Stockings Full of Spice

Food gifts are the perfect things to tuck into a stocking for Christmas morning, and jars of spices could be a nice surprise for the right recipient. Some spices are so beautiful they wouldn't need to be wrapped. A glass vial of vanilla beans from Penzey's wouldn't even need a bow; neither would a packet of nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and star anise. Or you could go with a theme, like hot cocoa, and include a jar of natural cocoa powder (my preference for drinking cocoa, although others prefer dutched, which Penzey's also carries), vanilla sugar and Vietnamese cassia cinnamon, crystallized ginger or cayenne pepper for an extra kick. Their vanilla extracts include a whole vanilla bean in the bottle, which could be the centerpiece for a set of extracts that also includes almond, orange and lemon.

A vial of saffron would be another pretty surprise, or a jar of Hungarian paprika with a recipe for goulash enclosed (Todd had a fantastic goulash that was almost chalky with paprika at Cafe Sabarsky last weekend). A selection of chile powders and peppers, a peppercorn mix and fleur de sel, or some garam masala and rogan josh seasoning are other options.