best. They are also the
hardest (unless you are
making your
parents an
ashtray out

of elemen-
tary school

clay — never
mind that
they haven’t
smoked
since the
’80s).
To give
you a little inspiration,
here are a few culinary
and artistic ideas. None
of them are too difficult

but to be even more help-
ful the gift ideas are ar-
ranged from hardest to

easiest (feel free to just

skip down to the bot-
tom!).

Food gifts
from “Food Gifts”
“America’s Test
Kitchen” cast member
Elle Simone Scott’s recent
cookbook “Food Gifts”
($24, americastestkitchen.
com) has more than 150

ideas for wonderful, ed-
ible presents. Yes, there

are oodles and oodles of
sweet treats, but, well,
even calling it a cookbook

falls short. There are rec-
ipes for spiced nuts, tea

blends, and Bloody Mary
mix. There are tips (build
a personalized basket),
tricks (how to add labels

to your jars), and exten-
sive notes on how to pack

and ship stuff. This one

came first because whip-
ping up chocolate-covered

caramels isn’t exactly a

walk in the park, but hon-
estly the book has such a

range of gifts it belongs
both first and last.

Mix Tapes
Sending your crush a
Spotify playlist is straight
up sad. Now we’re not
saying you should stand
in front of said crush’s
house with a boombox
blasting “In Your Eyes”
(partly, ‘cuz where you
gonna get a boombox in
2024?). Instead, say “And

all my instincts, they re-
turn/And the grand fa-
cade, so soon will burn”

with the romance of a
mix tape. Amazingly,
in 2024, you can make
that special someone

a mix with We Are Re-
wind’s cassette players

($159, wearerewind.com).
The company brings the
Walkman-style players
into the modern world

with a rechargeable bat-
tery and built-in Blue-
tooth. For the full Re-
wind experience, make

that mix on Maxell. Yes,
the classic company still
makes blank tapes — go
for a few extra songs with
the 90-minute cassette

($8 for a two pack, max-
ell-usa.com).

Cheese, Boards, and
Cheese Boards

First, start with a selec-
tion of cheeses from our

city’s top shop, Formaggio
Kitchen. Try Garrotxa St.

Gil for a traditional Cat-
alan goat’s milk cheese

that is more dynamic —
savory, sour, rich! — than
a Spanish Manchego. Or
Brebirousse d’Argental, a
sheep’s milk from Lyon,
for something that tastes
like the platonic ideal of

a marriage between but-
ter and cream cheese. Or

Comté Gourmandise, a
younger Comté you can
pair with a pickle slice,
hunk of bread, or a bit of
jam. Formaggio has loads
more choices so stop by a

location for help (formag-
giokitchen.com).

For the board, me Aten-
dre has the rare one that

works as a carving block
and a beautiful serving

platter. Its 11×14-inch cut-
ting surface fits all the

cheeses you’ll need but it
looks elegant and features
a 1⁄2-inch juice groove, two
mirrored cut out handles
and has been handcrafted
($350, ameatendre.com).
Cocktails & Cookies
Wanna sorta kinda
make a gift while letting
someone else do the heavy

lifting? Well, New Hamp-
shire’s Fabrizia Lemon

Baking Company has
loads of gift boxes. We
suggest the Hot Toddy Box

($45.99, fabrizialemon-
bakingcompany.com) be-
cause it comes with loads

of goodies already — yum

to the Limoncello cook-
ies and biscotti. But it also

has dehydrated lemon
slices, cinnamon sticks

and a pair of mugs so you

can elevate it all by mak-
ing your own boozy bev-
erage to go with it. For a

can’t-fail winter warmer,

mix one part Massachu-
setts-based Star & Key

VSOP Rum ($45, starand-
keyrum.com) with two

parts of your favorite
New England apple cider,
heat up on the stove, and

just add the Fabrizia gar-
nishes.

GIFT GUIDE
The personal touch

PHOTO COURTESY AMERICASTESTKITCHEN.COM

“Food Gifts” by Elle Simone Scott.

For a great
holiday gift,
make it
yourself

PHOTO COURTESY FORMAGGIO KITCHEN
Put together a stunning cheese board with the sumptuous selection from Formaggio Kitchen.

PHOTO COURTESY FABRIZIA LEMON BAKING COMPANY

The Hot Toddy Box from Fabrizia Lemon Baking Company.