Gap Creek Gourmet Holiday Gift Guide 2013

It is once again time for the Gap Creek Holiday Gift Guide!  This year is even bigger and better than last year, so grab your Christmas shopping list.  It’s about to grow exponentially.

Before I forget, I have a little news to share!  Gap Creek Gourmet is having 12 Days of Giveaways this December!  Starting December 1st, I'm giving away one fantastic gift a day to a lucky fan, so be sure you like Gap Creek Gourmet on Facebook and stay posted!  

Let's get to shopping!

For the foodies:

Greenville recently got its own Tupelo Honey located at the newly redesigned Piazza Bergamo in downtown. The food is amazing! But wait! What did I spot right inside the door?  Cookbooks, glasses, coffee, jams, honey and other Tupelo gear.  OMG, someone please get me their cookbooks! The restaurant also has gift certificates and you can shop online for gifts. Wondering what to get  that foodie on your list?  I think you found your answer. 

I love, love, love specialty salts. We can't keep Applewood Smoked Sea Salt in our spice cabinet.  I go through it like crazy!  If you can't make it to The Spice and Tea Exchange on Main Street Greenville to pick out salts for the cook on your list, you can peruse their selection of over twenty varieties of mineral and hand-harvested gourmet sea salts from around the globe on their website and have it shipped to your door. Varieties include Bacon Salt, Black Truffle Salt, Chardonnay Oak Smoked Sea Salt, Chocolate Sea Salt and Jalepeno Salt and Pinot Noir Sea Salt, and Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt.

Thanks to my new friends at Palmetto Olive Oil Co. on Augusta Road in Greenville, I discovered something new this year that has changed ice cream time at my house.  Balsamic Vinegar on ice cream is freaking amazing!  Especially Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar.  And who doesn't love a little pre-dinner bread nosh dipped in a delicious flavored olive oil.  The cool thing is that many of their varieties of oils and vinegars can be blended together at home to make an even more amazing presentation of flavor!  Another must try? Gourmet White Truffle Infused Olive Oil.  They are happy to make recommendations.  And, once again, you can shop online and have your selections shipped to your door, but if you are in town, you HAVE to go visit. Call first and tell them you want to a tasting!  

Love Bacon Bros Public House? Share the love. They not only have restaurant gift certificates, they sell their bacon by the pack.  What an awesome combo, right?  I think these would make fantastic client gifts!  A pack of their house made Peach Wood Smoked Bacon is $9. (864) 297-6000.

Everyone loves popcorn, right?  Poppington's Gourmet Popcorn kicks it up a notch with flavors like Bacon Cheddar, Jalepeno, Beer, and Coconut Curry.  You can stop in their shop at 30 S. Main Street in downtown Greenville to sample til you find your selection then fill up a tin, or hop online to place your order for Christmas.  The beer is awesome for beer lovers!  (Stack it with the Bacon Cheddar and pair it with a Lethal Weapon DVD. Bam. Perfect male stocking stuffer.)

I love my growing collection of cookbooks. Here are three cookbooks you absolutely must buy someone on your list.  And don't forget to please support your local bookstore during the holiday season! 

The Southerner's Handboook: A Guide to Living the Good Life.

Curated by the editors of Garden and Gun, this book holds the key to Southern charm: how to make biscuits, how to fall off of a horse, how to drink like a Southerner, how to throw a proper party and how to cook a whole pig. It's a goodie, folks, for those on your list who love a good story and a good meal.

Pickles, Pigs and Whiskey: Recipes from My Three Favorite Food Groups by John Currence.

This book is for the serious cook on your list. James Beard Award-winner, John Currence, has made quite the name for himself in the world of Southern fare.  A little bit fancy, a little bit irreverent, Chef shares 130 of his amazing recipes along with stories, musical pairings (SWEET!) and photography that will leave you wishing your cooking could come out that good.  For my husband's birthday, we're totally cooking the brined tenderloin.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays

My cookbook book club will be cooking from the original Pioneer Woman Cooks and her new A Year of Holidays cookbooks during the first quarter of the year. Her recipes are easy, really amazing and the portions are enough to feed an army.  We love her and the home cook on your list will, too. 

A little something for the ladies:

Best new store in Greenville?  Custard at 718 South Main Street, Greenville. I don't know how long they have been open exactly, but I just discovered them and went nuts when I saw their necklaces and bracelets. These state necklaces are a must for all the women on your list.  I'd love to have South Carolina and California necklaces to wear stacked... and tons of colorful bracelets and a scarf and a bird necklace and a heart necklace... Shop online here.

And for the men. Stocking stuffers for men are tough, aren't they?  This year, I have a couple of things that are sure to make them smile. 

Jerky.  Lots and lots of Jerky from Greenville's House of Jerky.  An entire wall of Jerky to stuff that stocking slap full.  You can't order on their website yet, but you can see their crazy large selection and give them a call if you need to place an order. Beef, buffalo, pork, turkey, Alaskan salmon, boar, kangaroo, and venison. That got your attention, didn't it?

Kraken Rum t'shirts. You're running for your credit card, aren't you?  If you know someone who is a Kraken fan, they need this shirt and some South Carolina made Blenheim Ginger Ale so they can stir up a Dark and Stormy.

I have awesome memories of making Shirley Temples with Maraschino cherries at my MaMa Plumblee's house on New Years Eve.  Now it's time for some grown-up cherries.  I found out about Luxardo Maraschino Cherries while digging through my holiday magazine rip and file.  I've seen how they make those red cherries we are all dumping in our drinks.  It's kindof gross. I'm ordering these for my man for Christmas. They are absolutely lovely!

Dapper Ink at 207 Wade Hampton Blvd in Greenville (beside Community Tap) has THE COOLEST t'shirts. They are an amazing custom printer that makes local themed t'shirts.  You may have seen me beating around town in my I LOVE GREENVILLE shirt. I've worn it out! High quality. Beautiful. A must. They also have gorgeous stationary and I know for a fact, they'd love to create something special just for that someone on your list.  But you have to walk through the door or give them a call for the goods. No website orders. 

Attention wine people: Don't you hate it when you pour up a glass of wine and you end up with that ring of red (or white) under your bottle? I'm I the only messy pourer?  My friend and local potter, Greg Patton, has made these cool wine bottle coasters.  No more nasty rings on your counter!  A definite winner for the wine lover on your list. You can order here.

Wine charms! I placed a giant order of these awesome personalized wire wine charms by TAlyse for people for Christmas.  (I might have ordered one for myself, too...) She made me and my daughter name bracelets too! I love her stuff.  She has an  etsy site and can be contacted about special orders.

Another super awesome personalized gift:  these  jars from The Flop Shop in Travelers Rest.  I LOVE a good device to get drink to my beak,  and these things are really cool.  Yes, I'll admit it.  I have a cup problem.  I have cabinets full of drinkware.  I can't help myself.

So I found these beauties, too, at Kitchen Arts and Pottery. They would be absolutely lovely for drinking my new favorite adult happy hour beverage, Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream.   I think I shall obtain them if no one buys them for me for Christmas.

Oh!  And the collection of cookbooks at this place are amazing. It's not expansive, but if you have a cookbook collector or chef on your list, go dig through her shelves and you're sure to find a goodie! I found this one and so wanted to take it home.

I'll leave you with that.  I may add a thing or two over the holiday season, so keep me bookmarked and check back now and then.   

Happy Holidays!  Here's my favorite Christmas Song to send you off.