A food-focused gift guide — and my Slush recipe!

Farfalle earrings and dresses with tomatoes, these are a few of my favourite things!

When writing the book proposal for Where We Ate, I thought about two dear friends in particular who are very similar to me: they love dining out, appreciate great cocktails, and treasure cooking at home. This is who this gift guide is for— the restaurant enthusiast, the dinner party guru, NOT a foodie. 

So here is a roundup of my favourite things over the last year and a few things I am lusting over. A few gifts to eat, a few gifts to drink and a few food-themed gifts — the not-a-foodie, food-themed gift guide. 

Eat These Gifts 

A Restaurant Gift Card

This item has been on every gift guide I’ve ever created, but it’s more important than ever to support your favourite local restaurants — with the CEBA repayment date looming, it's pretty rough for independent businesses right now. Delight your friends and support local businesses by buying a restaurant gift card. 

Everybody Pepper Grinder

I’ve been coveting this Dusen Dusen pepper grinder for years, and I finally made the purchase this fall at the newly-opened Isle at Ease housewares store in the North End of Halifax. It’s fun, it’s funky, it grinds pepper perfectly.

Kewpie Sesame Dressing

My love for Japanese mayonnaise magnate Kewpie runs deep, and recently I discovered their Deep Roasted Sesame Dressing. It’s a great salad dressing and a great marinade and I basically could drink this umami rice liqueur. It’s not pricey — Costco irregularly sells it for under $10 and I’ve gotten it at Dominion (Loblaws) too — but it’s harder to get, so if you can snag a case for your favourite gourmand this holiday, they would love it. 

Multicoloured Cutting Board

This Fredericks and Mae cutting board has been at the top of my holiday wish list for years; maybe someday I’ll find it under the tree. I’m partial to the rainbow confetti cutting board, made with professional-grade plastic, but the person on your list might love that sexy black and white one. 

Hakka-ish Chili Crisp

This crunchy condiment is all the rage these days (everyone from Momofuku to Trader Joe’s has a rendition), and while the O.G. Lao Gan Ma is always in my fridge, it’s Toronto company Zing offers up this Hakka-ish version that makes my wishlist!

Drink These Gifts

Rosewood Wines

We made a luxurious pitstop on the way to Niagara on the Lake at Rosewood Wines this past November. We loved a lot of the wines (and bought some of their hot honey, too), but it was the Looking Glass that stole our hearts – we took several bottles home. Rosewood ships across the country and you can get many of their vintages at your local liquor store.   

Limoncello La Croix 

For the sparkling water lover in your life – the illusive Limoncello La Croix water. I discovered this on a whim after a huge grocery shop at Target just outside Palm Springs and may or may not have brought two cases back with me after our Buffalo trip in November. In Canada it’s harder to get — some Loblaws carry it, but you can’t get it in Newfoundland. My friend Tracy tracked it down after I was able to spare one can from my cache — she found it on Well.ca.

LSA Tumblers

I’m a self-aware glassware aficionado but last year when I Googled the glassware in our hotel room at the ACE Toronto, I took it to a whole new level. British-made LSA glassware has many options, but sipping soda from their low-profile tumblers at the ACE last year I knew these had to be mine – you can get them at Cocktail Emporium in Toronto, they ship across the country.  

Food-Themed Gifts 

I just loved a food-themed gift — farfalle pearl earrings, chicken nugget Christmas ornaments, and tomato dresses are some of my favourites this year! I wore this Vinnie Tomato Dress from Australian company Variety Hour (part of the euphoric tomato girl summer trend, according to this Architectural Digest article) for my book launch party and my TV appearance on The Social and it’s just one of the food-themed clothing items I own — they’re campy, they’re whimsical, they make great gifts. 

Christmas Slush Holiday Apron

Slush is a holiday staple here in Newfoundland (you can read my Chatelaine piece here) and the moment I saw this Slush Apron on Hillhead House’s social media I knew I had to have it. I gave this Christmas Slush Holiday Apron to myself this year. Want to make your own slush this year? See my recipe below! 

Champagne Earrings

Adam gave me Bauble Bar’s Charcuterie earrings a few years ago for my birthday, which are always a conversation starter — now I’m coveting their Champagne earrings. I’ve seen bottles of bubbly at a myriad of places this year, from Gap to Amazon, meaning there’s a sparkling adornment available at any price range. 

Restaurant Portraits

For the restaurant-obsessed on your list how about a picture of their favourite eatery? Illustrator Natalie Czwerwinski’s city collections contain restaurant portraits from across the country, dozens of which are in my book Where We Ate and showcase beloved mom-and-pops and nationally acclaimed eateries across the country.

Sugar Cookie Candle

Candles are rarely on offer when staying at an Airbnb, but on a girls' weekend over the fall we cozied up with a candle so sweet smelling I had to seek it out. Locally-made Forest & Brooks (they’re based in Conception Bay South) offers up a variety of scents but for me, this Sugar Cookie candle takes the cake (or should I say cookie?). 

Italian Summer Blanket

American-based Lisa Says Gah! has broken the internet a few times over with its anti-fast fashion, food-themed clothing and accessories like the iconic Italian Summer pants, and I’ve been sending anyone who will listen the link to this Archie Throw Blanket which depicts the company’s most popular Italian Summer pattern.

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A recipe for Slush

In recent years, I’ve taken over hosting duties for the annual Tibbs Eve party and you know I’m serving up slush to those dozens of friends and family squashed like sardines in my kitchen. No Christmas punch on earth comes close to having the level of nostalgic love and deliciousness as Slush in Newfoundland and Labrador — I raved all about it for Chatelaine last year and offered up a recipe. This recipe is similar, but with a few more specifications as this is my favourite way to do it! 

Ingredients 

• 7.5 cups water

• 1.5 cups granulated white sugar 

• 1 can frozen lemonade concentrate

• 1 can frozen orange juice from concentrate 

• 1 48-ounce can of Dole pineapple juice 

• 1 26-ounce bottle of Lamb’s rum 

• 7up to top up 

Directions

1. Pour water and sugar into a large pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and simmer until sugar is dissolved and thickens just a little bit around 3 to 5 minutes. 

2. Once the mixture is cool, add the pineapple juice and the lemonade and pineapple concentrates and mix well until dissolved. Add the Lamb’s. 

3. Transfer mixture to a large, freezer-safe container with a lid — folks it’s got to be a salt beef bucket okay? 

4. Place that bucket of delicious in the freezer until the mixture is frozen, at least overnight, stirring periodically (every 12 hours or so) to ensure it doesn’t freeze solid and until the mixture is frozen into a slush. 

5. To serve: fill half a glass with slush mixture then top with 7up and serve with a straw.

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Where We Ate is a great holiday gift!

My book is part coffee table book, part history book and part cookbook! It’s ideal for restaurant lovers, history buffs and anyone who wants a pretty green book on their coffee table. It’s also on SALE on Amazon and at Indigo. Grab your copy now!