Do All Your Holiday Shopping on Goldbelly

The good thing about gifting ice cream through a nationwide frozen food delivery service is that ice cream is meant to be frozen. The creations by Cynthia Wong are also delightfully off-kilter, and would make an unexpected dessert presentation for any holiday dinner.

Cheese subscriptions are go-to gifts, but for something that’s less of a commitment, this assortment from Cowgirl Creamery includes some of the brand’s finest offerings, including my personal favorite, the cult-classic Mt. Tam.

We’ve got a recipe for Zahav’s legendary hummus in the Eater cookbook, but if you want to do a full Zahav-style spread, consider this kit which also comes with a dozen pita and six different salatim to complement two pints of the good stuff, straight from the source.

Do you know someone who still talks about the time they waited in line for hours to get a taste of Franklin Barbecue in Austin? This is the gift for them. Or, if you want to make sure you get to enjoy some of the smoky brisket yourself, go in on this with a few friends and serve it at your holiday party. These routinely sell out so if you want to give the gift of some of Texas’s finest brisket, hurry. (If they do sell out, check out Snow’s BBQ Brisket – another great option.)

Encourage your friends to use their Eater cookbook to create Keens’s iconic wedge salad and some classic martinis, and then make a full Keens dinner at home when you give them Keens’s famous mutton chop along with it. 

The recipe for Peninsula Grill’s famous coconut cake requires a minimum of 24 hours and comprises a full three pages in the Eater cookbook. For the cake lover in your life who might not want to attempt it on their own, consider sending one directly from Charleston. 

I started ordering this Russ & Daughters package during the early days of the pandemic to lift my mood and it has since become one of my go-to gifts, particularly for new parents in the height of sleep deprivation: A dozen bagels (I recommend immediately freezing some since a dozen is kind of a lot for a small family), fixins, and a half-pound each of gravlax, pastrami-cured salmon, and Scottish smoked salmon. If you’re feeling generous, add an order of salmon roe which takes any salmon-topped bagel over the top.

For the chocolate lover on your gift list, this box from hit Mexican sweets shop La Newyorkina is full of unexpected chocolate options like Mexican hot fudge, chipotle brownies, and chocolate chip pepita cookies. And bonus: unlike many items on Goldbelly, these ones arrive ready to eat.

You already know pizza freezes well, so why not stock a loved one’s freezer with the good stuff: Detroit-style pies from the shop that created it.

Taylor ham is all but impossible to find in stores outside of New Jersey, so get this for anyone on your list who: used to live in New Jersey and misses it; geeks out on diner culture and will make a classic Taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwich (like the one from the Summit Diner featured in the Eater cookbook); or just loves a salty pork product.

Sending eight perfect burritos to someone’s door is such a power move, and I’m kicking myself that I only just thought of it now. This would make a wonderful gift to yourself, honestly: Wouldn’t it be so nice to grab these burritos out of the freezer sometime in the week between Christmas and New Years? Yes, yes it would be.

For the family that summers in Maine (or wishes they could summer in Maine), a lobster roll kit from beloved lobster shack McLoons will bring a taste of New England July, even in the dead of winter — and they can use the recipe in the Eater cookbook to give a go totally on their own after they’ve had a taste of the original.

This is an all-time great pie from an all-time great pie shop. It would be a reliable, safe option for a host gift or an in-law gift when you need something special-feeling but don’t have a ton of information about the recipient.

Festive and iconically East Coast-y, crab cakes are a confirmed hit among Eater editors’ parents. It would be cute to round this one out with other Maryland-themed gifts too, like a tin of Old Bay for their stockings.

As a Jew who regularly attends her in-laws’ Christmas festivities, let me tell you that there is no Christmas get-together that would not be improved by the presence of some of the country’s finest babka. Ordering a three-pack means your recipient has one to serve right away, one to serve later this week, and one to freeze until next month.

For lovers of Mashama Bailey, her restaurant, The Grey, or greyhounds, consider these delightfully sophisticated novelty socks. This would be the perfect gift for whoever you plan on serving Bailey’s shrimp middlins, featured in the Eater cookbook.