Minny & Paul's Savor Gift Box
What to get the discerning food lover from out of town? Send them a box of Minneapolis and St. Paul love from Minny & Paul. Described as, "something sweet, something spicy, and a few tools for everything in between," a locally handcrafted, keepsake gift box is loaded with a WAAM Industries cutting board and chese spreader, two Mademoiselle Miel mini dark chocolate bars, Printerette Press letterpress recipe cards, chef-made Cry Baby Craigs Hot Sauce and a Printerette Press custom designed card.
Price: $88 includes shipping
Purchase: Minny and Paul
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
Delicacies Jewelry
Perhaps you've noticed one of these beautiful leather cuffs with the thin thread of color and a specific charm adorning Andrew Zimmern's wrist. Delicacies is a jewelry line with a mission: share the love that food represents and make the world a better place by donating a portion of the proceeds to a nonprofit that fights hunger. The company is based in St. Paul and have recently expanded their line to include 14K pendants with charms, some adorned with small diamonds. Choose the charm that speaks to you from an artichoke to a cute little pig, it's tasteful jewelry you can feel good about wearing.
Price: $75 and up
Purchase: Delicacies.com
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
Minnesota Flour Sack Kitchen Towels
These soft, cotton towels are a perfect hostess gift and a great way to send a little Minnesota love to someone far away. Choose a sassy-retro pattern, something that matches your holiday decor, or make a special color request. These handy towels are handcrafted in St. Paul's Crocus Hill neighborhood. Price: $13 each or $35 for 3 (plus shipping)
Purchase: The Golden Fig or email SewMinnesota@gmail.com
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photogrpahy
Juice So Good
Consider this a little gift to yourself in the feeding frenzy that is the holiday season. These delicious juices can be be purifying or decadent, just depending on which flavor you choose. Eating your veggies never tasted so good. Plus, the cashew coffee milk is a delicious guiltless, dairy-free stand in for egg nog.
Price: $7.50
Purchase: Juice So Good store, Lakewinds Co-op, Whole Foods and select area grocers.
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
Big Watt Bitters
Five Watt Coffee in South Minneapolis is quietly taking our town by caffeinated storm. Not only have they announced a second location in the Schmidt Brewery building (that ambitious food-hall coming some time in the next couple of years), but cans of their cold press are popping up all over town. To taste their coffee "cocktails" is to love them. That's why every great bar arsenal could use a dose of their bitters. Experiment with making your own version of the Kingfield or the Busy Beaver at home.
Purchase: In Store and Online
Image credit: Katie Cannon
Rose Street Caramel Sauce
Pastry chef John Kraus can do no wrong. When the owner of Patisserie 46 and Rose Street Patisserie isn't collecting accolades or rolling out paper thin sheets for perfectly flakey croissants, he's creating ways that we can take the flavors of his award-winning bakeries into our homes. Give your sliced apples or scoops of vanilla ice cream a major upgrade with a drizzle of the most heavenly, ever-so-slightly caramel sauce ever created.
Price: $11.95
Purchase: Rose Street Patisserie, Patisserie 46 and The Golden Fig
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
Katherine Anne Marshmallows
What good is a cup of hot chocolate without a few bobbling marshmallows to make the treat complete? Grab some of these gorgeous and beautifully flavored puffs of sugar to make the ultimate cup of cocoa. These sweet clouds are completely HFCS (and all corn syrup) free.
Price: $7.95
Purchase: Online or at The Golden Fig
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
The Vanilla Bean Baking Book by Sarah Kieffer
Ever wandered into your kitchen convinced you were the next Johnny Iuzzini only to find out that you're more Johnny What the Hell Were You Thinking? Sarah Kieffer, author of The Vanilla Bean Blog has created a wonderfully approachable baking book that is easy to use and demystifies complicated techniques. Inside, you'll discover how to create the most decadent, deceptively simple chocolate cake, flakey scones and the only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need. Every Johnny has to start somewhere and this is the perfect place to learn.
Cost: $27.00
Purchase: Amazon or at any major book seller.
Skaalvenn Habenero Rum
Before you write this spirit off as a novelty, you've got to take a taste. Sipping is believing in this surprisingly complex rum with a kicky afterburn. Mix with just a little simple syrup and finish with bubble water and a squeeze of something citrusy for a crispy and warming refresher. This is the perfect gift for the local booze lover as well as the spice-fiend in your life. The heat is there, but that pepper flavor is the star attraction. Price: $26.99 (varies)
Purchase: Ace Liquor Store or area retailers
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
Egbert's Cocktail Cherries
Every Manhattan needs them, but why grab for the artificial day-glo colored cherries when you could be upgrading that cocktail with some mahogany/scarlet hued beauties from local maker Dashfire Bitters? Prepared home bartenders will have at least a couple of jars stocked before the entertaining season gets fully underway. Price: $15.99
Purchase: France 44 in Mpls, Thomas Liquors St. Paul and other area liquor stores
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
J. Carver Rye
Buckle up, whisky lovers, this locally crafted rye is about to blow your tastebuds out of the water. J. Carver distillery out of Waconia has built a reputation on beautiful bottles with quality craft spirits and this entry is no exception. This whisky is 70% Minnesota-grown rye with 30% corn. It's best enjoyed just over a little ice and slowly sipped before a roaring fire. Or, if you feel like complicating things, try it with their new Sevilla liqueur in a magical twist on an Old Fashioned.
Price: $35.99
Purchase: Henry & Son, check for your local retailer here.
Image credit: J. Carver Distilling
Red Table Meats
Travel the country and you'll find that in every carefully curated meat and cheese shop, there is a section for the outstanding charcuterie from Red Table Meats made right here in Minneapolis. Every charcuterie board could use an upgrade with these fine meats.
Price: $7.95 and up
Purchase: The Golden Fig, Lunds & Byerly's and wherever fine meats are sold.
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photography
The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day
When local pastry chef Zoe Francois first heard of Jeff Hertzberg's technique of making bread at home simply and deliciously, it seemed too good to be true. Now, several books in and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day has become a full-on, internationally embraced baking phenomenon. This gorgeous tome of healthy bread recipes makes it easy for any novice baker to pull hearty and heavenly loaves of fresh bread from their ovens any night of the week.
Price: $19.18
Purchase: Amazon
Blis Fish Sauce
It's a chef's secret weapon. This bottle is an umami bomb flavor combination of salty, fermented fish sauce and the smooth oakiness of the barrels it's aged inside. Most retailers carry the large bottles, which are an impressive tool that last for ages, but right now The Golden Fig in St. Paul has special stocking stuffer-sized bottles making it a super portable and easy-to-gift secret weapon. Price: $7.95 and up
Purchase: Large bottles online or at The Golden Fig.
Image credit: Katie Cannon Photograph