Holiday gifts: Delicious things to eat
What says love quite like a jar of Sqirl jam in your mailbox each month for a year? Find out which month the mind-blowing Blenheim apricot jam is set to be delivered and wangle yourself a breakfast invitation. $180 for a year, $90 for six months and $60 for four months at sqirlla.com or at the restaurant, 720 N. Virgil Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 284-8127. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
Bonnie Tempesta helped introduce the biscotti to America. Now she’s back with her impeccably light, crisp almond and almond-chocolate cookies. A 1-pound gift box is $28 plus shipping and comes beautifully wrapped. Boncorabiscotti.com. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Chef Bruce Kalman left the Churchill in West Hollywood to start his own gourmet pickling business, and the results have all the right vinegary snap. Garlic Dill Horsey Cukes, Sweet Cab Onions, Bloody Mary Asparagus, Cucumber Kim Chee, Curried Cauliflower and Chi-Town Giardiniere are all locally sourced and hand-packed. They can be mixed and matched for the perfect pickle-lover package. $11.95, at the Cheese Store of Silverlake, 3926-28 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 644-7511. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)
They’re organic, they’re sustainable and they’re certified by Oregon Tilth. They’re roasted to about a minute and a half short of full incineration. They are also about the most delicious hazelnuts you will ever taste, almost coffee-like in their intensity. You could order giant bags of them online from trufflebertfarms.com, but they’re $9 a pound plus shipping with a minimum order of 10 pounds. Or you can pick up handy 1-pound jars for $15 at Mozza2Go, 6610 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 297-1130. (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)
William Miyazaki launched downtown L.A. micro-roaster Suits & Knives in July, selling coffee wholesale and online (“order before roast day Thursday, coffee in your cups by Monday”). Miyazaki selects green beans and roasts them in what he calls the Japanese style, which is a lot slower, he explains. “It’s not about punching a button on a machine.” Several varieties include beans from Central and South America and Ethiopia, with an espresso blend called Dempsy that marries both, “sweet and complex.” $14 to $21 online. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
