5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

On the seventh day of December, Eatocracy gave to me: a gift guide full of brewskis!

Kevin Diedrich, the bar manager of Jasper’s Corner Tap & Kitchen in San Francisco, has made a list (and checked it twice) for a very hoppy holiday season.

Five Brew-centric Gifts: Kevin Diedrich
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• If you ask for an affogato, you may get an avocado sundae. - Huffington Post

• Beef up your holiday presentation with hamburger gift wrap. - Josh Spear

• Now, bring us some figgy pudding! Actually, just bring us any type of pudding. - Wall Street Journal

• What wine to bring to holiday shindigs. - Washington Post

• Lowbrow meets highbrow with Dorito consommé. - CHOW

All this hall-decking and merry-making can make a reveler awfully thirsty. You've got enough on your plate with shopping, party planning and frolicking all about town, so don't overthink your holiday drinks.

Yes, cleverly-crusted glass rims and candy cane garnishes might seem terribly festive, but when it comes to prepping, is the work really worth it? Honestly, I'm gonna go with no. I'd need a whole extra set of limbs to count the number of time I've seen windowsills, counters and tables littered with mostly-full glasses of an elaborate themed cocktail - and a mile-long line for shots, wine and beer at the bar. The drinks are awfully pretty, to be sure, but they tend toward the super-sweet and from the first sip, taste like the next day's hangover.
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While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Today's food holiday will leave you spinning - December 7 is National Cotton Candy Day!

It's amazing what air can do! Use a small amount of sugar, pump up the volume and stick your face in a giant cloud of delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cotton candy.

Cotton candy first made its appearance in the early 1900s, and oddly enough, the spun sugar treat was invented by a dentist, William Morrison, and a confectioner, John C. Wharton. The two marketed their creation as "fairy floss" at the 1904 World's Fair. It was later renamed cotton candy in the 1920s.
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