Lifestyle
10 gifts and experiences L.A. Times staffers are giving from the 2024 Gift Guide
What gifts might our Gift Guide pickers pick if they were guided to pick gifts from the lists of the other gift pickers to give? Asking that question aloud might be hard to do (go ahead, we’ll wait), but answering it isn’t. That’s because this year, once our collective of elfin scribes finished sourcing all manner of gifts, goodies, gadgets and gear — organized around the theme of celebrating all that Los Angeles has to offer (and the Golden State at large, too) — we asked them to take one last look at the fruits of one another’s labors and pick some newly discovered bit of holiday wonderment they’d be likely to gift or love to be gifted this year.
On our first-ever list of curated curators’ curations, you’ll find suggestions of tasty treats (think boxes of mole, bottles of maple syrup, a box of pasta fixings), wishing dolls, lucky beans (no cow trade-in required), herb seeds (to grow both mind-altering greenery and not) and even a few local places to go and browse the shelves yourselves. And that’s just for starters.
So read on to discover what other gifts these L.A. Times gift pickers (and some of their editors) picked to give.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Vanilla-tonka bean maple syrup from Destroyer
I have a friend who’s obsessed with maple syrup — “real maple syrup, no additives!” as he says. He used to carry a tiny flask of it in his man purse to dribble onto meals at restaurants. For years, I’d gift him different types of maple syrup for holidays — golden one year, dark another. But then I stopped, because: predictable. Thank you L.A. Times Food team for tipping me off about the vanilla-tonka bean maple syrup available at Destroyer. I plan to resurrect our holiday tradition this year — and might even gift him a bottle of it over the Culver City cafe’s strawberry French toast. — Deborah Vankin
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Goodies
How does a Southern California retailer survive with a price cap of $25? Especially one whose home goods (made of stone, ceramic, glass and fiber) show so much style? Even though there are five Goodies stores in L.A. and Orange counties, I’d never encountered one before this week (when Lisa Boone illuminated me with her staggeringly thorough guide to 90 local gift shops). Now, with holidays and birthdays coming up, I’m heading out to inspect mugs, spoons, dishes, bookends, coasters, vases and so on at the Goodies location in Atwater Village. — Christopher Reynolds
Mole gift boxes at Guelaguetza
For my longtime best friend Laura, a fantastic cook and former Californian who misses Mexican food, Christmas isn’t Christmas without tamales. So this year, I will send her Guelaguetza’s Mole Jar Gift Box from our Food staff’s gift picks, which includes 12-ounce jars of mole negro, Rojo and Coloradito and comes wrapped in a pretty Oaxacan tea towel. Now, she can replicate the James Beard Award winner’s much-heralded banana-leaf-wrapped mole tamales just in time for the holidays. Sadly, I won’t be there to sample them with her. — Lisa Boone
(Taylor Arthur / Los Angeles Times)
Pasta Club gift box or 3-month subscription at Bucatini
In my opinion, the best gifts are edible, so there was a wealth of temptation in this year’s Gift Guide (salsa macha, pizza, coffee beans, oh my!), and I’m not saying I’m not going back for more. But the Bucatini holiday gift box offers up pasta staples with festive flair, and I don’t even have to wrap it. My Italian mom will be over the moon … well, unless I decide to keep it for myself. (Then there’s a subscription to the Pasta Club, which grants two bags of pasta and other goodies to a lucky recipient for three straight months. It’s a holiday gift that literally keeps giving.) — Jen Doll
Knotwork LA Mini Daruma Wishing Dolls
I’m not a superstitious person. But the stresses of modern life — be it finances, work, vet visits, the news, finding time for so-called “self-care” — sometimes has me wanting to believe there are other forces at play in this universe. And I do love a good knickknack, especially one that doubles as a work of art. So I was immediately drawn to these mini good luck charms from ceramist Linda Hsiao, mainly as a $30 treat to myself. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of daruma dolls, these Altadena-crafted beauties come in an assortment of cozy colors, with their smooshed, hand-crafted faces seemingly cheering us on. And they’re interactive of sorts. Color in one eye when you make a wish. And when that wish comes true — I love that sense of optimism — color in the other eye. And if it doesn’t, just consider it a reminder to never stop dreaming. — Todd Martens
Rancho Gordo black-eyed peas
Rancho Gordo’s black-eyed peas helped save a family tradition. When we bought the “Joy of Cooking” in the 1980s, my late husband insisted we try the black-eyed peas recipe (aka Hoppin’ John) for luck on New Year’s Day. To my surprise, I learned those hard, funny-looking nuggets could cook into a creamy, delicious dish laced with lots of pork fat. The problem was that supermarket dried beans were often old and tough, so the prep time was enormous. Then my husband tried buying black-eyed peas in cans, which cut the prep to nearly nothing. His recipe was so popular that our friends started making it too, until one accidentally poisoned us and the rest of her dinner party by using a can that had gone bad. After 72 hours of horrific sickness, it was a long time before we were willing to eat anything from a can, but we did miss our New Year’s tradition, especially after my husband became a vegetarian. Enter Rancho Gordo’s dried beans! They’re so fresh, every batch cooks up succulent, even without soaking or animal fat. My husband created a meatless version with whole tomatoes, olive oil, onions, bay leaves and lots of garlic that was just as yummy as his old recipe. It’s what I cook today, and at $6.25 a bag, I can afford to give friends and family a pound of good luck from our dear departed family chef. — Jeanette Marantos
(Lisa Boone / Los Angeles Times)
Leanna Lin’s Wonderland
I am on the hunt for a unique Christmas gift for my 8-year-old niece in Oklahoma, and thanks to my colleague Lisa Boone’s list of 90 special L.A. shops, I discovered Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, where my options runneth over. Should I get my niece the stamp carving kit? She loves the little round cat Pusheen, so I could get her one of several plushies, including one that’s strawberry scented. That’s kind of magical! Or I could go with one of several surprise boxes where she could end up with any number of silly cat-themed toys. While browsing, I also spotted gifts for other folks on my list, including my butter-loving friend Bob, who will get a real kick out of socks that honor their favorite condiment. I’m so glad to have discovered a local place with high-quality gifts! — Jaclyn Cosgrove
(The Plant Good Seed Co.)
The Plant Good Seed Co.’s Culinary Basil seed collection
Does it count as a gift if I aim to be the beneficiary? I have a couple of gardeners in my family who also happen to be great cooks, and this year they’ll be getting the seed assortment from the Plant Good Seed Co. that includes six types of basil. Now, whether these folks invite me over for dinner once that basil becomes pesto or Caprese salad … that’s up to them. Here’s hoping. — Philip Gray
Di An: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking With TwayDaBae
My best friend, Nneoma, has been in her cooking era lately. Many of our recent catch-ups have included her sharing stories about baking a rotisserie chicken for the first time or mastering some other restaurant-worthy dish. So in the spirit of experimenting with new dishes, I am strongly considering gifting her TwayDaBae’s book, “Di An: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking With TwayDaBae,” thanks to Bethanne Patrick’s recommendation. Not only is the cookbook filled with pages and pages of delicious looking recipes, the hardcover book would look beautiful in Nneoma’s colorful kitchen. Also, I’m unashamedly looking forward to playing taste tester. — Kailyn Brown
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Try tacos and a Nutty Chi Chi at the Tonga Hut
In an era of peak materialism, there’s something about giving an experience instead of an object that really appeals to me this gifting season. That’s why I’m taking my colleague Christopher Reynolds’ advice to surprise a special someone with an evening at North Hollywood’s Tonga Hut (L.A.’s oldest tiki bar) for a food-and-grog adventure, complete with a gift card worth a couple rounds of tiki drinks and a few Durango’s tacos. And as an avowed tikiphile, that would sort of make it a win-win for me. Another experiential gift on my nice-list radar is Fig Earth Supply’s cannabis gardening bundle, which you’ll find among the offerings on Jeanette Marantos’ roundup of gifts for L.A. gardeners and plant parents. It includes a pair of classes scheduled for February, a packet of seeds and a copy of Penny Barthel’s book “The Cannabis Gardener.” I’ve taken both of those classes, grown those seeds and read that book, and it’s everything I needed to go from nervous newbie to confident ganja green thumb. And who wouldn’t want to inspire — or be gifted — that kind of confidence? And finally, if I did want to stuff something in someone’s stocking, it would probably be a pair of made-in-Vermont Darn Tough socks (stockings stuffed in stockings is so meta) like the ones recommended by my trail-hiking, wilderness-wandering, coyote-hazing colleague Jaclyn Cosgrove, who offers their full-throated endorsement of the Coolmax Hiker Boot mid-weight hiking sock. I don’t know anything about hiking, but love everything about this brand’s foot-cushioning, wears-like-iron hosiery from my home state. And that means the pals I’m gifting (and their feet) will love them too. — Adam Tschorn