The 8th Annual Edible Gift Guide
This year we come to our holiday tables humbled and grateful for the most important things in life: our loved ones, our health and a safe place to gather together. We are especially mindful of our friends, neighbors and community members who were directly affected by the horrific fires in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties this fall. The fires have had a profound effect on each and every one of us, and will continue to do so for a long time to come.
The places we choose to do our holiday celebrating and shopping can play a significant role in helping our area rebound from these losses. Even the businesses that did not suffer direct physical damage in the fires likely suffered economic losses from cancellations of customary harvest tourism in our area, and many of these same businesses rushed in to provide food and other assistance at their own expense.
Supporting local businesses is always a great idea, and especially so this year. And with this amazing lineup of offerings, your friends and loved ones will be especially glad that you did!
For the Perfect Party
Make the holiday season especially festive this year by filling your basket with these locally produced seasonal favorites. And don’t forget to “gift yourself”: Many of these items will make your own entertaining effortless as well as delicious.
Photo 1: Briny and delicious oysters delivered to their door (or yours!) from Hog Island Oyster Company. Select shipping dates available. HogIslandOysters.com
Photo 2: Party-ready cheese, fruit and nut boards from Good Earth Natural Foods. Locations in Fairfax and Mill Valley. GENatural.com
Photo 3: Treat them to dinner, or host your own gathering, at Mill Valley’s Piazza D’Angelo. PiazzaDAngelo.com
Photo 4: Hard-to-find craft brews from the Mill Valley Market. Gift a membership to the market’s excellent Beer or Wine Club to keep the gift going all year long! MillValleyMarket.com
Photo 1: Festive holiday cookies from Rustic Bakery. RusticBakery.com
Photo 2: Daily sandwich specials at Petaluma’s Thistle Meats. Don’t forget the butcher shop’s house-cured salumi and fresh meat offerings, too! ThistleMeats.com
Photo 3: Beautiful air plants, succulents and orchids from Green Door Design. Delivery available. GreenDoorDesign.net
Photo 4: Buttery, flaky housemade biscuits from Foodniks. Dine in or take them home by the frozen dozen to bake off just in time for your feast! Foodniks.com
Photo 1: Seasonal Golden Milk & Gingerbread ice cream whipped up by Humphry Slocombe in collaboration with Chef Melissa King available this winter only at Whole Foods Markets. WholeFoodsMarket.com
Photo 2: Spindrift sparkling waters made in Sonoma County using real fruit. Available at local grocers and through Good Eggs in delicious flavors including blackberry, grapefruit and cucumber. SpindriftFresh.com
Photo 3: Shop the curated collection of home goods and antiques at the Fancy Flea at the Marin Country Mart December 16 & 17. MarinCountryMart.com
Photo 4: Artisanal, small-batch spirits and cocktail kits from Petaluma’s Griffo Distillery. GriffoDistillery.com
Photo 1: Cheese basket from Marin French Cheese Company. They ship locally and across the country! MarinFrenchCheese.com
Photo 2: Organic eggnog from Clover Sonoma. We’ll leave it up to you whether you spike it with some locally crafted spirits, or not… CloverSonoma.com
For the Sophisticate
There is always someone on your list with the most discerning tastes, the one for whom gift shopping is especially daunting. We’ve got you!
Photo 1: Artisan charcuterie from Fabrique Delices will take any holiday gathering up a notch, or several. Available at local grocers and Bay Area farmers’ markets including the Marin Civic Center Sunday and Thursday markets in San Rafael. FabriqueDelices.com
Photo 2: Nick’s Cove on the shores of Tomales Bay offers luxuriously cozy cabins for true getaways, and delicious lunch, dinner and craft cocktails for daytrippers. NicksCove.com
Photo 1: Handline Coastal California in Sebastopol offers the perfect respite from holiday stress, and dining gift certificates are always a welcome gift. Handline.com
Photo 2: Custom cheese & wine lover’s basket from Fisher’s Cheese & Wine at the Marin Country Mart. FishersCheese.com
Photo 3: Exceptional quality, unique men’s and women’s clothing and accessories from Guideboat Co. Shop in stores in Mill Valley, San Francisco and Palo Alto, and online at Guideboat.com
Photo 4: Holiday gift baskets from Cowgirl Creamery, including a special 20th Anniversary Collection featuring Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company’s Toma and Cowgirl’s own Mt. Tam. Visit their stores in Point Reyes and the SF Ferry Plaza Building or shop online at CowgirlCreamery.com
Photo 1: Head out to Cornerstone Sonoma for world-class shopping, spirits and wine tasting rooms, delicious food and art-inspired gardens. CornerstoneSonoma.com
Photo 2: Holiday gift sets from Sonoma’s Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyard will make their holidays sparkle! GloriaFerrer.com
Photo 3: Exceptional quality, unique men’s and women’s clothing and accessories from Guideboat Co. Shop in stores in Mill Valley, San Francisco and Palo Alto, and online at Guideboat.com
Photo 1: Luxurious skin-care products and treatments from Eva Claiborne Beauty & Wellness. TiburonSkinCare.com
Photo 2: Fine jewelry handcrafted in Marin featuring ethically sourced gemstones from Mill Valley’s Alix & Company. AlixAndCompany.com
Photo 3: Handcrafted gifts for home and tabletop from Terrestra in downtown Mill Valley or online at Terrestra.com
Photo 4: Vintage culinary tools, spices and DIY kits from cookbook author and regular Edible Marin & Wine Country contributor Georgeanne Brennan’s La Vie Rustic, including these fantastic French stoneware escargot pots! LaVieRustic.com
Photo 5: Limited edition fine art prints by Matthew Carden. MatthewCarden.com
Photo 6: A romantic French farmers’ market–inspired dinner at Marche Aux Fleurs in Ross is sure to wow your beloved. Gift certificates available. MarmeAuxFleursRestaurant.com
For the Romantic
11 ways to say “I love you” with local food, libations and scenic vistas, because the one you love should be at the top of your holiday shopping list!
Photo 1: For the beloved who loves Wine Country, but not wine, H2Hotel’s Non-Wine Lovers Package offers the best of Healdsburg’s “other” spirited producers including artisan distillers, craft brewers and cidermakers. H2Hotel.com
Photo 2: A passport to the quintessential Wine Country experience during Calistoga’s Winter in the Wineries December 2–February 4. With over 17 local wineries offering tastings, this is a guaranteed ticket to liquid happiness! VisitCalistoga.com
Photo 3: Transport your amor to Spain with a home-cooked Spanish feast. The Spanish Table makes paella a onestop breeze, and make sure you include Spanish-inspired appetizers and wines, tambien! Stores in Mill Valley, SF and Berkeley and online at Spanish Table.com
Photo 4: Cibo’s house-baked holiday cookies make perfect stocking stuffers and are the ideal accompaniment to their house-roasted coffee brewed up at home and served in bed. CiboSausalito.com
Photo 1: Luxurious bath products from Wine Country icon the girl & the fig. Fig scented, of course! GirlFigStore.com
Photo 2: Freshly baked and gift-wrapped cookies delivered to their doorstep from Super Love Cookies! SuperLoveCookies.com
Photo 3: Downtown Napa’s TORC offers one of the most romantic settings around for creative Wine Country cuisine, craft cocktails and an incredible wine list, natch. Gift certificates available. T orcNapa.com
Photo 4: Taste the care that grape growers bring to crafting the fruits of their own labor into sparkling wines with a great selection of the grower-produced champagnes from Sausalito’s Driver’s Market. DriversMarket.com
Photo 1: Special “honey” gift basket available at all three Marin Nugget Market locations, filled with locally produced sweet treats like CC made caramels and caramel sauce, Sonoma Syrup flavored syrups and fine chocolates. All wrapped up and ready to gift! NuggetMarket.com
Photo 2: The gift of unplugging in luxurious comfort at River’s End in Jenner. ILoveSunsets.com
Photo 3: Treat your love to classic Mexican-American diner fare made with organic, locally sourced ingredients at Shoreline Coffee Shop in Mill Valley’s Tam Junction. ShorelineCoffeeShop.com
For the Eco-warrior
For those on your list who are a little bit more “conscious” than the rest, here is a special selection of mindful, health-centric and environmentally friendly gift ideas.
Photo 1: Abundant market baskets filled with locally grown and produced gems found at the Thursday and Sunday San Rafael Civic Center Farmers’ Markets, or market tokens available at the market’s information booth, good for “toting their own!” AgriculturalInstitute.org
Photo 2: Equator Coffees and Teas just launched line of single-origin instant coffees in these über-cool capsules are perfect stocking stuffers for all the coffee afficionados on-the-go on your list. Isn’t that almost everyone? EquatorCoffees.com
Photo 3: Locally sourced good groceries and meal kits delivered to their doorstep from Good Eggs. GoodEggs.com
Photo 1: West Marin Food & Farm Tours offers culinary adventures featuring some of our area’s most famous producers, including Double 8 Dairy’s water buffalo! FoodAndFarmTours.com
Photo 2: Holiday treats and toys for your four-legged friends from Petaluma Pet Co. PetalumaPet.com
Photo 3: Luxurious and nontoxic home furnishings and finishes from Pine Street Natural Interiors’ jewel-box of a showroom in Sausalito. PineStreetInteriors.com
Photo 4: Kikoko Teas line of cannabis-infused herbal teas are specially formulated to promote women’s health and well-being. You’ll surely receive “high” praise for this gift! Kikoko.com
Photo 5: Unique and exceptional home furnishings, culinary treats and personal gift items from Petaluma Home & Garden. Facebook.com/PetalumaHomeAndGarden
Photo 1: Hand-thrown oven-to-table pottery works by craftspeople Jeff and Sally Manfredi from their Calistoga Pottery. CalistogaPottery.com
Photo 2: Yoga classes and unique yoga wear from Now Power Yoga. 30 days for $30 special for new students! NowPower.Yoga
Photo 3: Dawn Ranch in the historic Russian River town of Guerneville offers rustic charm-filled cabins, spectacular natural surroundings and delicious food and drink in their Agriculture Public House Restaurant. DawnRanch.com
Photo 4: Eat well and do good with the purchase of Patagonia Provisions’ special Unbroken Ground gift box that includes delicious, sustainable products sourced from producers featured in the Certified B Corp's film of the same name highlighting restorative fishing, regenerative agriculture and regenerative grazing practices. PatagoniaProvisions.com
For the Not -So-Amateur Chef
How to finally give back to the person who cooks you five-star meals all year long? With some killer culinary gear, classes to turn talented amateurs into bonafide pros, and the high-end ingredients to make any dish shine.
Photo 1: Healdsburg SHED’s new Pantry Box offers the best of SHED's housemade jams, pickles, shrubs, spice blends, and more. Order online or visit SHED to be dazzled. HealdsburgShed.com
Photo 2: Rob Larman’s Cochon Volant BBQ in Sonoma bottles its special sauces for the backyard BBQ chef. Santa could never stuff a stocking so well! CochonVolantBBQ.com
Photo 3: Help them bake with the best by gifting professional baking equipment and ingredients from Petaluma's Keith Giusto Baking Supply. CentralMilling.com
Photo 1: Ayana estate grown Pure Skin 100% organic olive oil nourishes skin naturally and soothes the mind and soul. Grown, picked, pressed and bottled in Sonoma County. Order directly from Victoria.Cressman@gmail.com
Photo 2: Help them set their intentions for the new year with beautiful and eco-conscious meditation cushions, malas and journals from YogaWorks’ locations in Mill Valley, Larkspur and Novato. Gifting yoga class passes and memberships will bring heaps of gratitude, too. YogaWorks.com
Photo 3: All of the farmers’ markets operated by Kelly Smith and her Agricultural Community Events Farmers’ Market team are thoughtfully curated with the local community at the top of mind. Visit their year-round markets in Santa Rosa and Petaluma to stock your own larder and find unique locally produced food gifts. CommunityFarmersMarkets.com
Photo 4: Gorgeous American-made hand-crafted kitchen knives from New West Knifeworks. Visit their new “toy store” on Main Street in St. Helena or online at NewWestKnifeWorks.com
Photo 1: Straus Family Creamery Eggnog is what we long for the other 10½ months of the year. Get it while you can! StrausFamilyCtreamery.com
Photo 2: Farm (those darling goats and sheep!) and creamery tours, cheesemaking classes and even cheese board design classes!- at Tomales Farmstead Creamery. TolumaFarms.com
Photo 1: The CIA at Greystone in St. Helena and its sister property the CIA at COPIA in downtown Napa both offer a full range of professional cookware and culinary tools, and interesting and fun classes and boot camps where your recipients can learn how to put them to great use. CIAChef.edu
Photo 2: The Beef Butcher Box from Stemple Creek Ranch includes 20 pounds of 100% grass-fed and grass-finished steaks, roasts and ground beef for the serious meat lovers on your list. StempleCreek.com
Photo 3: Rancho Llano Seco offers heirloom beans and humanely raised pork and pork products from their family-owned ranch at local farmers’ markets, grocers including Good Eggs and Good Earth and online at LlanoSeco.com
Photo 4: Clif Family Farm Chef John McConnell crafts delicious jams, oils, nut and spice mixes, hot sauces and more from the organic produce grown on their own farm in Napa. Let them wrap up the perfect gift basket, or choose your own at their VeloVino tasting room in St. Helena or online at ClifFamily.com
Spotlight On: The Barlow in Sebastopol
The Barlow in Sebastopol is a 12½-acre outdoor market district that plays host to an incredible lineup of local makers including distillers, cheesemakers, brewers, winemakers, coffee roasters, salumi producers, soap makers and other artisan craftspeople. Stroll the streets among the converted apple-processing buildings that pay homage to the area’s storied agricultural history while feasting with every sense. TheBarlow.net
Photo 1: Every product has a story to tell at The Barlow Supply Company, and it is a beautiful one. From tabletop to housewares to locally made designer chocolates, you might just complete your list at this one stop! TheBarlow.net/tenants/barlowsupplyco
Photo 2: Soap Cauldron’s all-natural shave line is handcrafted in small batches and made with the finest oils, butters and botanicals to provide maximum “slip” for a truly effortless shave. SoapCauldron.com
Photo 3: Taylor Maid Organic Coffee serves up organic, sustainably sourced coffee in a beautiful setting. Savor yours there while they wrap up your freshly roasted coffee gifts to go. TaylorMaidFarms.com
Photo 4: Clothbound McKinley Cheddar and Bodega Blue are both “proper” Britishstyle hard cheeses produced onsite at WM Cofield Cheesemakers. Taste and purchase these unique cheeses and other cheeses from neighboring creameries to create your own gift baskets and holiday cheese boards. WMCofieldCheese.com
Photo 1: Tasting certificates and unique bottles are on tap at Wind Gap Wines’ cozy tasting room. WindGapWines.com
Photo 3: Duskie Estes and John Stewart were not crowned the Queen and King of Porc for no reason. Visit their Zazu Kitchen + Farm for some of the most delectable pig parts you have ever tasted, and pick up some Black Pig Meat Co. bacon for holiday morning feasts. ZazuKitchen.com
We Stand with Wine Country
People travel from around the world to enjoy the beauty of our area, and the extraordinary food and drink that are produced here. From the wild coastlines of western Marin and Sonoma counties to picture-perfect Wine Country towns, this region is filled with world-class tourist destinations. The not-so-secret secret is that those of us fortunate enough to live here year round can enjoy these sights and tastes without the crowds during the other months of the year, all within an easy drive. This year, our community members who make their living in the hospitality industry need us more than ever. Not only did they lose critical tourist business while the fires were raging here, many of these same businesses rushed in to provide food and other relief to evacuees, first responders and those who lost everything. And they still are. Supporting these generous community members is critically important, and this year more than ever.
Photo 1: Restaurants and other food producers in our region literally rushed in to feed thousands of evacuees, fire victims and first responders, al l at their great expense. So much so that some first responders deemed this the "10-pound fire: reporting they gained that much weight because they were so well fed during their service here.
At the same time, these restaurants and producers were also affected by the lack of customary harvest tourism, and by the general pall that the fires cast over all residents of our area. Most are back in business, and they need our support more than ever. The holidays are a great reason to get out and about, creating community and supporting these vital members of a thriving regional economy. Many, like Healdsburg’s Barndiva and Napa’s Ca’Momi Osteria, have also organized special events to raise funds for rebuilding. Let’s get out there! Barndiva.com and CaMomiOsteria.com
Photo 2: The insiders from Sonoma County Living Tour will make your recipients feel like they are at home in Wine Country with custom-made walking tours and experiences that usher them into the special world of the who’s who and what’s what of good food and drink in Sonoma County. SonomaLivingTour.com
Photo 3: Gourmet Food & Wine Tours offers seven tours that explore the gastronomic delights of Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties. GourmetFoodAndWineTours.com
Photo 1: Benedetta’s founder, Julia Faller, is a pioneer of what is now popularly referred to as the farm-to-face movement. Established in 1996 in Sonoma County, the skin-care company sources certified organic and Biodynamic ingredients for its botanical skin-care products designed to stimulate the skin’s natural ability to correct, protect and rejuvenate at deep levels, and thus create lasting results.
100% of the profits from the sale of Benedetto's 6.8-ounce body lotions and hydrosol and body lotion travel and gift sets will be donated to the North Bay Fire Relief Fund set up by the Redwood Credit Union. Benedetta.com
Photo 2: Organizations like HALTER Project (Horse and Livestock Team Emergency Response) and Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch came to the aid of staggering numbers of farm and wild animals endangered or injured by the fires. Year-end donations to either or both worthy organizations would go a long way toward supporting their ongoing efforts and rebuilding their resources to help them be ready to assist the next time they are needed. HALTER Project has developed emergency preparedness kits for pets and livestock that make useful gifts, as well. HalterProject.com and JamesonAnimalRescueRanch.org
Photo 3: Even the wineries that were spared direct damage from the Wine Country fires suffered economic losses from the lack of counted-upon tourism during this year’s harvest season. Some are still waiting to learn if unharvested grapes were damaged by “smoke taint.” Supporting local wineries by purchasing memberships in their wine clubs as gifts, and for yourself, and always purchasing locally produced wines in restaurants and at retail is a deliciously easy way to support this industry that is a huge part of what makes our region so special. #napastrong #sonomastrong
