A great gift for those who love both tea and wine. Photo courtesy Vintage Teaworks.

The folks at Vintage TeaWorks take another approach to tea and wine, creating tea blends flavored with natural ingredients that evoke different varietals of wine.

The results don’t taste like wine, but have aromas and palate nuances that are reminiscent of four different varietals:

Purchase them online at VintageTeaworks.com.
 
Discover the world of fine tea in our Gourmet Tea Section.

If you only bake one type of cookie this season, bake shortbread. Buttery cookies beloved by both children and adults, shortbread is accessible yet sophisticated.

Dipped into chocolate, the cookie becomes even more beloved.

Serve them to guests, keep the stash for yourself, give it as gifts.

This particular recipe, from GoBoldWithButter.com, a website of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, is a great way to start. If you don’t have hazelnuts, use almonds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios or walnuts.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT SHORTBREAD RECIPE

Ingredients

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Preparation

1. BEAT butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla. Gradually add flour and salt, and mix just until combined. Stir in hazelnuts.

2. FORM dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

3. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

4. ROLL out dough into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut out cookies into 1×2-inch bars. Carefully transfer cut cookies onto prepared pans.

5. BAKE, one pan at a time, for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans for about 10 minutes. Then, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

6. PLACE chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave at half power in 30-second increments until chocolate melts when stirred. Dip cookies partially into chocolate or drizzle chocolate over cookies. Allow chocolate to set completely, refrigerating cookies if necessary.

The history of shortbread cookies and how they got the name “shortbread.”

Find more of our favorite cookie recipes.

If you can’t pop in to the L.A. stores, they’ll mail Cupcakes in a Jar—a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week—that are even better than cupcakes in a paper wrapper.

Cupcakes in a Jar are hand-crafted cupcakes in a glass Mason jar, sliced and layered with fresh fillings, whipped frostings, ganache and a selection of scrumptious toppings.

The reusable jars keep the moisture in, and the jar cupcakes, which have much more frosting than convention cupcakes, stay fresh for a week. You can have just a nibble a day, or more.

YUMMY CUPCAKES’ “JAR OF THE MONTH” CLUB

Six- or 12-month memberships are available for $21 to $24 monthly, plus shipping. The lucky giftee will receive a four-flavor assortment, a rotating mix of classic and seasonal specialty flavors.

Order yours at YummyCupcakes.com.

Today, calories be damned. Here are the real deal, classic egg nog, along with four wonderful flavored egg nog variations.

FULL STRENGTH EGG NOG RECIPES

If you’re not counting calories, take a look at these delicious recipes:

 
Here’s how to make flaming egg nog.

While it’s quite elegant, you don’t need a punch bowl and handled cups to serve egg nog. Use whatever glasses you have, and pour the nog from a pitcher.

MORE EGG NOG DELIGHTS

Egg nog doesn’t need to stay in a glass. Here are options from cookies to truffles:

 
THE HISTORY OF EGG NOG

Who invented egg nog? The facts aren’t clear, but here’s the egg nog history as we know it.

A kitchen scale can be a welcome gift.
Photo courtesy Eat Smart Products.

While you wouldn’t give one to just anybody, if you have loved ones who are always voicing their need to take off a few pounds, they’ll love you for hearing them and helping them achieve their goal.

A kitchen scale is not just a “diet scale”: It’s very useful for weighing recipe ingredients, not to mention calculating postage, for those of us who still use snail mail.

The EatSmart line offers economically priced multifunction home scales, perfect for everyday tasks. They include a Calorie Factors Book making it easy to achieve goals such as portion control and calorie counting.

The EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale shown in the photo comes in black, burgundy chrome, white with a chrome top or all-white.

Check out the line at EatSmartProducts.com.