Gifts for people who like to cook, host, read, eat and drink ...

Raindrops, roses, whiskers, kittens - all lovely items to be sure, but perhaps not the gifts that will make the holidays glow as brightly as you'd like. Certainly not* if they're for the food lover in your life.

With that in mind, as a person who lives, breathes and, yes, eats food for a living, I'm sharing my personal list of beloved foods, drinks, gadgets, books and save-the-world gifts to fill the hearts and mouths of your favorite food freaks. And yes, they're all available online.

- Gifts for growing -

Heritage Seeds
Earlier in 2012, we declared "This is the year you garden!" Whether or not that actually came to pass, you can up your chances in 2013 with this collection of 12 varieties of heirloom seeds like Crookneck Summer Squash, Old Virginia Tomato, Sugar Cherry Tomato, and Yellow Moon and Stars Watermelon. Not only will you be keeping the legacy of these treasured vegetables alive - the company donates 30% of your purchase to directly support the Piedmont Environmental Council's "Buy Fresh Buy Local" Food Guide to ensure clean food for future generations. ? Southern Exposure ($25)

Mushroom Kits
Why did the man give his girlfriend a mushroom growing kit for the holidays? Because he was a fun guy. (I'll be here all week. Try the shiitakes.)

Once you have grown mushrooms like Hen of the Woods, Lion's Mane or Blue Oyster inside your own home, you'll never settle for those sad, old supermarket buttons again. ? Fungi Perfecti ($15-$29)

- Gifts for cooking -

* Ingredients

Smoked paprika trio
Smoke is my favorite food flavor, and I'm hard-pressed to think of any dish that wouldn't be improved by a gentle kiss of woodsy heat from this trio of smoked paprikas. I've put them in oatmeal, salad dressings, cookies and even cocktails and they have won hearts, minds and palates each and every time. ? Tienda ($16)

Bluegrass soy sauce
Rob Newton, chef/owner of Seersucker Brooklyn restaurant, will only allow American-grown ingredients in his restaurant. He hunted high and low to find this Kentucky-brewed soy sauce, aged in re-purposed bourbon barrels, and when he served it to me, it made my head explode. It's pleasantly pungent, slightly sweet and quite potentially your new obsession. ? Bourbon Barrel Foods (5oz for $6, 32oz for $34)

Georgia olive oil
Italy and Greece, we have nothing but respect for you, but the South has come to eat your lunch. Georgia Olive Farms is an agricultural cooperative formed in 2009, and they're working to create systems for successful olive farming in the southeastern United States. The oil itself is rich and deeply spicy, and with my own eyes I have witnessed people sipping it like it was brandy. This might say something about the kids of people with whom I spend my time, but it's darned good olive oil. ? Georgia Olive Oil Farms (500ml for $32)

Stone-ground Christmas grits
If anyone knows grits, it's Virginia Willis. Not only is the recent "Chopped" contestant a killer chef in her own right, she's also the author of a couple of our favorite and most-used cookbooks, "Bon App?tit, Y?all! Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern" and "Basic to Brilliant, Y'all," as well as a classic Eatocracy 5@5 about how Southern is a state of mind.

When she tells us some grits are good - those grits are good. ? Virginia Willis ($10.99)

* Gadgets

Heart measuring spoons
Full disclosure: I went to grad school for metalsmithing with Jim Dowd and watched him fall in love with his now-wife and business partner Sandra Bonazoli. I could make all sorts of jokes about a love being forged, but really, we're just here for their extraordinarily lovely heart-shaped pewter measuring spoons. They introduced this design as the company's very first product back in 1999, and it remains one of their best sellers to date. ? Beehive Kitchenware ($48)

Indoor turkey fryer
Give the gift of a great-smelling house AND not having said house burn down in the making of holiday dinners. One warning, though - once that puppy is fired up, it is nearly impossible not fry every potentially edible item in your home. ? Masterbuilt ($139.99)

- Gifts for serving -

Repurposed restaurant ware
These artful plates, bowl and cups first caught my eye on Pinterest. I bought them as a Christmas gift for my husband (we're weird like that), but they were far too cool to keep under wraps, and they've since been put into everyday rotation. Ceramic artist Meredith Host takes sturdy restaurant-style dishes and screen prints and overglazes images of human hearts, brains (bearing the slogan "i love you more than zombies love brains"), skulls, rib cages, bugs and other bone-chilling delights. ? Folded Pigs ($16-$24)

Perfect cocktail glass
These glasses are neither fancy nor schmancy, but they're a classically simple shape and a modest six ounces, compared to the tankards and fishbowls I'm often (over)served in bars. Legendary bartender Harry Craddock wrote that a cocktail should be imbibed, "quickly, while it's laughing at you." The little gems will ensure fresh giggles until the evening staggers to an end. - Fish's Eddy ($3.50)

- Gifts for eating -

Sweet potato habanero sauce
Like a little sweet with your heat? This New Orleans-made condiment packs plenty of both, along with a heaping helping of savory. It's a perfect accompaniment to smoked meats, soups, stews, your arm... ? Cochon Butcher ($8.50)

Virginia oysters
Yes, Virginia oysters. Under the stewardship of cousins Ryan and Travis Croxton, Rappahannock River Oyster is making a comeback selling the same Chesapeake Bay oysters (Crassostrea virginica) that their great-grandfather did in 1899. They're sweet, salty, full-bodied, and shipped live in the shell for optimum freshness. Don't forget the gloves and oyster knives! ? Rappahannock River oysters (25 for $25)

Bonbons
Chocolate is chocolate is chocolate right? Nope. This isn't one of those weird, sour, bitter artisanal bars that you have to pretend to like while listening to NPR and making kale chips in the oven. They're knee-weakeningly creamy and robust bonbons that'll make you slump to the floor in joy, then crawl back up for another piece. The fact that it's all raw, fair trade, sustainable and organic is just the cherry on top. ? Fine and Raw (8-piece box $28)

Onion jam
The Fabulous Beekman Boys aren't just my friends and neighbors and the winners of the most recent installment of "The Amazing Race," they also sell some darned good onion jam. John Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge raise goats on their upstate New York farm and are constantly on the lookout for ideal accompaniments to their signature Blaak cheese. This combo of local onion, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar brings a wallop of savory umami flavor to any dish, and it's pretty much going to be the lucky recipient's new favorite condiment. ? Beekman 1802 ($12)

Homemade burrata
If you have had burrata before - this one is probably better. If you haven't had burrata before, DiPalo's website says it can be described as "Mozzarella stuffed with cream and strips of 'stracciatella' (stretched curd) giving it an unusually soft texture." It is described by me as gazing directly into the face of the cheese gods and living to tell the tale. ? DiPalo ($8.99)

Seven-layer caramel cake
Yeah, sure, you could make a pretty good cake at home. But would it have seven (7) layers of moist yellow cake slathered in sumptuous caramel icing and shipped in a lovely red tin by a family that's been selling them for 31 years?

The cake serves 14-20 people and can be frozen and re-frozen repeatedly in case it's just for one person. Who might like to enjoy a slice while she's watching "Law & Order" reruns late at night in her cold, dark New York City apartment while she dreams of leaving it all behind and apprenticing to an incredible Southern cake maker. Or something. ? Caroline's Cakes ($58)

Salted caramels
Beer and pretzel caramels. Sweet potato black pepper caramels. Apple cider caramels. These are not the chalky, cloying bulk-bin caramels of our youth. These soft, luscious, handmade candies are to those as a can of spray cheese is to that burrata we just talked about, and they're the finest I have ever had. Liddabit also offers a "slurtle" - Brooklyn Brewery beer caramel poured over crunchy Martin?s Pretzels or crispy Route 11 potato chips in a shell of dark chocolate. God bless America. ? Liddabit Sweets (12 for $6, 24 for $11, 48 for $20)

Boozy brownies
Allison and Matt Robicelli didn't let a little (okay, massive) hurricane get in the way of their baking the most mind-bending brownies in all of browniedom. Instead, they marshaled their community and social media resources to feed hundreds and even thousands of meals a day to people affected by Superstorm Sandy. Once their own facility was up and running again, the married chefs once again started baking up the beer, Scotch, cajeta and salt-bashed brownies that have made them an obsession of sweets fiends along the Eastern seaboard. ? Robicelli's (4 for $13-$14, 12 for $39)

Serious American ham
America has long been high on the hog when it comes to country hams, but with this smoked, aged, pasture-raised Berkshire offering from Virginia's Surry Farms, we're trotting on Italy and Spain's turf, too. The third-generation curemasters of the Edwards family have perfected their technique (developed more than 400 years ago by Native Americans and influenced by the aforementioned ham strongholds) to create the "Surryano" ham that's become a cult favorite among chefs around the U.S. Don't forget the stand for easier carving. - Surry Farms ($199.95 for a whole ham, $64 for a stand)

Salumi of the Month Club
I was given an Armando Batali salami at my bridal shower. When I brought it home, my dog tried to run away with it. I fought that dog. I fought him hard. The only product still shipping for 2012 is the future delivery of a different salame on Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day throughout 2013. Accept that, and ensure salumi-scented dreams until the fateful day of their arrival. And consider sending the dog into another room. ? Salumi Cured Meats ($99)

- Gifts for drinking -

Super smoky Scotch
My husband and I took a week-long trip to Scotland last year. We stayed at an old country estate with a single-malt library overseen by a Scotch sommelier named Beth. Beth taught us things. When we emerged from the peat bog at the end of the week, it was with a single word upon our lips: Corryvreckan. It takes its name from the famous whirlpool that lies to the north of Islay, and it tastes like a rich, heady, forest fire that takes ages to put out. Get ye some. ? Ardbeg Corryvreckan (Approx $85)

Best bloody mary mix EVER
Bloody marys are usually a maintenance beverage - a cursory nod at healthy vegetable delivery on a damaged Sunday morning, while still being a delivery system for more alcohol. McClure's confounds that notion with a spiced-up, tomato paste laced, pickle brine that (gasp!) can stand up on its own, or even be cut down with some seltzer. A case of 12 might seems like excess - until you actually taste the burn and realize that's what your heart has been missing. - McClure's (Case of 12 for $120)

- Gifts for reading -

Organize your cookbooks
Does your food lover have stacks of cookbooks and no idea what recipes are in them? A membership allows cooks to store a registry of the titles they own, so when life hands them lemons, they can easily figure out which books in their collection contain lemonade recipes. ? Eat Your Books (1 year $25)

Picky eating
Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic is a lifelong picky eater who feared she would pass those habits down to her son. This led to an in-depth and deftly-written and frequently hilarious exploration into the curious science behind food aversions and what we can do to overcome them. ? Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater's Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate ($15)

Back to nature
Stockbroker-turned-Gourmet Magazine test kitchen chef Ian Knauer wasn't quite sure what to do with himself when the august publication folded, so he went back to tend the land that had been in his family for generations. The result is an earnest, honest, practical cookbook that's a celebration of the seasons and the simple gifts of the earth. ? The Farm ($30)

Ladies first
A woman's place is in the kitchen - the restaurant kitchen. In this engaging (and often enraging) book, journalist Charlotte Druckman wove together first-hand accounts from a stunningly smart panel of over 70 female chefs who are holding their own in a male-dominated field, and commanding only a fraction of the recognition they deserve. ? Skirt Steak: Women Chefs on Standing the Heat & Staying in the Kitchen ($24.95)

Twisted sister
Even if you're not familiar with Ruth Bourdain - the unholy Twitter-borne mash-up of Ruth Reichl and Anthony Bourdain - the food freak in your life is. RuBo, as she(?) is known to fans, won the inaugural James Beard Award for humor writing, and brings ever bit of that biting wit to this send-up of modern-day food fanaticism. ? Comfort Me with Offal: Ruth Bourdain?s Guide to Gastronomy ($19.99)

Timeless tipples
Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith won the first season of "The Next Food Network Star" and went on to write my single most favorite entertaining book of all time, "Talk With Your Mouth Full." Their newest book expands on their big-hearted and easily elegant hosting techniques, and include techniques and recipes to make even novice bartenders feel like master mixologists. ? The New Old Bar: Classic Cocktails and Salty Snacks from The Hearty Boys ($19.99)

- Gifts for saving the world -

You've fed your loved one's mouth, mind and soul. How about spreading some of that love around? Everyone has their favorite causes, but I'm a particular fan of the International Rescue Committee's New Roots campaign, which enables refugees to grow foods from their homeland and stay in touch with their culture, while sustaining themselves and their families.

CNN's Impact Your World has more ways to help you channel your time, energy and cash to where it will feed the most people where it's needed most.

Have a delicious holiday season!

*Yes, I know you can make rose petal syrup, chocolate-coated rose petals, etc. I just don't care for them.

Source: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/12/13/gifts-for-food-lovers/

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Russia rejects blame in death of ex-spy Litvinenko

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia denied on Friday that it was involved in the death of Kremlin critic and former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

A British lawyer had told a preliminary hearing into Litvinenko's poisoning on Thursday that there was evidence the Russian government was involved in his death, which has soured relations between Moscow and London.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said: "We hope that as a result of the (legal process) ... all the baseless allegations about some kind of a Russian involvement in this affair will be dispelled once and for all."

Litvinenko, who had been granted British citizenship and become a vocal critic of the Kremlin, died in November 2006 after someone slipped polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope, into his cup of tea at a London hotel.

Lukashevich, asked about the lawyer's statement at a weekly briefing, acknowledged that Litvinenko's death was still troubling ties between Russia and Britain. He said the inquest must be conducted "transparently and without prejudice."

British police and prosecutors say there is enough evidence to charge two former KGB agents, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, but Moscow has flatly rejected calls to extradite them.

Hugh Davies, an attorney acting on behalf of the British inquest, said on Thursday that an examination of government material establishes "a prima facie case in the culpability of the Russian state in the death of Alexander Litvinenko".

(Reporting by Steve Gutterman; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-rejects-blame-murder-ex-spy-litvinenko-120503084.html

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Italy's Monti faces pressure to run in election

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti faced increasing pressure on Thursday to stand as a candidate in next year's election after Silvio Berlusconi's surprise offer to drop his bid for a fifth term as premier.

At a meeting of the European People's Party in Brussels, an umbrella group of centre-right parties, Berlusconi repeated the offer to stand aside if Monti agreed to run against the centre-left, who are tipped to win the election.

Monti's attendance at the meeting alongside Berlusconi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel came as a surprise to many as he was not on the guest list or agenda.

Monti was brought in a year ago to head a technocrat government to save Italy from financial crisis, but opinion polls suggest he would have little chance of winning an election if he were to run as a candidate.

He would also face many hurdles within the center-right, which is highly fragmented and includes his most entrenched critic, the Northern League.

"There were a lot of expressions of support for a Monti candidacy," a member of the European parliament told Reuters. "But Monti didn't resolve the dilemma."

Berlusconi center-right People of Freedom (PD) party withdrew support from Mont's government in parliament last week, prompting him to resign.

On Saturday, Berlusconi declared he would lead the PD into an election expected early next year.

With memories fresh of the financial crisis which prompted the end of Berlusconi government last year, his mooted return to frontline politics alarmed Italy's European partners and rattled financial markets.

The media magnate's call for Monti to stand has aroused skepticism in Italy because it came only two days after he had blamed Italy's deep recession on austerity policies he said had been dictated to Monti by Germany and the European Central Bank.

Opinion polls suggest Berlusconi has no real chance of winning the election, and markets have calmed. In an auction of three-year bonds on Thursday the Treasury paid the lowest borrowing costs since late 2010.

Monti is widely credited with restoring Italy's international credibility after the scandal-plagued Berlusconi era and he has given no clear indication of his intentions.

He has said only that he would like to continue playing a role in influencing ideas.

Asked about Berlusconi's offer ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels, Monti said it was neither the time nor place to respond. He said he was committed to leading the government in the brief time remaining before the 2013 budget is approved and he resigns - probably before Christmas.

BERATING SEEN WINNING

Berlusconi latest volte-face increases the likelihood that he will pull out of the election. He has been struggling to hold his People of Freedom party (PD) together.

Opinion polls, meanwhile, show a commanding lead for the center-left Democratic Party and its leader Pier Luigi Bersani, said Roberto D'Alimonte, a politics professor at Rome's Luis university and an expert on electoral systems.

"The only certainty about the upcoming election is that Bersani is going to win hands down," D'Alimonte said.

Bersani has supported the technocrat government in parliament but has been cool on the idea of Monti running at the election, saying to do so would put at risk his position as a universally respected independent.

It could also prevent Monti from becoming president of the Republic, a position which would give him considerable influence over the government and the political scene in general.

On Thursday, Bersani repeated that he expected the former European Commissioner to continue playing some role when his term in office ends.

"The day after the elections, the first person who I would like to have a conversation with is Monti," Bersani said.

Ferrari's chairman, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, whose recently formed centrist group has been regarded as a potential vehicle for a Monti candidacy, said on Thursday he hoped he would throw his hat into the ring.

"I'm optimistic. I think Monti is the first to realize how much there is left to do," he told RAI state television.

Berlusconi's hopes have faded of securing an alliance with the regionalist Northern League party that could have given him a strong position in the Senate.

(Additional reporting By Luke Baker in Brussels; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italys-monti-faces-pressure-run-election-001537029--sector.html

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Video: Obama: Rice did 'an outstanding job'

>> for more on what went on behind the scenes of this decision we want to turn to our chief foreign affairs columnist andrea mitchell in the washington newsroom. andrea, what happened here?

>> this is so dramatic, and the personal relationship is part of it. the president is going to see susan rice at the white house tomorrow. susan rice 's many defenders, brian, are trying to figure out how republicans managed to deny the president his top choice for secretary of state without benefit of a nomination or hearing. tonight the president said she was qualified for the job. susan rice was a loyal team player for barack obama . late today he spoke to our sacramento affiliate kcra.

>> she's done an outstanding job. i could not be prouder with her. she will continue to be one of the top members of my national security team.

>> rice's trouble began with the sunday show appearances in september on benghazi. what looked like a job audition to become secretary of state.

>> what happened in benghazi was, in fact, initially a spontaneous reaction to what happened moments before in cairo.

>> her comments were based on cia talking points that proved wrong. it was a terror attack , not a protest. republicans accused rice of twisting the facts to play politics. the president dramatically defended her.

>> if senator mccain and senator graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.

>> but rice was in limbo, not officially nominated but buried under an avalanche of leaks.

>> i relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community . i made clear that the information was preliminary.

>> rice's request to meet with the republican critics backfired horribly.

>> bottom line, i'm more disturbed now than i was before.

>> we are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we didn't get.

>> for john mccain many say it was personal. rooiz rice his iraq policy during the 2008 campaign. but the crushing blow came from a republican senator, a woman rice counted on as an ally.

>> the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election.

>> in public the president signaled rice should tough it out.

>> susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job that she's done.

>> hillary clinton also defended her.

>> susan rice has done a great job as our u.n. ambassador.

>> but republicans didn't back off. that makes john kerry , the foreign relations chairman, who has undertaken tough secret missions for the president the logical next choice to be secretary of state.

>> i'm just going to continue to do my work. tonight john kerry issued a statement saying as someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands how difficult politics can be, i felt for her throughout the last difficult weeks. but he added, i know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction. brian?

>> andrea mitchell in the d.c. newsroom. andrea, thanks. let's get

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50192475/

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Cops: Dad carves pentagram into son's back

By Frank Heinz, NBCDFW.com

A father has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault after telling a 911 operator he carved a pentagram into his 6-year-old son's back.

Just after midnight Wednesday, officers were dispatched to a home in Richland Hills, Texas, after the boy's father, identified by police as Brent Troy Bartel, called 911 and said: "I shed some innocent blood."

When the dispatcher asked what the man meant by that, the man replied: ?I inscribed a pentagram on my son.?

The dispatcher asked why, and the man said: "It's a holy day."

At the same time, the child's mother called 911 from a neighbor's home and said her husband was hurting their child.

More stories from NBCDFW.com

Officers arrived at the home and found the child cold, standing in only pajama pants with a large pentagram carved into his back. The carving covered most of the boy's back, police said.

Officers wrapped the boy in a jacket and turned him over to paramedics.? The child was transported to Cooks Children's Hospital for treatment.? Child Protective Services and a crime victim liaison were working with the boy and his mother.

Police said Wednesday afternoon that the carving wasn't deep enough to require stitches and that the child is expected to physically recover.

At the scene, officers also recovered a box cutter they believe Bartel used to make the carving.

Bartel was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon-family member. He was being held early Thursday on $500,000 bond.

The father's call to 911 was placed at 12:10 a.m., just minutes after the day 12-12-12 began.

It is not clear what Bartel meant by calling Wednesday "a holy day."

However, Catholics celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. The Dec. 12, 2012, date, along with Dec. 21, 2012, have drawn attention from numerologists and those concerned with doomsday prophecy.

On Wednesday, it's reported more than 9,000 couples will tie the knot and hospitals have seen a surge in scheduled Cesarean sections. NBC's Andrea Canning reports.

NBC 5's Lindsay Wilcox contributed to this report.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/13/15877886-cops-dad-carves-pentagram-into-sons-back-on-12-12-12?lite

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2013 dubbed ?the year of mobile malware? for Android users

Columbia Pictures has released the first trailer for Another Earth, the Will Smith/Jaden Smith sci-fi thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan. So... doesn't that sound great? M. Night Shyamalan hasn't made a bad movie since his last movie, and everyone loves Jaden Smith, what with his great rap songs and all. Will Smith is in it, but he doesn't do the bulk of the adventuring, as his character is stuck injured in a spaceship most of the time. So it's mostly Jaden Smith running around a world of M. Night Shyamalan's making. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2013-dubbed-mobile-malware-android-users-205131167.html

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TechCrunch Makers Episode One: Inside Brooklyn?s Makerbot With Bre Pettis

It's been months in the making, but here it is: the first episode of TechCrunch Makers, featuring Bre Pettis of Makerbot. We visited Bre's downtown Brooklyn factory where he and the rest of team design, build, and ship hundreds of Makerbots a week.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/FtjMXeZMyXY/

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