Holiday Hostess Gift

 

This holiday season I've cooked for a dozen gatherings but attended very few.  Luckily, this invitation carried the weight of many parties and filled me with inspiration for the entire month.  My very special friend threw a dinner that was put together for Alex's Lemonade Stand.  Suzanne Goin (my culinary idol), Nancy Silverton, April Bloomfield, Giada De Laurentis, Sherry Yard and, drumroll please, Alice Waters all came to her home and prepared our dinner, each serving and presenting a course.  The food was, duh, delicious (Alice's sunchoke and celery root soup with black truffles was the star), the room gorgeous (thanks to Amy's special touches) and the company of the guests was truly delightful.  What I loved the most was the spirit of the evening.  We all wandered back and forth from the table to the kitchen to see the chefs' preparations and to watch them all assisting one another with their dishes.  Really a dream come true.  What does one bring as a hostess gift for such a once in a lifetime experience?  Well I could have driven myself crazy trying to come up with the most perfect of all perfect gifts; instead, I brought my go-to gift: breakfast for the hostess.  Granted, this was a slightly tricked up version with Amy packaging the cinnamon maple syrup and granola for me and using her pretty jars for the fig jam and yogurt.  Alongside the basket of goodies, I brought a sausage & spinach frittata with oven roasted tomatoes (Christmas colors).  Since this party was over the top, so was the basket.  But I also like bringing a dozen fresh eggs, great bacon and a loaf of bread for toast.  If you want to make one thing, I suggest granola and then put yogurt and honey in jars to accompany it (or do as Amelia did and buy addictive granola from The Granola Project).  Depending on your hostess, bloody mary's or bubbly might be on the menu.  Choose your own adventure.  Thank you Judith for such a magical evening.  One that I will never forget.  xx  

 

 

The Menu

sips

freshly squeezed orange juice

good coffee

savory

sausage & spinach frittata

homemade yogurt

gingered granola with cranberries

cinnamon maple syrup

fresh fruit

apple spice muffins

fig jam

sweet

ginger cookies

chocolate espresso cookies

A Gift that Keeps on Giving

A bottle of tequila and limes is a very generous (and personal favorite) hostess gift. Well, my friend Courtney upped the anti by presenting me with a case of Coronas along with....drum roll, please...a lime tree! I literally shrieked. Just a little inspiration if you need a break from the standard bottle of wine. More of Courtney's loving and fun ideas @ MissSupremeCourt

The Best

Our friend Jamie brings these rosemary cashews every Christmas Eve and they truly are out of this world. They have the perfect blend of sugar and spice. Since she passed on her (um, Ina Garten's) recipe, I make them all the time; they are all you need with cocktails. Irresistible served warm out of the oven, they are also delicious packaged as gifts. Really, really truly a must try!!

Gift Guide: I

I LOVE a gift guide. Go nuts for them. It probably started with In Style magazine. My favorite section has always been 'For The Person Who Has Everything.' The fantasy gifts: flying lessons at Top Gun, a piece of Mars, caviar of the month club, lunch and shopping with Karl Lagerfeld, morning cappuccino delivery for a year and, on my wish list, Alice Waters plants you a garden. BUT, I also appreciate the attainable, useful gift guide. Where did they go? Now everything seems so over the top. So I offer my humble gift guide, starting with these easy to make oils and vinegars. Use old bottles or find new ones at World Market or the Container store, buy oil and vinegar in bulk and fill with a variety of herbs and spices. Pair together for hostess gifts and favors, also pretty under the tree! My favorite flavors: apple cider dill vinegar, fennel champagne vinegar, rosemary garlic extra virgin olive oil, lemon chili extra virgin olive oil and cinnamon maple syrup (give with pumpkin pancake mix).

Hostess Gifts

My favorite hostess gift is to bring breakfast for the hostess for the following morning. This weekend I gave homemade coconut granola and strawberry rhubarb compote for yogurt. Amy was a bit of a show-off and knit a basket for the jars. Muffins, fresh breads for toast, European butter, fruit, coffee and tea are other tasty goodies for the basket.

Summer road trips are a great time to stock up on hostess gifts. A and D recently brought me yummy wine, olive oil and honey from a trip to Napa.

Planted flowers and herbs are a great alternative to cut flowers. The hostess doesn't have to run around looking for a vase and the pots themselves are awesome reusable gifts.

So, Annie Segal gave me my favorite hostess gift of the year. A friend of Greg's, I had only met Annie once before my dinner party. She presented me with a Valentine decal (well past February) stating, 'you never know when you'll need one,' a mini-bar bottle of Patron, a half burned pillar candle and a junky cellphone case. At first, I was a bit lost for words stammering a sorry 'thank you' thinking Greg had invited a real nut. When I realized it was a gag gift, I knew Annie was a cool lady. She said if we didn't think it was funny she would've known we weren't her types. She then gave us her 'real' gift: charming scarves from her own line. Each scarf features a word--love, courage, faith--so you can 'wrap yourself in a feeling.' Check them out at her website.