Melt-in-your-mouth French macarons. Photo
by Oksana Shufrich | IST.

Great macarons are a memorable gift—and you can still get some in time for Mother’s Day.

This week’s Top Pick is Macaron Café in New York City: our current reigning favorite macaron.

Airy, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth sandwich cookies are made in dozens of flavors. Unlike many overly subtle macarons we’ve tried, these flavors are strong and delectable.

Macaron Café makes all the classic flavors, plus trendy favorites such as Caramel Fleur de Sel (salted caramel) and Nutella.

Check out the full review and treat yourself—or your favorite mom—to a box.

Macaron vs. macaroon: What’s the difference?

Find more of our favorite cookies and recipes in our Gourmet Cookies Section.

When it gives you a bottle of vodka and some vanilla beans, make vanilla extract.

Commercial vanilla extracts are 35% alcohol, by law. The alcohol is a neutral spirit, like vodka. So imagine how good your extract will be if you use a good-to-excellent vodka: Good enough to give as gifts!

HOMEMADE VANILLA EXTRACT RECIPE

Ingredients

You can buy top-quality vanilla extract, or you can make your own. Photo by Claire Freierman | THE NIBBLE.

 
 
Preparation

1. PREPARE JAR. Clean jar and implements with boiling water, to avoid any contaminants from impacting the extract flavoring.

2. PREPARE BEANS. With a damp cloth, wipe down the beans. Slit them lengthwise, leaving an inch at the top. The objective is to allow the flavorful seeds inside (the “caviar”) to macerate in the vodka, along with the whole pod.

3. ADD BEANS TO JAR. If you are using a jar that’s shorter than the beans, you can cut the beans in two-inch segments.

4. ADD VODKA & SHAKE. Don’t fill the jar to the rim; some water will leach out from the beans.

5. AGE & EXTRACT. Store the bottle in a cool, dark place. In 4 weeks, the vanilla will be ready to use in a pinch, but the extraction will continue to intensify the flavor for 6 months—the ideal time at which to use it. After that, the vanilla will continue to mature, like a fine wine, for years. The longer it ages, the more flavorful it will be.

6. BOTTLE. To give as gifts, use a coffee filter to strain into smaller bottles that have been washed in boiling water. Create your own label. You can include the type of vodka and the preparation and bottling dates.

7. GOING FORWARD. The vanilla beans are fully extracted after 6 months. They will dry out as the extract is used and they become exposed. You can remove the old beans and add new ones for more intense vanilla flavor; or you can start a new batch for gifting,

BOTTLES FOR GIFTS

If you start now, you can be giving your favorite bakers a holiday gift of homemade vanilla extract—made with a premium vodka, of course Here are four-ounce brown bottles. Start designing your label!

Just like the other herbs on your shelf, tea doesn’t maintain its flavor for years; it fades over time. Black, green or white, the fresher tea is, the better it is.

For your own enjoyment or for Mother’s Day gifting, you can now enjoy the freshest Darjeeling tea of the season, known as the first flush (the first plucking).

Darjeeling, high in the Himalayas, is a district and city in the Indian state of West Bengal, on the western border of Bangladesh. The tea plant’s winter dormancy period is over, and young leaves have sprouted over the Darjeeling hillsides.

Darjeeling tea is revered by many tea connoisseurs for its delicate muscatel flavor (which connoisseurs enjoy plain, without milk and sugar).

The Republic Of Tea has air-freighted a very limited quantity of this first flush tea to the U.S., so that tea lovers can enjoy the first tea of spring.

The tea comes from the Thurbo Estate, at an elevation of over 5,000 feet (Darjeeling ranges to 6,730 feet—light woolens are worn in summer). Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, the Thurbo tea plants grow alongside orange orchards and orchid vines.

Spring 2012 in Darjeeling was unusually dry. Quality was high, but yields were low, making this tea more rare than in other years.

Rich in essential oils, the leaves have an exquisite, sweet flavor and aroma. Pronounced muscatel notes are followed with a soft astringency and a lingering finish.

A Limited Edition

There’s just a limited amount of this special reserve tea available. A 3.5-ounce reusable tin, which makes 50-60 cups of tea, is $25.00.

The tea is certified kosher by OU and certified gluten free.

Get yours here.
Find everything you want to know about tea in our Tea Section.