Perfect stocking stuffers for the men in your life – bacon flavored treats! Bacon salt, bacon popcorn, bacon mayonnaise, bacon croutons, bacon rub, even bacon-flavored envelopes:

Can be found at Walmart, Publix, Food Lion, Kroger, Food City,and online at Amazon or J&Ds.

I love British humor, and I really love Stephen Fry as Jeeves the butler. This alarm clock reproduces the subtle wit employed by P. G. Wodehouse’s most famous character–the valet Reginald Jeeves politely affirms the beginning of the day. 126 different wake-up messages in the reserved voice of Stephen Fry. When the alarm sounds, Jeeves speaks softly as he assuages your displeasure that the morning has indeed come: “Excuse me sir, I’m so sorry to disturb you, but it appears to be morning… Very inconvenient, I agree… I believe it is the rotation of the Earth that is to blame” or greets you with “Good morning, sir… I feel sure you have slept soundly, feel thoroughly refreshed, and await the day with the anticipation of an energetic gazelle.” You can get a “Madam” version as well.  Now I will admit that this probably isn’t the best solution for couples who need to get up at different times because it is not as sophisticated as other modern alarms, but the fun factor of this is off the scale. Definitely on my list for one of my guest rooms! Find it on Amazon

My friend Deb actually alerted me to this next gift suggestion. She was raving about a shop  that specialized in flavored oils and balsamic vinegars, letting you taste test them right in the shop! Turns out that these shops are franchised and I found one right here in Greenville, SC;  they have a lot in Pennsylvania, too – West Chester, Doylestown, Bethlehem, and at the Pittsburgh Public Market.  These shops give you recipes and ideas for using these oils in new ways – like, cinnamon-pear balsamic over ice cream, or walnut oil mixed with black cherry vinegar for a salad dressing. Even if you can’t find one of these particular specialty shoppes, a lot of upscale markets have these types of gourmet oils and vinegars. This is exactly the kind of thing that great cooks LOVE, and it’s a perfect hostess gift. I’m not even gonna tell you how much I spent in Palmetto Olive Oil Co. but I am set for last minute gifts for quite a while!

Seriously, I did not know these existed until about 4 years ago. Works like a charm and at only about $7 from a kitchen goods store, it’s a great stocking stuffer or grab bag gift. Pick one up for your mom because,  like me, I bet she didn’t know about these  either!

There have been several people that I’ve known that have had fires in their homes, and some have been neighbors of friends, but in every single case there was one common factor – burning candles.  I have always burned candles, most of them in jars, but I learned that even those can break and aren’t 100% foolproof. I saw these battery operated candles in a gift shop and they completely changed my mind about “fake” candles because they look so real. They flicker, and some are even scented. This is the kind of thing that makes a perfect gift for grandmothers, moms with small kids, and hostesses. This set sells for $26 on Amazon, but I have seen them at Kohls and other department stores and gift shops (if you can buy local, even better!).

Stacey found this on Pinterest and made it for an appetizer for Thanksgiving, and let’s just say that we (ok, mostly me) DECIMATED this in minutes. It was absolutely fantastic – really different and so, so tasty. One caveat – you need to like cilantro, because this recipe is MADE by the cilantro in it. You can make it without the layer of cream cheese (and I probably will in the summer) but Jim almost cried when I considered that this week, so I left it as is. You do need to make this at least 4 hours ahead of time for sure, or the cranberries will be too sour. This is just that perfect holiday treat that we all look for to take to a cocktail party; easy, pretty, and delicious (and maybe you will be the first to make it!)

CRANBERRY SALSA

12 oz pkg cranberries

1/4c chopped green onion

1/4 c chopped cilantro

1 1/4 c. sugar

1 small jalapeno, chopped fine

1/4 tsp cumin

2 T. lemon juice

dash salt

1-2 blocks of cream cheese, softened

Put cranberries in food processor and chop fine. Place in bowl, add the rest of the ingredients except cream cheese and stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Spread cream cheese in bottom of pie plate (I used only one, Stacey used two) and pour cranberry salsa over. Serve with tortilla chips (my preference) or crackers. Thank me here under “comments” for sharing this with you instead of keeping it to myself

Most families today have hundreds if not thousands of digital images stored on their computers (and hopefully backed up online, but that’s another topic) but how can you enjoy those images? The Digital picture frame is a perfect solution! I have one in my family room that is motion-activated, so whenever we are relaxing there it comes on and scrolls through a memory lane of all of our family pictures. It is bright and beautiful, and I love it. The newer ones allow you to upload new images to it wirelessly – making it even easier to gift one to grandparents and put new images on it for them no matter where they live! Prices range from $89-129 for good ones with high resolution. Here’s an article that explains what to look for: here.

Perfect for girls of any age and the new hot accessories this year! Infinity scarves of all colors and textures will be greatly appreciated by all, because they are so versatile and can really add “wow” to a regular outfit! Glittens are fingerless gloves (for texting, duh!) with a mitten cap for warmth. Either of these can be found anywhere in department stores or fashion shoppes – I especially like the ones from JCrew. Cashmere can really up the “gift”  factor for husbands and boyfriends who are looking for a gift for their girls!

Kayla and David are in love, engaged, and love autumn because of the beautiful leaves and color – so it seemed perfect for them to do their photo session at Mingo Creek Park to capture it all. It was sort of late in the season, but one of the advantages of shooting outdoors in natural light is that the colors are vivid even when all appears to be brown and dry. They were so fun to work with, and their happiness was so contagious that I had a smile on my face even as I editing their images a week later. Congratulations to you both, and happy planning for your Big Day!

This is a gift that would be perfect for a family of kids or perhaps that someone you know who just has to have every kitchen gadget – a cake pop maker. Now just to clarify, these aren’t the typical cake pops that we roll by hand with cake and frosting. These are actually baked cake balls that are then frosted. I am so NOT a baker, so I bought this simply because I thought it would be fast and easy to create a fun desert. I can also see them being useful for parties or bake sales. I had a theory that it would help me with portion control – ie, take 2 or 3 cake balls instead of a huge piece of cake for desert. Sadly that theory proved to be wrong (I won’t tell you how many I ate, but suffice to say that the ease of popping one in your mouth without evidence of a cut in the cake was my downfall). I personally bought the Bakerella brand from Amazon (@$44) because it makes 12 at a time, but you can also get one from Macys and one from Kmart that make 6 at a time and are $20. I’ve only used mine once so far, but it is cool and different and will be fun to pull out to bake with the kids on a rainy day.