Five Gifts for the Food Enthusiast

Nov. 23, 2014

1. STONEWALL KITCHEN CHOCOLATE SAUCES

Maine-based Stonewall Kitchen produces a boatload of food products and kitchen accessories. Tops among them are a sextet of sauces, perfect for the chocoholic on your list: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Bittersweet Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel, Dark Chocolate Coconut, Dark Chocolate Toffee and Spicy Mexican Chocolate.

What to do with them? So many options: topping ice cream (Moomer’s cinnamon ice cream is an excellent choice), spreading on Rice Krispy treats or dipping shortbreads or fruit–or spoons or fi ngers.

While they’re called sauces, they are on the thick side, so you may want to warm them a bit before using, especially if they’ve been refrigerated.

And speaking of warm, the Spicy Mexican Chocolate Sauce boasts a hint (a big one) of cayenne that heats the back of your throat, giving it a real kick.

All six are available at Mary’s Kitchen Port in Traverse City. Other stores carrying the brand include Traverse City’s Kitchen Collection; Symons General Store, Toski Sands Market, Glen’s, Cutler’s and Galley Gourmet in Petoskey; Isabella’s Copper Pot in Gaylord; and Willow Mercantile in Cadillac. The sauces are $6.50 each.

2. FUSTINI’S SAMPLER WITH COOKBOOK

When Fustini’s debuted in 2008, using fl avored oils and vinegars in the home was somewhat of a novelty. Now, Jim Milligan’s brainchild is used, and often prominently displayed, in homes and restaurants across the region and, of course, at Fustini’s stores in Petoskey, Traverse City, Holland and Ann Arbor.

For gift-giving or personal experimenting, try the sampler sizes, which contain 60 milliliter bottles. The fun part is that you can mix and match to your heart’s content or go with the recommendations of Fustini’s Corporate Chef Andy Stewart.

You can pair Meyer lemon and Gremolata olive oils with ginger and honey and 18-year-old balsamic vinegars, or match Tuscan herb and sage and wild mushroom oils with oregano and pomegranate vinegars.

With over 24 varieties of oils and vinegars, the combinations are endless. To help keep you from feeling overwhelmed, Fustini’s offers cookbooks with recipes culled from staff, area chefs and customers. You can also give a gift certifi cate to the cooking schools led by Chef Stewart in Petoskey and coming soon to Traverse City.

Sampler packs are $32 each, $49 with cookbook, and are available at Fustini’s in Traverse City and Petoskey.

3. ALDEN MILL HOUSE SPICES

Chef Geno Moglovkin was a European-trained chef who began crafting and marketing his own spice mixtures in 1984. Today, his tradition continues with his daughter Colleen Richmond from the Alden Mill House.

Richmond has expanded the line, but the signature Miracle Blend is still the top-seller. "The most popular is the Miracle Blend," confirmed Sarah Moglovkin, Richmond’s sister-in-law and owner of Spice Harbor in Harbor Springs."It’s an all-purpose seasoning salt. It’s good on everything."

Other popular mixtures include Char-Broil It, Lemon Pepper and Hungarian Paprika. Moglovkin says visitors with a hankering for a homemade version of the Polish fare from nearby Legs Inn often look to the paprika, while those who want something to flavor their beef favor Char-Broil It or a variant.

"Big Dave’s Burger and Steak Blend is a mix of Miracle Blend and Char-Broil. It’s just not as smoky," explained Moglovkin.

The Lemon Pepper is great on fi sh and adds zest to veggies and omelets. Whichever you prefer, they’re all still blended by hand in Alden by Richmond and crew.

Miracle Blend is $3.89 and other selections range to $7.99. The spices are available at many gourmet stores, but the best selections are at the Alden Mill House in Alden and Spice Harbor in Harbor Springs.

4. SAVORA COLLECTION

What do you get when you combine a zeal for cooking with a background as an auto designer? In the case of Sid Ramnarace, you get the Savora line of kitchen tools.

Ramnarace’s fi rst career was in the auto industry, where he sat on the design team for the Ford Mustang. "As a four-year-old, I started drawing cars," he said.

After returning to his native New York for family reasons, he connected with the company that makes Kitchen Aid appliances, Farberware cookware and other kitchen-related items.

This path eventually led to Savora, where Ramnarace stands at the helm of a line that draws inspiration from the curves and colors of his former career, only adapted to things like ice cream scoops, oil misters and cheese graters.

A good demonstration is their can opener, which doubles as a bottle opener and triples as a jar lid opener. "It’s a three-in-one tool," said Ramnarace.

Like the other items in the line, it combines style with utility and is available in such evocative color choices as crimson, noir, snow, citron, raven, persimmon, indigo and passion.

Can openers are $30.99 and are available at Crystal Crate & Cargo in Beulah.

5. CHARLES VIANCIN SILICONE LIDS

How do you store leftovers?

How do you take a hot pot off the stove? What about keeping things warm or cold?

The answer to all these questions can be found in one beautifully simple product: the silicone lids from Charles Viancin. The lids cover everything from salad bowls to casseroles to frying pans, even mugs.

They’re heat and cold resistant, so you can keep food at either end of the temperature spectrum. You can even put them in the freezer.

Not only are the lids utilitarian, they’ve been designed with fun in mind. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, recalling cherry blossoms, cabbage leaves, lilypads, snowfl akes and more.

Best of all, the lids stick like glue wherever you place them until you lift a corner and unseal them–whether taking them from the freezer or directly from the stove.

Prices range from two mug covers at $8.50 to a banana leaf cover at $18.50.

They are available at numerous kitchen stores, including Mary’s Kitchen Port, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chateau Chantal, Nifty Things, and Peppercorn in Traverse City, Crystal Crate & Cargo in Beulah, and Northwoods Hardware in Glen Arbor.