bostonzest

Tag: gift giving

  • A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

    Here are a few of our favorite gifts for the wine lovers in your life. Of course, you could start your shopping list with wine.

    DSC_4844 - Version 22014-11-23Charles-de-cazanove-champagne-split-750ml-© 2014 Penny Cherubino

    We have a bit of advice for anyone buying wine as gifts. As a general rule, don’t buy any wine you see in an ad on television. We have an earlier post about this that includes a great suggestion for the holiday season. Buy a great value wine by the case for gift giving, entertaining, and for your own enjoyment.

    On a recent visit to Bauer Wine & Spirits, we noticed additional half bottle offerings in the sparkling wine section. As those who follow along with our resolution to start each month with a glass of bubbles know, we love sparkling wine and enjoy trying many types. Having a few half bottles means you are always ready to celebrate major or minor victories! And, these little bottle make wonderful gifts.

    Our Favorite Wine Chiller

    6a00e54fc42bb8883401b8d05e2813970c-800wi

    We told you about this in September in our post, “This Wine Chiller Works for Both Champagne & Skinny Bottles.”  We highly recommend it. It’s called a Rapid Ice Champagne Cooler and has become a popular item on our Amazon buyers list. Someone recently bought eight of these, perhaps for holiday giving. We have two of them!

    Quirky Wine Opener with Hidden Assets

    CHE_4705 - Version 22014-09-27Quirky-wine-opener-© 2014 Penny Cherubino

    Here’s our Quirky 4-in-1 Wine Opener. The 4-in-1 in the Amazon description is because this opener has hidden assets.

    CHE_4699 - Version 22014-09-27Quirky-wine-opener-© 2014 Penny Cherubino

    The two silver colored items on the top of the handle come out, and you have a pourer and a plastic cork for your wine bottle. Opener, cork, pourer, and number 4 is a couple of tiny circular blades in the base that cut the foil on the bottle. Cut, open, pour, and seal all in one sturdy, easy to work cork remover. We may add a second one to our travel kitchen bag. 

    The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine

    6a00e54fc42bb88834016764006667970b-800wi

    It’s been quite a while since we reviewed this book. It has stood the test of time and we still love The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine and pull it off the shelf for help in matching food and wine quite often. It’s a staple for our food writing research. 

    Cilio Campagne Sealer

    The other day a friend said she doesn’t drink as much sparkling wine because you have to finish the bottle or lose the bubbles. And, most wine bottle stoppers don’t work all that well for sparkling wine. 

    We use the Cilio Champagne Sealer to cap the bottle and save the rest for another day. While you can stick the cork back into a bottle of still wine, these folks make one for that size as well. 

    Friends often ask us for gift suggestions and we keep meaning to turn some of these ideas into posts. We’ll try to fit in a few more in the days ahead. If you have a question about something we’ve featured or just want to ask about our favorite books, kitchen items, photography equipment, or dog gift ideas, you can write a comment below or add @BostonZest to your question on Twitter. 

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Related articles
    Edible Boston’s Winter 2015 Issue Is Available
    More on Those Local Artichokes from Stillman’s
    A Tow up the Charles River Cost $4 in 1886

  • Vegetable Literacy Is Our Friday Link

    “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison has quickly become my go-to reference when I want to explore a familiar or unusual produce item. I like it so much that I'm making it a Friday Link.

    The full name of the book, Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes, gives a better picture of what the author has created.

    Www.randomhouse

    Madison takes her years of expertise in vegetarian topics, divides the veggie world into twelve families, and then provides background, recipes, and kitchen and garden tips for each family member.  She makes you look at the offerings at your local market in a new way.

    Speaking of local markets, I decidead to buy the Kindle version of Vegetable Literacy. That allows me to call up a recipe on my phone when I'm shopping to be sure I have what I need to make it. Or, if I want to know what I might do with some parsnips or fennel, I can search for those and even have tips on buying them.

    Great photography is always a bonus in a cookbook or reference book and this one has wonderful photos spinkled among its pages. The photos are by the Canal House team, Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton.

    Screen shot 2013-11-13 at 9.47.56 AM

    This time of year, when many readers are looking for gift ideas, this book would make a great present for many people on your list. Anyone who loves to cook or collect cookbooks would treasure this edition. Even someone like me who has far too many cookbooks considers this a major reference, must-have.

    It's an ideal gift for a vegetrian or someone who has to feed a vegetarian or anyone who needs to add more vegetables to their diet to get their 5-per-day!

    Deborah Madison has been my mentor on vegetarian cooking. I have well-worn copies of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets.

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

  • Vegetable Literacy Is Our Friday Link

    “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison has quickly become my go-to reference when I want to explore a familiar or unusual produce item. I like it so much that I'm making it a Friday Link.

    The full name of the book, Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes, gives a better picture of what the author has created.

    Www.randomhouse

    Madison takes her years of expertise in vegetarian topics, divides the veggie world into twelve families, and then provides background, recipes, and kitchen and garden tips for each family member.  She makes you look at the offerings at your local market in a new way.

    Speaking of local markets, I decidead to buy the Kindle version of Vegetable Literacy. That allows me to call up a recipe on my phone when I'm shopping to be sure I have what I need to make it. Or, if I want to know what I might do with some parsnips or fennel, I can search for those and even have tips on buying them.

    Great photography is always a bonus in a cookbook or reference book and this one has wonderful photos spinkled among its pages. The photos are by the Canal House team, Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton.

    Screen shot 2013-11-13 at 9.47.56 AM

    This time of year, when many readers are looking for gift ideas, this book would make a great present for many people on your list. Anyone who loves to cook or collect cookbooks would treasure this edition. Even someone like me who has far too many cookbooks considers this a major reference, must-have.

    It's an ideal gift for a vegetrian or someone who has to feed a vegetarian or anyone who needs to add more vegetables to their diet to get their 5-per-day!

    Deborah Madison has been my mentor on vegetarian cooking. I have well-worn copies of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets.

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

  • Vegetable Literacy Is Our Friday Link

    “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison has quickly become my go-to reference when I want to explore a familiar or unusual produce item. I like it so much that I'm making it a Friday Link.

    The full name of the book, Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes, gives a better picture of what the author has created.

    Www.randomhouse

    Madison takes her years of expertise in vegetarian topics, divides the veggie world into twelve families, and then provides background, recipes, and kitchen and garden tips for each family member.  She makes you look at the offerings at your local market in a new way.

    Speaking of local markets, I decidead to buy the Kindle version of Vegetable Literacy. That allows me to call up a recipe on my phone when I'm shopping to be sure I have what I need to make it. Or, if I want to know what I might do with some parsnips or fennel, I can search for those and even have tips on buying them.

    Great photography is always a bonus in a cookbook or reference book and this one has wonderful photos spinkled among its pages. The photos are by the Canal House team, Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton.

    Screen shot 2013-11-13 at 9.47.56 AM

    This time of year, when many readers are looking for gift ideas, this book would make a great present for many people on your list. Anyone who loves to cook or collect cookbooks would treasure this edition. Even someone like me who has far too many cookbooks considers this a major reference, must-have.

    It's an ideal gift for a vegetrian or someone who has to feed a vegetarian or anyone who needs to add more vegetables to their diet to get their 5-per-day!

    Deborah Madison has been my mentor on vegetarian cooking. I have well-worn copies of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets.

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.