2021 Food-Lovers Gift Guide
Last year, I had so much fun putting together an affordable foodie gift guide featuring some of my favorite women-owned businesses. I still love everything on that list. But as a little challenge for myself, I wanted to come up with a whole new crop of businesses—no repeats! That said, many of last year’s companies have new items, so be sure to check out the 2020 Gift Guide for even more ideas. There are so many delicious, beautiful food gifts made by women. These are the ones (all under $50!) that I enthusiastically recommend:
Preserved Lemon Paste – NY Shuk ($15.95) – Stir a spoonful into plain yogurt or labne for an instant dip; Mix it with olive oil to make salad dressing; Enliven a Bloody Mary with a dab. What can’t you do with preserved lemon paste?
Saffron – Moonflowers (5g for $39.99) – The queen of spice for your most discerning friend who loves to cook. Save the 100% recyclable tin box to stash jewelry.
Wildflower Honey with Lavender – Zach & Zöe ($20) – All natural, 100% raw honey infused with calming lavender.
Ume Plum Vinegar – Yumé Boshí ($20) – Pickled ume plums are my favorite salty-sour filling for onigiri. Here they are in another form, juiced and turned into vinegar. The festive hue comes naturally from red shiso leaves.
Holiday Jam Trio – Mae’s Gourmet Jams ($32) –Three different jams—blueberry lemongrass, cranberry blood orange, and strawberry champagne—made with fruit from Mississippi and Tennessee.
Smoked Rainbow Trout – Fishwife (3-pack for $26.99) – Tinned fish for the win! This rainbow trout is raised in Idaho, smoked in small batches over alder wood, and packed by hand in BPA-free cans.
Olive Oil – Fat Gold ($30) – Fat Gold’s cute, chunky tin first came on my radar when Graham judged a packaging design competition for the California Olive Oil Council. Besides good looks, it tastes bold and peppery.
Oaxacan Mole Holiday Bundle – Guelaguetza (3 jars and kitchen towel for $47) – You don’t even need to wrap this gift because it comes with a beautiful Oaxacan kitchen cloth.
Linen Cocktail Napkins – Atelier Saucier (4 for $32) – I love the 5-inch square size of these burlap cocktail napkins. Rainbow stitching around the edges evokes the changing colors of the Los Angeles skyline.
Harriet’s Gun Tea – Calabash ($13.99) – An invigorating and grounding blend of gunpowder green tea, Jamaican ginger, pepper, and star anise.
Café de Olla – Revolución Coffee House (6 bottles for $27) – If you like cold brew, you’ll love café de olla, Mexican spiced coffee traditionally prepared in a clay vessel, which imparts a distinct flavor. This bottled version comes ready to drink chilled.
Pork Tamales – Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas (3 for $12.99) – In California, it’s not really Christmas without tamales. Alicia’s tamales are handmade with high-quality, local, organic ingredients.
Spicy Bulgogi Sauce – Omsom (3-pack for $12) – Just add beef, chicken, or tofu plus some vegetables, and you’ve got everything you need for delicious bulgogi. Gluten free, vegan, and no artificial flavors or preservatives.
SF-Made Sweet and Savory Gift Box – La Cocina (from $25) – A sampling of the very best packaged foods, all produced in small batches in San Francisco by the women of La Cocina entrepreneur businesses.
Halva Trio – Seed + Mill ($48) – Seed + Mill’s three best-selling halva flavors—sea salt dark chocolate, pistachio, and toasted coconut chocolate—bundled together in one box.
Hand-Packed Medjool Dates – Rancho Meladuco (2-lb box for $20) – These jumbo Medjool dates have a nuanced caramel flavor and that perfect sticky date texture. They’re grown on a Coachella Valley ranch, hand-selected, and packaged in a decorative box.
Birthday Cake Variety Box – Blondery (4 pieces for $35) – You could try any of Blondery’s fantastic baked goods, or you could go straight for this box of best sellers: birthday cake, pecan and salted caramel, cinnamon sugar, and Brooklyn blackout.
Gulab Jamun Ice Cream Cake – Malai ($29) – If gulab jamun were an exquisite ice cream sandwich, it would look like this—saffron syrup-soaked cardamom cake with rose almond ice cream in the middle. Dreamy!
Mother Grains cookbook – Roxanna Jullapat ($40) – I know I’m biased because I got to work on Roxanna’s book with her, but this cookbook is truly one of the year’s best.
Brut Bubbles – Just Enough Wine (6-pack for $42) – Do you ever want some sparkling wine but not the whole bottle? These glass-and-a-half cans are the perfect size, plus they’re portable for picnics or even just neighborhood strolls.
Black Girl Magic California Rosé – McBride Sisters ($19.99) – The McBride sisters say rosé season is year-round, and I agree! This dry, peachy pink California rosé pairs with summery salads just as well as it does with Christmas cookies.
Pinot Meunier – Poe ($38) – Like pinot noir’s cooler younger sister, pinot meunier is lighter and more complex. The grapes for this wine grow on the top of Sonoma Mountain, a sacred site for the Coast Miwok tribe.
Hibiscus Pinot Noir – Cale ($25) – Yes, please to organic herbal wine that’s infused with hibiscus and naturally low in sugar and alcohol (only 4.5% ABV).
Amaro-Style Bitter Liqueur – Home Base ($48) – Twin sisters Ali and Sam Blatteis believe whiskey should be not just a libation but also an agricultural product that supports local farms. Their first liqueur release is this amaro-style bitter.
