Last Minute Gifts with Courtney Nzeribe

In this episode we talk with Courtney Nzeribe about great holiday gift ideas for the food lovers on your list. Courtney’s background is in Retail and Accounts in the cosmetic and culinary/home arenas. In addition, she has extensive catering experience for private clients and the diplomatic consular community in the Chicago area, as well as most recently serving on the catering crew for The Rolling Stones No Filter kickoff in St. Louis. Besides her culinary interests, she has appeared in print writing about food and travel, and doing on-air demos for television. Courtney studied Fine Arts at Parsons, Paris France and is still practicing her arts with illustration and painting. Her illustrations have appeared in Gastronomica, University of California Press February 2020, and the medieval culinary handbook A Hastiness of Cooks, winner of 2020 Gourmand World Cookbook awards. She work exudes joy and life and movement in whatever medium she works in. 

COURTNEY’S LINKS:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cococollectionillustrations/
• Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CocoCollectionArt
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cococollectionart/
• Website: https://www.cococollectionart.com
• A Hastiness of Cooks: https://a.co/d/5Gy79YA

GIFT RESOURCES:

• Hoosier Farms for milk powder, heavy cream powder (yes!), cheese powder, popcorn toppings, hot chocolate, as well as many other cool items. https://hoosierhillfarm.com for
• Knife Aid for knife sharpening by mail. https://knifeaid.com
• for the most interactive classes from a retailer, both in-person and online. https://www.surlatable.com/cooking-classes-1/
• Williams Sonoma for the best quality dish towels you can get. Great sales on now! https://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/homekeeping/dish-cloths-towels/
• Nuts.com for every kind of nut and dried fruit, chocolate, fudge, retro candy, and more. https://nuts.com
• Middleton Knives for gorgeous hand-made, high carbon steel knives. https://www.middletonmadeknives.com
• Check out Patreon and Substack’s websites for gift subscriptions to newsletters from a favorite food writer or chef.
• Homemade fudge makes a fantastic present. We love the easy recipe that used to come on the back label of Marshmallow Fluff: https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/051833/fantasy-fudge
• Mini bar in a jar: Place an assortment of tiny liquor bottles (Bevmo has a great selection) along with a few single serving snacks like pretzels, peanuts and candy in a large, wide-mouth mason jar and tie with ribbon. Put some confetti or shredded colorful paper in the bottom of the jar. Party time!
• Soup mixes are popular in the winter. Place alternating layers of different types of dried beans in a 16-ounce mason jar. Place dried herbs, spices, salt and pepper in a small bag and place on top. Include a recipe card and a nice bow.
• Mini quick breads like pumpkin, zucchini, carrot, apple, orange cranberry, whatever you like! Bake in paper or aluminum loaf pans make delicious gifts. Paper loaf pans come in a huge variety of colors and sizes and are available at cookware stores, Target, and Amazon.
• Herbal sleep pillows make lovely gifts. Fill muslin drawstring bags with dried herbs like rose petals, lavender, or fir balsam, stitch the opening closed and make a pillowcase with soft flannel. We use the Monterey Herb Co. for our dried herbs. https://www.herbco.com
• Limoncello is easy to make but it’ll take 2 weeks to stand before it’s ready. There’s a great recipe here https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-limoncello-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-197694
• If Kahlua is more your style, there’s a wonderful recipe here. It doesn’t need to sit 2 weeks, just pour into pretty bottles and gift! https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-limoncello-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-197694

 

Women Beyond a Certain Age is an award-winning weekly podcast with Denise Vivaldo. She brings her own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoint to the topics she discusses with her guests. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women.

 

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