Holiday Gift Guide

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On this Small Business Saturday, Edible Excursions—the quintessential small, independent, local business—would like to share some gift ideas for the food lovers on your holiday list. #ShopSmall #SmallBizSat #GoLocal

1. For the person who wants to hone their kitchen skills: Cooking classes cater to all interests, skill levels, and budgets in the Bay Area: Find classes at 18 Reasons, The Civic Kitchen, Hoste, or San Francisco Cooking School.

2. For fun stocking stuffers: We love the little cheese knives and slicers from the Ferry Building’s Cowgirl Creamery, and the packaged sweets and savory snacks from the recently relocated La Cocina shop. Try caramel-and-chocolate-covered shortbread by @kikastreats, gourmet salts and seasonings by @saldevidagourmet, or chili-lime crickets with pumpkin seeds from @donbugito. We’re also fans of Oaktown Spice Shop’s blends, kits, and gift boxes—an ideal way to add flavor to any cook’s pantry.

3. For folks who want to eat well at home with some help: Personal chef services from Edible Explorations. Guide Rebecca Sibrack caters intimate holiday dinner parties, provides regular or one-off in-home chef services, and offers regional Mexican cooking parties. Bon appetite!

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4. For the mixologist in the mix: Our resident bon vivant Quinn Sweeney offers quirky, arty bar paraphernalia and bitters kits at his Libation Lab store. Cheers!

5. For the home cook who wants to expand their repertoire: Check out Ferry Building guide Tori Ritchie’s cookbook offerings—cabin cooking, pressure cooker, party pleasers—Tori’s got it covered.

6. For the pickler, preserver, canner, jammer, or curer in your circle: Mission District guide Karen Solomon has the DIY beat down. Choose from one of several cookbooks that champion putting tasty food in jars.

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8. For the food justice advocate: The La Cocina Cookbook, which celebrates the foodways of alumni from the Mission District nonprofit’s kitchen incubator program. These budding immigrant and female food entrepreneurs make America great.

9. For the sassy soul who can handle the heat: May we suggest The Juhu Beach Club Cookbook from friend and former Temescal food tour partner Preeti Mistry? Preeti is bringing the JBC brand back to Oakland in a new Food Hall in 2020. We couldn’t be happier for her—and us.

10. For the farm lover on your list: Preeti’s coauthor on the JBC cookbook, EE’s Sarah Henry, also penned Farmsteads of the California Coast—an homage to some of our favorite Golden State growers—for local boutique book publisher Yellow Pear Press.

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10. For the cookbook collector: Scan the stacks at our favorite indie cookbook store Omnivore Books in San Francisco. Look for our pal Adeena Sussman’s latest, Sababa and Kate Leahy & company’s Lavash, on the foundational flatbread and other foods from Armenia.

11. For caregivers & receivers: While we’re talking books, we’d like to plug our pal & fellow food hound Mary Ladd’s disrespectful guide to dealing with breast cancer. The Wig Diaries is funny and frank and comes with irreverent illustrations, courtesy of Don Asmussen.

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12. For the person who is all about charitable giving over gifts: Make a contribution to a food-focused non-profit such as CHEFS, Cooking Matters, CUESA, La Cocina, or World Central Kitchen. Or donate to a food program such as SF-Marin Food Bank, Alameda County Community Food Bank, Food Runners, Glide Memorial Church, St. Anthony’s, Berkeley Food Pantry, or Food Shift. Hunger doesn’t take a holiday.

Bonus: For the experience-over-stuff person: Why, a gift certificate for an Edible Excursions adventure, of course. Gift certificates never expire and come in three different amounts. Specify a particular outing for the person on your gift list or let them choose their own adventure.

Lisa Rogovin