Sweet potato habanero sauce

Like a little sweet with your heat? This New Orleans-made condiment packs plenty of both, along with a heaping helping of savory. It's a perfect accompaniment to smoked meats, soups, stews, your arm... -- Cochon Butcher ($8.50)

Virginia oysters

Yes, Virginia oysters. Under the stewardship of cousins Ryan and Travis Croxton, Rappahannock River Oyster is making a comeback selling the same Chesapeake Bay oysters (Crassostrea virginica) that their great-grandfather did in 1899. They're sweet, salty, full-bodied, and shipped live in the shell for optimum freshness. Don't forget the gloves and oyster knives! -- Rappahannock River oysters (25 for $25)

Bonbons

Chocolate is chocolate is chocolate right? Nope. This isn't one of those weird, sour, bitter artisanal bars that you have to pretend to like while listening to NPR and making kale chips in the oven. They're knee-weakeningly creamy and robust bonbons that'll make you slump to the floor in joy, then crawl back up for another piece. The fact that it's all raw, fair trade, sustainable and organic is just the cherry on top. -- Fine and Raw (8-piece box $28)

Onion jam

The Fabulous Beekman Boys aren't just my friends and neighbors and the winners of the most recent installment of "The Amazing Race," they also sell some darned good onion jam. John Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge raise goats on their upstate New York farm and are constantly on the lookout for ideal accompaniments to their signature Blaak cheese. This combo of local onion, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar brings a wallop of savory umami flavor to any dish, and it's pretty much going to be the lucky recipient's new favorite condiment. -- Beekman 1802 ($12)

Homemade burrata

If you have had burrata before - this one is probably better. If you haven't had burrata before, DiPalo's website says it can be described as "Mozzarella stuffed with cream and strips of 'stracciatella' (stretched curd) giving it an unusually soft texture." It is described by me as gazing directly into the face of the cheese gods and living to tell the tale. -- DiPalo ($8.99)

Seven-layer caramel cake

Yeah, sure, you could make a pretty good cake at home. But would it have seven (7) layers of moist yellow cake slathered in sumptuous caramel icing and shipped in a lovely red tin by a family that's been selling them for 31 years?

The cake serves 14-20 people and can be frozen and re-frozen repeatedly in case it's just for one person. Who might like to enjoy a slice while she's watching "Law & Order" reruns late at night in her cold, dark New York City apartment while she dreams of leaving it all behind and apprenticing to an incredible Southern cake maker. Or something. -- Caroline's Cakes ($58)

Salted caramels

Beer and pretzel caramels. Sweet potato black pepper caramels. Apple cider caramels. These are not the chalky, cloying bulk-bin caramels of our youth. These soft, luscious, handmade candies are to those as a can of spray cheese is to that burrata we just talked about, and they're the finest I have ever had. Liddabit also offers a "slurtle" - Brooklyn Brewery beer caramel poured over crunchy Martin's Pretzels or crispy Route 11 potato chips in a shell of dark chocolate. God bless America. -- Liddabit Sweets (12 for $6, 24 for $11, 48 for $20)

Boozy brownies

Allison and Matt Robicelli didn't let a little (okay, massive) hurricane get in the way of their baking the most mind-bending brownies in all of browniedom. Instead, they marshaled their community and social media resources to feed hundreds and even thousands of meals a day to people affected by Superstorm Sandy. Once their own facility was up and running again, the married chefs once again started baking up the beer, Scotch, cajeta and salt-bashed brownies that have made them an obsession of sweets fiends along the Eastern seaboard. -- Robicelli's (4 for $13-$14, 12 for $39)

Serious American ham

America has long been high on the hog when it comes to country hams, but with this smoked, aged, pasture-raised Berkshire offering from Virginia's Surry Farms, we're trotting on Italy and Spain's turf, too. The third-generation curemasters of the Edwards family have perfected their technique (developed more than 400 years ago by Native Americans and influenced by the aforementioned ham strongholds) to create the "Surryano" ham that's become a cult favorite among chefs around the U.S. Don't forget the stand for easier carving. -- Surry Farms ($199.95 for a whole ham, $64 for a stand)

Salumi of the Month Club

I was given an Armando Batali salami at my bridal shower. When I brought it home, my dog tried to run away with it. I fought that dog. I fought him hard. The only product still shipping for 2012 is the future delivery of a different salame on Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day throughout 2013. Accept that, and ensure salumi-scented dreams until the fateful day of their arrival. And consider sending the dog into another room. -- Salumi Cured Meats ($99)

- Gifts for drinking -

Super smoky Scotch

My husband and I took a week-long trip to Scotland last year. We stayed at an old country estate with a single-malt library overseen by a Scotch sommelier named Beth. Beth taught us things. When we emerged from the peat bog at the end of the week, it was with a single word upon our lips: Corryvreckan. It takes its name from the famous whirlpool that lies to the north of Islay, and it tastes like a rich, heady, forest fire that takes ages to put out. Get ye some. -- Ardbeg Corryvreckan (Approx $85)

Best bloody mary mix EVER

Bloody marys are usually a maintenance beverage - a cursory nod at healthy vegetable delivery on a damaged Sunday morning, while still being a delivery system for more alcohol. McClure's confounds that notion with a spiced-up, tomato paste laced, pickle brine that (gasp!) can stand up on its own, or even be cut down with some seltzer. A case of 12 might seems like excess - until you actually taste the burn and realize that's what your heart has been missing. -- McClure's (Case of 12 for $120)

- Gifts for reading -

Organize your cookbooks

Does your food lover have stacks of cookbooks and no idea what recipes are in them? A membership allows cooks to store a registry of the titles they own, so when life hands them lemons, they can easily figure out which books in their collection contain lemonade recipes. -- Eat Your Books (1 year $25)

Picky eating