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Gifted
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| Hickorees.com |
What's more manly than smelling of� leather, spice and� the righteous sweat of splitting logs in a cable knit sweater?� Smelling like booze -- on� your� neck, not your breath.
Hickoree's Hard Goods in Brooklyn takes the smoky bite of a fine dram and bottles it to fragrance the manliest man in their #006 Whiskey eau de toilette.�� They describe it as "It is not a scent for every man � this is a powerfully masculine scent. Elegance, strength, and charisma describe this fragrance . . . a deep woodsy and amber fragrance with a surprising hint of spice that reveals itself over the hours . . . notes include vetiver, labdanum, vanilla, woods and fruit.�
Snap it up (or an aftershave version) for your man at Hickorees.com.
h/t Selectism
i just received my aftershave balm from PGS and have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the packaging and the product. They look much nicer in photo than in person--the medicinal-looking bottle is plastic and the "vintage" label is actually an inkjet print, texture and all. The Whiskey Balm smells very nice, but it's more of an oil than a balm and does not absorb at all.
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If you're like me, your childhood felt like one long, strange trip sans psychoactives.� Recapture the googly-eyed wonder of youth with a Make-Your-Own Candy Kaleidoscope.� Each activity kit comes with a cardboard kaleidoscope tube, four mini bags of colorful candy, instructions and information on how a kaleidoscope works.� Pop the top, fill with your choice of junk, and let the mad sugary visuals commence.�� Eating the candy becomes almost secondary, but once it's all consumed you can fill the chamber with anything that fits -- flower petals, marbles, even colored paperclips or seashells.
Cool for kids but maybe even better for the mystical types in your life; $9.95 at KidsStopInc.com
I think this kaleidoscope would get rave reviews from everyone here. What better way to more fully enjoy sweets -- Gaze at the colorful beauties before indulging! Thanks for sharing this fun product.
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| Wrap-N-Mat.com |
| No more rinsing plastic baggies! |
Packing your lunch is a great way to save money and eat healthier, and is more ecologically conscious than buying your midday meal -- think of all that non-recyclable plastic and styrofoam used to package take-out food.� Green your lunch even more by eliminating disposable plastic bags with the Wrap-N-Mat, a re-usable food wrapper and placemat.
Wrap-N-Mats are manufactured in China and the United States and come in regular (sandwich) and grande (burrito, wrap, hoagie roll) sizes; the company has also introduced smaller snack pouches for dry foods like pretzels, chips or dried fruit that completely banish plastic bags from your lunchbox. The fabric wrapper, which comes in a huge array of colors and prints, is lined with LDPE plastic and meets the FDA's regulations for plastic that comes in contact with food. Once unfolded, the wrapper becomes a placemat and creates a clean space to place your entire lunch.� Since the whole thing lays flat, it can be cleaned up with a quick wipe and rinse.
At just $7.50-$7.99 for a regular size or $8.50-$8.99 for a grande size, Wrap-N-Mats make a cool stocking stuffer or Secret Santa gift for those eaters who love the Earth as much as saving cash.
Shop online at Wrap-N-Mat.com
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| Photo l Drew Lazor |
Add this to that wishlist you're compiling for P�re No�l:� a Christmas week dinner at Bistrot La Minette (623 S. Sixth St.).� The single-week, five-course classic French Christmas dinner runs Wed.,� Dec. 16 to Wed., Dec. 23, and chef/owner Peter Woolsey promises to "pull out all the stops" for his holiday guests.
The $65 dinner ($100 with wine pairings for each course) features every rich ingredient you associate with French food: caviar, escargots, foie gras and potatoes dauphine, that casserole-gone-wild of spuds layered in cream and Gruy�re; plus oysters, venison medallions and the French Yule log cake, the B�che de No�l. Full menu with wine pairings after the jump.
Bistrot La Minette� French Christmas dinner, Dec. 16-23, call 215-925-8000 for reservations.
Amuse Bouche
Tartine de Cr�me Fraiche et Caviar Crouton, cr�me fraiche, caviar
Hu�tres
Five cold water Little Shemogue oysters, lemon, mignonette
Wine: Cr�mant de Limoux
Escargots
Five Burgundy snails, garlic butter, croutons
Wine: Macon Domaine Bouchard Ain�
Terrine de Foie Gras
Foie gras terrine, wild mushrooms, brioche, aged balsamic
Wine: Monbazillac, Chateau Tirecul La Gravi�re
Medaillons de Chevreuil Bordelaise
Venison medallions, red wine and butter emulsion, potatoes dauphine, roasted brussels sprouts
Wine: Cahors, Clos La Coutale
B�che de No�l
Chocolate butter-cream Yule log cake, vanilla ice cream
Wine: Banyuls, Les Clos De Paulilles
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| WineEnthusiast |
| No batteries required. |
Here it comes, an entire month of trying to figure out what the people you love really want in a gift. Hint: They all want cash. Despite this good advice, I know you're going to hunt around for neato things under $50 to stuff in their stocking. First up: the Vinturi Wine Aerator.
Vinturi claims its device, which is meant to allow red wine to open up without using a bulky decanter, will "mix just the right amount of air with your wine at the precise moments ... results are a better bouquet, enhanced flavor, and a smoother finish. Perfect aeration in the time it takes to pour a glass."
I was introduced to this innovation on family vacation, when the parents purchased the thing on a sodden bus tour of California wine country. To my taste, it did soften any sharp edges apparent in young red wine straight out of the bottle ... but was it a $39.95 difference?
Keith Wallace, founder of The Wine School here in Philadelphia, lent his expert opinion in an e-mail.
"Well, I know the product, and people rave about it. It works, but no better than pouring the wine into a carafe and sloshing it about for a few minutes. Personally, I use a $4 glass Ikea pitcher. However, most folks into wine LOVE to spend money on gadgets. Their is a new one every three or four years. One year, it was a glass straw you drank from, another was a mini decanter you put on the top of the bottle, another year it was a magnet you placed under the bottle. This one has been out since '06, so I expect its about to jump the shark and a new one will captivate the wine drinking audience. Who knows? Maybe next year everyone will be hooking up jumper cables to their bottles of wine and supercharging the tannins ...� Yes, I am a curmudgeon."
Delicious or Suspicious verdict: We already have a $4 Ikea pitcher, so we find the defendant Suspicious. Just spend $40 on a gift-able bottle of Bordeaux and tell your lucky giftee to pour it into a mixing bowl.
My buddy swears by his Vintori, and yes the wine does taste a bit more aerated but the sound it produces (think whoopee in a bath tub) alone is worth not buying. Is a decanter really all that bulky and time consuming? No.
I tend to agree that Vinturi is probably not a great value. You and your readers may be interested in an article I published recently. It's an in-depth test of various methods of aeration, including Vinturi. "Do Wine Aerators Work & Are They Worth the Money?" http://bit.ly/2VUO0s
Social comments and analytics for this post... This post was mentioned on Twitter by jeffal66: Delicious or Suspicious: Vinturi Wine Aerator :: Meal Ticket :: Philadelphia City Paper :: http://bit.ly/8ky8zi...
I like my Vinturi. It works much better with young tight wines, I just pour the entire bottle through the Vinturi and into the decanter. For most cheap wines (wines under $10) it doesn't seem to have any effect though.
Posted a video on my site recently of this device in action - have to say I wasn't convinced. Watch it at http://www.simonwoods.com/2009/10/29/vinturi-wine-aerator-put-to-the-test/
[...] love to death this story in the Philadelphia Citypaper by Felicia D’Ambrosio that investigates whether this dumb [...]
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