The Perfect Christmas Neighbor/Hostess Gifts

This time of year, coming up with hostess/neighbor/teacher gifts is always a soul-searching experience for me. Something unique, something not too expensive or too personal, and something that will be appreciated. It's the Bermuda Triangle of gift giving. Am I wrong?

Linda in her little shop of libations.

Well, I've come across two rock solid gifts. One is my usual gift and one I just discovered thanks to my local liquor store owner.

First, Liquor Lady Linda. Or, I like to think of her as L-Cubed. Linda is one of the few female liquor store owners in the traditionally male-dominated field. She's a hoot but don't let her easy banter fool you. She's one tough cookie.

"You've got to be thick skinned in this business as a women," she tells me.

Anyway, luckily for her and perhaps unluckily for me, her liquor store, Lighthouse Liquors, is close to my house. I don't even have to get on a major street.

The store also sells food direct for origin. No middle man.

Last weekend I went to her for a dessert wine recommendation for a friend's dinner party. I had made gingersnap cookies and was taking vanilla ice cream. She looked at me and said, "Oh, well..." Then she pulled out Fulton's Harvest Cream Liqueur in Pumpkin Pie flavor. The bottle says it's a blend of pumpkin, brown sugar and nutmeg. And it was around $10. Whoa ya!

I have to ask Linda for recommendations because I can't follow her store's organization system. "There is no system," she tells me. "I ask people do they want red wine or white wine? Then I ask dry or sweet? Cheap or expensive?" But the lack of bottle organization creates great customer service.

Linda's husband Ed and his buddy Santa.

What's kind of interesting about Linda is she's never been to Napa. Has no formal training in wine or spirits. And hasn't attended any conferences or Beer-o-lotta association meetings. She got her education the old fashioned way -- working for 23 years for competitors before striking out on her own 10 years ago.

"I stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. researching on the Internet," she says. "I'm the eclectic wine guru. I try off the wall stuff to see if it works. Usually it does."

I ask her what's the top sellers. "Cheap vodka in the winter and tequila in the summer," she says. 

So with my Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur, ginger snap cookies and ice cream in tow, I go to the dinner party.

"Oh, you shouldn't have," my friend Winnie said. "You really shouldn't have."  I could see the doubtful looks on their faces. I was waiting for the "Bless your heart," comment in a thick Texas drawl.

But I scooped some ice cream in the bowls, drizzled it with the liqueur and then stuck two gingersnap cookies in the scoops.

The doubtful looks turned into looks of ecstasy. We practically licked our bowls. "See, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while," I tell them.

So, I'm taking my new found dessert on the party circuit this year.

My second ace in the hole gift is my standard teacher/neighbor/postman/hairdresser gift. It came to me thanks to my sister-in-law whose mother is a recently-retired teacher. "Don't give teachers candles or bath products," she once told me. "They get tons and tons of those."

So, I've opted to give red and green tortilla chips that can be commonly found in grocery stores. Then I pair it with a unique, homemade Texas brand picante sauce. It's easy, can either be for men or women, not too expensive, not too personal, and can pulled out quickly as a festive appetizer. I've given it so many times that my kids have begged me for something different. "Get over it and take this to your teacher," I bark. I don't have time for such nonsense!

There you have it. My two gift ideas with proven success rates.

Wondering if I could add tequila to my chips and salsa gifts for special friends?

The Wondering Texan