That’s me on the right. So happy to be invited when someone else cooks and serves.
Choosing a gift to take to a party should never cause stress. I love receiving the classics: flowers or a bottle. Getting flowers reminds me that I never buy them for myself, so I’m going to make “buy more flowers” one of my new year’s resolutions. Certainly easier to stick to than, say, giving up sugar (as if.)
In the meantime, here are some gifts to bring to any holiday or New Year’s fête or beyond.
Nothing makes me happier than a well-provisioned pantry, so when I saw this huge, catering-size 1.5 kilo bucket of fancy Maldon sea salt flakes (the best finishing salt for salads, fish, meat, a roast chicken, anything really) I thought it was both fantastically practical but also deeply glamourous. When do you ever get both those qualities in one item? It looks extravagant, but at fifty odd dollars (Canadian) it’s not really that expensive. Pair it with a wee ceramic bowl from a local pottery studio (or a marble dish from Homesense? haha) that the recipient can keep by the stove, forever topping it up from their now bottomless salt stash.
Bring this Cranberry and Walnut Baked Camembert and make a splash.
Did you know that camembert melts better than brie and is therefore just better? It also has an earthier flavour, often described as mushroomy. (Where else would you learn such important things? We are not just a beauty site.)
If you volunteered to bring an appetizer or are attending a pot luck or New Year’s Day brunch, I highly suggest bringing this dish. A generous, entire round of camembert crowned in maple-glazed craisins and walnuts comes together quickly and can easily be transported ready to slide into the oven. (Recipe at the end of this post.)
And remember, #cheeseislove, so make this at home even if you’re not going to take it someone’s house, because there are still three more months of this nonsense weather.
Us 70s children thought After Eight Classic Mint Thins were the most elegant thing imaginable. Was it the sharpness of the mint? Or the crackly individual, glassine paper sleeves? They are still brilliant and this limited edition Skyline tin ($22, drug and grocery stores) holds the contents of two regular cardboard boxes, so even your greediest friend will be properly stocked up well into the new year.
Grown Alchemist’s Hand Heroes gift set ($49, Sephora) of hand scrub and lotion smells heavenly and goes with literally every decor. The happy recipient can keep them together or put the lotion in their bathroom and the scrub by the kitchen sink to deal with hands that have been chopping onions.
Diminutive and perfect for a coffee table, a rosemary topiary from your local nursery smells wonderful and looks Christmassy by virtue of its shape. But it won’t look too seasonal or out of place when the calendar clicks over to January.
Include a card with the recipe for the Union Square Cafe’s famous brown sugar, cayenne and rosemary glazed Bar Nuts. The Nigella Lawson version is easy to whip up. I like a pecan cashew mix or even just cashews instead of a full on nut array, so no one has to feel guilty when they pick out just the cashews.
Happy weird week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Cranberry and Walnut Baked Camembert
Ingredients
1 wheel of ripe camembert
1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1/4 cup roughly chopped dried cranberries (aka ‘craisins’)
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 sprig of thyme
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a bowl, mix the cranberries with the roughly chopped walnuts and maple syrup.
Place the camembert in a baking dish or 9 inch cast iron pan.
Spread the cranberry topping over the camembert and add the thyme on top.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes and serve immediately with crackers or small toasts.
Recipe courtesy of European Cheeses. @fromages.europe.cheeses on Instagram.