An Ode to Joy
10 gift ideas...
It’s just past 4 PM, and it is already dark here on my Isle at the 44th Latitude North. Only a couple of weeks and we will turn the bend to longer days as the holiday season sets in after Winter Solstice. But for now, the daylight hours are increasingly precious as each day goes by, and there is much to do in a shorter window (I’m in the thick of gifting season for my clients so am particularly busy), and then once sun sets, it seems forever before it’s finally bedtime. That said, it is a dramatic shift in routines from the long summer days, and I appreciate some drama in my life.
During these long winter nights, I am anticipating the end of year holidays, and all the joy they will bring: “Tis’ the season!” So I thought I would share some ideas for gifts, most of them made by old friends whose work I adore.
GIFT A BEAUTIFUL CALENDAR TO MARK THE PASSAGE OF ANOTHER YEAR: For many years Clare Crespo was one of our home delivery customers. I’m in love with her work, and highly recommend her collectible illustrated calendar on the topic of food. Always full of whimsy and delight, and so fun to turn the pages each month.
GII FT A LITTLE TREASURE:
Priscilla Woolworth is a friend, sister farm dweller, and fellow Substack writer (I love her Substack, please follow!). She also makes a beautiful range of earth-friendly items — okra from her garden painted to become a Xmas tree ornament, clay from her riverbed formed into blocks to hold feathers, flowers, bees, found objects, and more. Her shop in the Hudson Valley is called the Rabbit Hole, and I love all the objects on her website.
GIFT A BEAUTIFUL MIND ALTERING TREAT (adults only on this one): One of my favorite makers is the Bay area preserves artist June Taylor, who recently retired. So when I saw the special edition of Pluot and Saratoga Bay Leaf gummies (THC edibles) that she had made in partnership with Rose Los Angeles, in the most beautiful packaging, well that seems impossible to resist.
SPLURGE: I have known Agnes Baddoo since the 80’s when we were both gallivanting in Paris. She is one of the most lovely AND stylish people I know and has a range of bags and leather goods that are very covetable, and made in LA. All the “Sacs” but also this iconic market bag. I would prefer to buy one amazing thing than lots of so-so things, and so one day soon, I will splurge and treat myself to a bag from Agnes.
GIFT EVERYTHING NEEDED FOR A PROJECT:
When my mother and daughters arrive for the holidays, we will make marzipan candies. It’s one of those things we do every year. Making them is more fun than eating them — (cause they inevitably make your teeth turn colors from food dye!) I’ve tried a number of different ways over the years, but basically it’s almond paste meets powdered sugar meets the most natural food dyes you can find and still deliver deep colors! This year I’m going to try making the almond paste from King Arthur Almond Flour — recipe here, for almond paste. Ideas here, for marzipan. King Arthur even has ideas on home made food colorings. Maybe I will try that this year too! I will report back. The gift could be everything needed to make the project — but it could also be little boxes of hand made marzipan! Take your pick.
GIFT A COOKBOOK FROM A PLACE YOUR GIFTEE LOVES (BUY IT AT AN INDY BOOKSHOP NOT AMAZON PLEASE):
On a cold winter night, there’s nothing yummier than chili with cornbread. I use the recipe in Elizabeth Poett’s lovely cookbook The Ranch Table. Since my days buying from her — as a vendor of pasture-raised beef and beautiful jars of Rancho San Julian honey in gorgeous bottles — Elizabeth has become a bit of a TV celebrity with her series of the same name, The Ranch Table. I have visited her 7th generation Ranch outside Santa Barbara many times, and so, thinking of this magical place, I recently bought her cookbook. I love using our house cast iron pan to cook her cornbread recipe and remember all the fun visits I made to her market table and ranch. Are you gifting to someone who loves a particular part of the world? Try gifting them a cookbook with foods that will remind them of their favorite place.
MAKE A GIFT. Lastly, there’s the made gifts. I have entertained myself by the fire at night with my knitting needles and some yarn from a local farm, that I bought at the Common Ground Fair. And I also created a photo album of picks from the year as a gift to myself and Beau — I am sure a solar flare will one day delete all my photos from the cloud, so getting some printed, yearly, seems like a good idea! I used Shutterfly.
My 2023 Album!
NARRATIVE FOOD GIFTS, of course….:
A Taste of Maine Box If you want some yummy treats, I do still have an array of gifts available to ship nationwide in our lovely new boxes. I just posted some of my favorite culinary items in a “Taco Tuesday” Box, of which there are a total of 4 available with slightly imperfect tortilla presses, recipes, and a copy of the EdibleLA magazine with my interview of Bricia Lopez of Guelaguetza Restaurant (her mole sauce is in the box)! Just saying, the Salsa Macha is endlessly delicious too…
REUSE: GIFT SOMETHING YOU FIND ON FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE OR A LOCAL BULLETIN BOARD
Just before the pandemic, when I was still living in Echo Park, I saw the above Nextdoor post and (as a gift to myself) bought this old Grundig Majestic console. It hadn’t been plugged in for about 35 years, and so my next step was to find someone who could fix it. Of course, being in LA, there were a few options, and I landed on The Voice of Vintage, in Reseda, where I left it in June 2020. Chris had a turntable repair studio in his garage, and came with referrals and glowing reviews.
With the pandemic in high gear, suffice to say it took me quite some time to finally get the console back — by July the news was “Turned on, good sign. No sound. There is hope.” And by late September I had received the news “your unit is dissected already. Messy.” But by my Halloween birthday, he had replaced all the capacitators and freed up the frozen stiff volume control, and delivered it to my house, miraculously repaired (see it playing)!
After a few weeks, when we were playing it less, we realized that the “original” motor that was in the turntable could get rather tired, and would only rotate at the correct pace once it was warmed up. Sometimes it would take a full Side A before it was spinning at speed. Also, like a hand cranked old car, I would need to give a little push to the turntable once the record had dropped down from the spindle, weighing the turntable down to a halt. When I mentioned this to Chris, his solution was to “let it spin”. And so, this quirk is just part of the character of this vintage machine that we live with, and now love like a member of the family. The trick is to make use of it. Let it spin. Particularly in winter, when the living room gets colder and the nights are long.
Gift some Old Vinyl: In the spirit of re-using, old vinyl is a great gift, particularly when the cover art is pleasing. When we arrived here in Maine, with the record console in tow, I was delighted to discover an entire shelf full of vinyl, left here by the prior owners — and very possibly the ones who came before them. Another priceless gift to us from the house! So now, during the long winter nights, we have started the process of discovering our adopted collection of vinyl. From Chopin Nocturnes to Yiddish songs, to Jazz classics, these house gifts are being savored, even when the turntable doesn’t spin at speed, stretching the notes and sounding like it’s under water. (Also, many of the albums are mis-matched with their records inside, so there are plenty of surprises!)
Left: My first purchase for the new turntable. Right: a "house album" showing Pablo Casals Cello on the cover, and containing the incredible Ruth Rubin singing Yiddish Folks Songs inside
There is something indescribably pleasing about the act of listening to records like we did as kids, with satisfying clunks, clicks, and 20 minutes per side…
So, these are a few of my favorite things, that fill me with joy during the long winter nights, and that I think would make great gifts. Happy holiday preparations!