Last-Minute Gifting Ideas for the Holiday Season

By Tim Ebner | Edible DC

Attention holiday shoppers! There are only a few more “ship-by” dates left to ensure your precious cargo arrives in time for the holidays.

If you’re procrastinating, don’t’ worry, we’ve got you covered with some of our favorite food items made and sourced locally. We’ve grouped them around different themes and people you might be gifting to—from stocking stuffers to meal-kits that help the at-cook, there’s literally a gift for everyone this year.

Gifts from the vine. District Winery in Navy yard recently announced its at-home tasting kit ($99) for the wine lover in your life. The package comes with three bottles, a chardonnay, pinot noir, and white zinfandel, plus a tasting guide to help you enjoy the winery experience at home with friends and family. And you don’t have to live in the District to enjoy this party pack. The winery ships to several states outside the DMV.

And those looking to pop some bubbly on New Year’s Eve will want to order a bottle of Early Mountain Vineyards’ inaugural Brut. The 2017 EMV Estate Brut ($45) is a sparkling wine that was made from the vineyard’s 2017 vintage, which was one of the best seasons in recent history for a grape mix that’s 99 percent chardonnay and 1 percent pinot gris. 

For the beer or cider savant. ANXO Cidery is one of the many local, small businesses with a membership program that’s perfect for gifting. The Cider Club brings the orchard right to your doorstep with a recurring delivery of four core ciders on a monthly or quarterly basis. For those looking for a one-time gift offering, ANXO’s mix-six pack is perfect for giving a variety of dry, apples-only cider ($38). The pack is available for DC delivery and pick-up at ANXO’s locations in Truxton Circle and Brightwood Park.

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery, near BWI Airport, is open through the holiday season with extended gift shop hours for holiday swag. Those who purchase a growler get a $1 fill on the first pour, and you’ll receive a free Guinness hat with a purchase of $100 or more in gift shop swag. For a last-minute surprise gift, you can also pick up an Open Gate Brewery mystery bag filled with products valued at $50-60. It’s yours for only $25! The brewery will be selling these specials through Christmas Eve. Plus, there’s a free holiday light show that visitors can walk through, including a keg of beers stacked and decorated like a Christmas tree.

Gifts for the meat lover to savor. Grillworks is a custom-build grill company for the serious cue-lover. The fire apron ($395), is a handmade full-grain leather apron designed for serious cooks who love a good sear by the fire. Grillworks also is selling grill talons and semi-custom grills for boys and girls who have been extremely good this year. 

And if you’re giving the gift of grilling, you’ll also need quality meats. CEO and Founder of Near Country Provisions, Adam Gerson, is committed to delivering you the highest quality beef and pork products sourced from an array of farms around the Mid-Atlantic region, including Grand View Farms in Maryland and Grayson Natural Farms in Virginia. A gift subscription, which starts at $60, offers a trial taste of this subscription-based service, and the best part is the delivery is always free.

Those who prefer an easy way to cook succulent meat might want to try the Sous Vide Holiday Favorites Collection from Virginia’s Cuisine Solutions. A culinary team has put together a simple tutorial with step-by-step instructions for the eight sous-vide recipes, which loved ones can easily do at home. And this food pack is an easy way to skip the stress of holiday cooking. 

Finally, if you’re looking to ship a savory surprise to someone you love dearly, near or far, consider the charcuterie packs from Salty Pork Bits. Chef Justin Severino is a Pittsburgh chef known for his cured meat selection, and his charcuterie platters are available nationwide — expertly crafted salumi delivered straight to your door and for last-minute gifting. Many of the meats come from small, independent farms that demonstrate humane, sustainable practices.

For the at-home bartender. The at-home bartender can look good making quality craft cocktails from local ingredients with the Tie Bar’s “Well Dressed Drinks” kits which includes boozy sample gift boxes tht include local recipes that call for Capitoline’s Tiber and Mt. Defiance Vermouth, as well as stylish accessories such as cocktail socks and pocket squares. One of the top gifting options is the collaboration gift set ($53), which comes with cocktail recipes hidden inside the pocket square.

You can also easily stuff a stocking with one of several craft spirits by visiting a local distillery. One Eight Distilling has virtual tastings, gift shop swag, cocktails kits, and bottles for online order and in-person pickup, as does Republic Restoratives, a women-owned distillery, with DC delivery options too. 

And Columbia Room, an award-winning cocktail bar in Shaw, has put together cocktail kits this year. Options include an Old Fashioned, Martini or Amaro kit ($100) complete with the necessary ingredients and tools, as well as a recipe card with detailed directions.

What about giving a virtual cocktail class? Carlie Steiner, famed DC mixologist, is hosting Interactive cocktail classes where you can log in and join a class from the comfort of your home. This experience is perfect for birthdays, group dates, corporate events and more!

Required reading for wanderlusts and home cooks. Dreaming of a trip in 2021? Get inspired by travel books written by local authors who have literally trotted the globe. For more than two decades, Jessica van Dop DeJesus has traveled the globe. She started her travels as a U.S Marine and has been to over 50 countries on- and off-duty. Her book, The Dining Traveler Guide to Puerto Rico, pays homage to her Puerto Rican roots and is a photo-centric guide through the island’s diverse regions, restaurants, and off-the-beath path neighborhoods. Order her book online ($40).

And if you’re looking to gift a few recipe-driven books this holiday season, we suggest going the route of a few local authors. Some of our favorites include Joan Nathanson’s King Solomon’s Table, Pati Jinich’s Pati’s Mexican Table, and Derek Brown’s Spirits, Sugar, Water, Bitters: How Cocktails Conquered the World.

For the coffee-crazed. Giving the gift of coffee is always a good idea, especially in these days of social distancing when we find ourselves spending more time at home juggling multiple roles and responsibilities. In DC one of the easiest ways to give a coffee sampler to a friend is by sending some RAKO coffee. The holiday gift set includes three 12-ounce packs of single-origin coffees. The boxes are also hand-stamped and wrapped, so they arrive ready to be gifted to the coffee-crazed lover in your life.

For that friend who vacations in Maine. Seafood spreads are synonymous with holiday fun, whether it’s freshly shucked oysters or lobsters shipped in fresh. Dok to Door is a curated site of seafood companies up and down the East Coast, and it offers overnight shipping, whether you have an immediate craving for some Cape May oysters or lobster and scallops direct from Maine. It’s also the perfect gift to give to a seafood lover in a last-minute pinch.

A local gift with a purpose. Boxed gift sets are big this year, and Black Box DC ($99) is taking the guesswork out of gifting by gathering a curated collection of items and exclusive digital content home delivered from local Black-owned businesses like Calabash Tea & Tonic, Sio Ceramics, Cadence Candle, Lee’s Flower Shop, and more. The boxes are put together by Blue Fern Travel, and a portion of each sale is donated to Campaign Zero, an organization supporting policy-based solutions for ending police brutality. 

Your gift also comes with two $10 credits to a Blue Fern Travel tour. There are both virtual and in-person experiences, many of which are set in local DMV neighborhoods and frequently come with carefully selected tastings, as well as curated stories shared by experienced travel guides.

And since community is at the core of all of Blue Fern Travel’s efforts, this business only works with local partners, tips 20 percent at each stop along the route, and through their one-for-one partnership with Bread For The City, donates a portion of every ticket sale, feeding a local resident in need for the day.

For the friend with a designer’s eye. Now more than ever, we need some bright, bold and saturated colors in our life, and you can bring that sense of warmth into your home with table runners ($90), tabletop linens ($56), and tea towels ($22) from Tulusa, a woman-owned textile studio based in Alexandria, Virginia. Sue Henry is the owner and creative director behind the brand, and this year she’s added to her collection with festive holiday masks that make for easy stocking stuffers for the entire family.

And of course, sweets are in order. Especially when local and from one of our Edible DC photography contributors, Kurt Powers, who launched Tilly Fine Foods this year. In 2019, Kurt decided to leave his career in environmental protection and turn his passion for food and entertaining into his profession. His cranberry pistachio white chocolate bark makes a great gift for the holidays. Price ($40) includes festive holiday wrapping, handwritten card with your holiday message, and priority shipping ($15 value) within the continental U.S. To best ensure delivery by Christmas, order by December 18, 2020. For local delivery/pickup in the DC area, email Kurt directly at tillyfinefoods@gmail.com. There is no need to fill out the order form and the cost is $25, since no shipping needed. https://tillyfinefoods.wordpress.com/gifts/

Order a custom portrait of your family or your furry family or anything from local artist and illustrator, Elizabeth Graeber.

Supporting local artists is a great idea and such a personal way to share some love. EdibleDC contributing illustrator Elizabeth Graeber has an online store, and can do custom illustrations of your family, friends, pets or anything you would like, the link is here. Award-winning illustrator, Cherry Blossom Creative, makes the now iconic hand-illustrated maps of DC neighborhoods and much more. Check out their store here. And long time contributor and friend of EdibleDC, Marcella Kriebel, sells her delightful food, cocktail and recipe prints online and has a DIY watercolor gift of watercolors, brushes and prints to paint that is the perfect present for this winter!