Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray.

Though there are plenty of drinks that have had New Year’s connotations over the years—mead, beer, mulled wine, you name it—the bubbly stuff, i.e. Champagne or sparkling wine, is really the spot-on gift if you happen to be headed out to a party or three.

The thing is, wine with bubbles ranges wildly in price; a bottle of 1998 Krug Clos d’Ambonnay will set you back about $2,000, whereas a bottle of André Cold Duck (no vintage on that one, strangely enough) will damage your finances to the tune of $4.50 or so. So, to make life easier, especially in this last-minute-what-do-I-do moment, here are some suggestions.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

If you go to xmasclock.com, you can watch the seconds tick away until Christmas. Not to stress anyone out who still has holiday shopping left to do, but I’m watching the minutes fly by.

If you’re still shopping for gifts for food lovers, you’re in luck - especially if that person is an aspiring mixologist, a wanna-be hipster or a black and white cookie fanatic.
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Raindrops, roses, whiskers, kittens - all lovely items to be sure, but perhaps not the gifts that will make the holidays glow as brightly as you'd like. Certainly not* if they're for the food lover in your life.

With that in mind, as a person who lives, breathes and, yes, eats food for a living, I'm sharing my personal list of beloved foods, drinks, gadgets, books and save-the-world gifts to fill the hearts and mouths of your favorite food freaks. And yes, they're all available online.
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Yo mama's cinnamon is so old, its UPC code is "1."

Yo mama's thyme is so old, they used it to season the Last Supper.

Yo mama's cloves are so old, the bottle has a Brontosaurus steak recipe on the side.
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Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray.

That gift-giving season is roaring toward us like some mammoth sleigh piloted by a crazy old coot in a red coat, so it’s time to start making some choices. For the wine lover in your life - or simply for yourself - this fall has been particularly chockablock with new wine books. Here are a few picks:
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

You might be set with your holiday shopping, having taken good advantage of Black Thursday and Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Personally, I wish there was a day of the week given over to shopping for holiday gifts of questionable taste. So I’d like to propose Wacky Present Wednesday. That would be the day you’d get big discounts on items that crack you up as much - or more - than whoever is the lucky recipient.
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We're sharing our time-tested Thanksgiving hosting tips and recipes, as well as plenty from chefs, hospitality experts, celebrities, hosts and home cooks we love. Our goal – sending you into Thanksgiving with a confident smile on your face, and seeing you emerge on the other side with your sanity intact.

It might seem like a long way off - and a world away for people still reeling from recent storms - but two weeks from now, you're likely going to sitting down to a dinner with loved ones (and a stranger or two), and feeling exceptionally lucky to be doing so.

Gratitude is the watchword, and it's incredibly easy to lose sight of that while you're bogged down in the details of serving a dinner that packs a certain amount of expectation. So how about giving yourself a break?
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

See all our best Valentine's Day dining advice

Residents of Knoxville, Tennessee, you are lucky this Valentine’s Day. Amazon.com just released a list of the 20 most romantic cities in the country, and you’re number one! Ranked second is Alexandria, Virginia; Springfield, Missouri, is third. This list is based on a mash-up of key signifiers, including sales of romance novels, romantic comedy DVDs and Barry White albums.

If you don’t live in any of those cities, and especially if you’re based in New York City, Paterson, New Jersey, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, or El Monte, California - ranked the country’s least romantic cities - you need to start thinking hard about extreme Valentine’s Day gifts. Here, then, is a sampling of super advanced chocolates that say I love you so, so, so, so much, even if we live in New York and aren’t buying enough Barry White albums.

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So, the New Year's Eve shindig hosting has fallen to you. Your guests will likely expect Champagne or some analogue thereof. Now is not the time to defy expectation. Here are a few tips for getting a banging bottle of bubbly without breaking the bank.

Bubbles, bubbles - no toil, no trouble

- If you wanna go big with the Dom Perignon or vintage Veuve, do that for the first glass. Raise a toast, make a fuss - then switch to the less expensive (but just as delicious stuff).

- Less expensive, you say? Oui. It needn't be capital-C Champagne, which to be labeled as such, must come from the Champagne region of France.

There's some smashing stuff out there to be sure - and a side effect of climate change may be that Champagne grapes are yielding their tastiest, earliest crops in ages. Master sommelier Richard Betts swears by Champagne Krug as the "pinnacle" and says "Their entry-level Krug M.V. Cuvée is rich, round, complex and a great partner to food, family and friends."
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

In the Hall of Fame of holiday foods - gingerbread men, roast prime rib, potato latkes - chili is what you’d call a holiday underdog. Unless you’re a major player in the competitive chili circuit, it’s probably not a big part of your Christmas tree decorating or stocking stuffing. (And even if you are a chili champion, hopefully you know where to draw the line.)

Still with all the monumental things people are doing with chili these days, I just might shake up my holiday menu. Maybe my family will decorate bowls of chili instead of cookies? Just thinking.

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