Christmas Gifts

Hostess Gift Ideas

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• The After-Dinner Kit

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  The After-Dinner Kit

  Creative ideas for hostess gifts, including items for the home and garden, treats from your kitchen, gift basket suggestions, and more.

  Start with an exceptional red vermouth—this one is a favorite of food editor Christine Albano -- and then round out the gift with foods that complement its flavors: citrusy butter cookies, candied blood-orange peels, hazelnut honey, and a special variety of California pear. Complete it with a paring knife and wooden tray (handy for your host long after the last pear has been sliced).

  San Giulano Sicilian Orange biscuits, zingermans.com. Carpano Antica Formula vermouth, astorwines.com. Blood-orange candy, junetaylorjams.com. Warren pears, froghollow.com. Paring knife, by Opinel; brookfarmgeneralstore.com. Olive wood cutting board, conranusa.com. Chestnut Honey with Hazelnuts, by Cata Gourmet; despanabrandfoods.com. Ribbon, paperpresentation.com.

• Handmade Votive Candles

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  Handmade Votive Candles

  A set of votive candles makes the perfect compact gift for any hostess, and making them yourself out of beeswax adds a personal touch.

  How to Make the Handmade Votive Candles

• Scented Sugars

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  Scented Sugars

  Scented sugar adds a subtle perfume and flavor to coffee, tea, fruit desserts, or baked goods. Mix a small batch in a pretty jar for a creative and aromatic hostess gift.

  How to Make the Scented Sugars

• The Paella Kit

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  The Paella Kit

  As a houseguest, one of the greatest gifts you can offer -- aside from pitching in to clean dishes -- is to give your host a night off from menu planning. This paella pan holds almost everything you need to concoct that savory rice dish, including a book of 108 recipes, specialty Bomba rice, Spanish paprika and olive oil, and dried chiles. Come dinnertime, just add protein.

  Paella, by Alberto Herraiz, amazon.com. Paella pan, 13 1/2 inches, by El Cid; Naturvie Frantoio Serie Limitada Monovarietal extra-virgin olive oil; Arroz Bomba Cebolla; Chiquilin Nora dried peppers; SPP Pimenton de la Vera Dulce D.O.; despanabrandfoods.com.

• Wine-Label Album Kit

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  Wine-Label Album Kit

  This special wine-label keepsake kit will allow your hostess and her family to preserve labels from their favorite bottles.

  How to Put Together the Wine-Label Album Kit

• Flower-Arranging Gift Kit

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  Flower-Arranging Gift Kit

  Create a handy flower-arranging kit that packs all of the essentials inside a jar that's pretty enough to double as a vase.

  How to Put Together a Flower-Arranging Gift Kit

• Sake-Box Planters

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  Sake-Box Planters

  Give a botanical hostess gift a creative twist by placing the flowers or herbs in a wooden sake box topped with plastic wrap.

  How to Make the Sake-Box Planters

• Chocolate-Pecan Toffee

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  Chocolate-Pecan Toffee

  Each chocolate-pecan toffee is a small present on its own, but line several in a container for a delicious hostess gift.

  Get the Chocolate-Pecan Toffee Recipe

• Champagne-Bottle Wrap

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  Champagne-Bottle Wrap

  Elevate the classic bottle of champagne by dressing up the wrapping. With its airy pom-pom, this sprightly package hints at the effervescence hidden inside.

  How to Make the Champagne-Bottle Wrap

• The Best Basics Kit

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  The Best Basics Kit

  Even less-experienced cooks can appreciate the power of a really great salt (or olive oil or vinegar). Our food editors swear by these finishing touches for all kinds of dishes: a complex red-wine vinegar from California, a delicate hand-harvested sea salt, and a fruity extra-virgin French olive oil. A wooden salt bowl and pepper mill make thoughtful extras, as does a dish towel, which can double as gift wrap -- just bundle everything up and tie at the top.

  Extra-virgin olive oil, by A l’Olivier; igourmet.com. Napa Valley red wine vinegar, organic fleur de sel, and organic whole peppercorns, St. Helena Olive Oil Company; sholiveoil.com. Beechwood pepper mill, brookfarmgeneralstore.com. Striped towel, by Cote Bastide; johnderian.com. Wooden salt bowl, globaltable.com.

• Jam Gift Package

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  Jam Gift Package

  This small, thoughtful gift is a good way to thank a hostess. Wrap two loaves of your favorite crusty bread (we like French baguettes) in a linen dish towel, and top with a jar of homemade jam. Tie them together with a colorful ribbon to match the towel, securing a wooden spreader in the knot of the bow.

• Caramel Bourbon Vanilla Sauce

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