salt Caramels.  SO GOOD.  Click here to visit the Bequet Confections.

Divan's Turkish Delight.  Okay, so I have never had this candy, but it is so pretty.  I regret not trying any at Borough Market last year.  You can find this brand at Harrods.  Click here to order.

The All Bacon & Chocolate Gift Box from Vosges would an amazing gift for the bacon lover.

There is also this Sir Francis Peanut Brittle that looks like fun.

Cookies:

Momofuku Compost Cookies ship in packs of 6.  Their Cornflake Cookie is pretty good too.  Click here to order.

If you want to get cutesy, try a French macaron.  If only Laduree had a shop in the States, but alas they don't.  Instead try Macaron Cafe.  They deliver nationwide.

Tea:

Kusmi Sweet Love Tea is one of their most popular teas.  Who can resist their hot pink tins?  The tea is sweet and spicy, and is delicious with some milk and sugar.

Harney & Sons has a Valentine's Tea Blend of chocolate tea with rose buds for the season.

And if you want something to sweeten the tea, try this Four Cheese Honey Flight or the Ames Farm Honey Sampler from Terrain.

Kitchen Sticky Notes

I had to quickly share one of my favorite Christmas gifts so far - these Kitchen Sticky Notes.  These are perfect for someone like me who doesn't like to write in her cookbooks.  Plus, they are totally adorable :)  Thanks Anna!  Click here to buy.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Gift Idea: Q-Pot Ice Cream Necklaces

An expensive, but adorable gift, the Q-Pot necklaces really hit my sweet spot.  These stackable necklaces can be found at Opening Ceremony in New York.  Q-Pot also makes these awesome hamburger necklaces too.  Perfect for any bad-but-so-good food lover.

Ice cream cone cuteness!

To see the rest of Q-Pot's necklaces click here.  Click here to visit Opening Ceremony's website.

Gift Idea: Enstrom's Almond Toffee

Picture from Entrom's website.

I heard Jane and Michael Stern rave about Enstrom's Almond Toffee over a year or two ago on The Splendid Table.  Their passion for "the world's greatest candy," as they describe it, still burns in my ears.  I am definitely going to make a purchase to share this holiday season.  The Denver company's ingredients are so fresh and pure that the toffee must be kept refrigerated or frozen.  Made from Colorado butter, the toffee is coated with milk or dark chocolate, and dusted with crushed almonds.  The picture above is mouth watering!  Click here to check out Enstrom's other treats :)

Murray's Cheese Gifts!

My buzzer rang yesterday, and I assumed it was my monthly exterminator, but to my surprise it was actually a special delivery.  I thought, who is sending me an early Christmas gift?  Well is was from the adorable Sascha from Murray's Cheese!  I guess I was such a good cheese course customer that I deserved La Tur cheese and some Pralus Chocolate Pyramide.  Thank you Murray's Cheese!

Speaking of Murray's Cheese, a gift from Murray's Cheese would a great for gift for any foodie.  Click here for their list of delicious options.

The Best Thing I Had In My Mouth - Vosges Amalfi Bar

I have been a little sluggish posting, because I have been sick this past week and only been eating ramen and coconut ice cream pops.  So finally on Monday I was back on top, and could start stuffing my face again.  Chipotle Mondays - hooray!  It is crazy how much I can miss eating!

Anyways, the same weekend I went to Kusmi Tea, I also stop by Vosges Haute Chocolat in the Upper East Side.  Although, I think the shop's help could be a little friendlier and more informative (take note from Kourtney of Kusmi Tea please), Vosges has some amazing flavor combinations.  I ended up getting the Mini Exotic Candy Bar Library.  Throughout out the week I have been randomly choosing a bar to try.  The first one I tried was the Amalfi Bar.  Before I tried it, I was disappointed because it was white chocolate, but once I tasted it, I changed my tune.  The white chocolate is mixed with lemon zest and pink peppercorns.  First off, it is beautiful and festive, second off, the flavors are to die for.  At first it tastes like a creamy lemon cheesecake, then you get a bite of peppercorn and it takes it to a whole new level.  This is definitely I the best thing I had in my mouth this week.

Click here to check out Vosges's website, these chocolates would be great for gifts.

Click here to check the cinnamon ice cream I made last year.

Kusmi Tea

Last year, I became a Kusmi Tea fan just based on their packaging.  I saw the tea online, and just I loved their tiny tea tins with their original ornate printing.  I decided to get them as gifts (The Miniature Russian Collection) for my coworkers and even I ended receiving a whole collection for myself.  It took about a year, but I finally ran out of all my tea.  Luckily, the Kusmi Tea shop opened up this past July in the Upper East Side, which I stopped by at this past Sunday.

The store is one long rectangle, with white shelving lining the walls.  The store is broken up into about five sections, which the perky and adorable sales woman named Kourtney (she seemed like a Kourtney with a "k" type of girl) happily explained to us.  Along the walls were an assortment of teas, black, green, herbal, and their special blends of the season such as Christmas Red.  You can purchase tea bags, large tins filled with loose tea, tea accessories, and even small amounts of loose tea from their huge tea canisters.  In the center of the store, there are tea tins opened so you can feel and smell the tea you are purchasing.  The best part is the back counter where you can sample a cup of their tea, which was Detox that day.  It was truly delicious and refreshing, so much so that I bought a large tin of it.  The detox teas I have had in the past have always also had too many flavors going on, this one was a lovely mixture of mate, green tea, lemon, and lemon grass.  I also bought Samovar, this lightly smoked black tea that is really wonderful too.

If you live in New York, I would definitely recommend stopping by the store.  This is one place I would prefer to go to instead of shopping online.  If you don't live in NYC, have no fear, because you can get everything could want online too.  I think these teas make wonderful gifts.  You can buy sets and divide them up.  Slip a tin in a stocking, or a tea bag in a holiday card :)

Click here to read more about Kusmi, they do a much better job explaining their history (founded in 1867 - whoa), than I ever could.

p.s. I also bought an assortment pack, and I am totally falling in love with their Bouquet of Flowers blend.  Really lovely.  Click here to see last year's Thanksgiving.

Cookies Galore

Last year around this time, I became a human cookie factory for a weekend. I always think homemade gifts are the sweetest, plus it can be a way to save money during the most expensive month of the year. My coworkers always give each other gifts which I find to be really annoying (I am a total grinch), but since I like to bake I decided this could be both a nice gift and a fun activity. It ended up being a 4 day baking marathon. The first two days were dedicated to making dough and refrigerating it, and the final two was a non-stop bake-a-thon (literally 8 hours in the kitchen both days). By the end of it, I was completely exhausted and my feet were throbbing. I ended up making chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies with royal icing, chewy ginger snaps, snickerdoodles, peppernuts, Fleur de Sel toffee, and candied citrus peel (click on any of the links to get the recipes). In my opinion, people were not impressed enough - so this year I am not going waste my time going to that much work.

This year for my office gifts I order some tins of Russian tea from Kusmi Tea and I am planning to make peppernuts to go along with each tin. Tomorrow I am going to my boss' cocktail party so I decided to make the chewy ginger snap cookies. I know she likes them so well. I will post about them probably Wednesday. If you are looking for an alternative chocolate chip cookie - the chewy ginger snaps are so good and perfect for the holiday season.

Below are pictures taken from last year's cookie making. I got all the packaging from my favorite paper store called Paper Presentation.

Rolling out the peppernut dough.

Tiny peppernut slices.

Peppernuts baked.

Chewy ginger snaps cooling.

Sugar cookies with Royal icing and sprinkled sugar.

Chocolate chip cookies cooling.

Fleur de sel toffee.

Candied orange peel drying.

Making labels.

Packaging.