{"id":3064,"date":"2020-12-21T12:41:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T16:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=3064"},"modified":"2020-12-21T12:41:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T16:41:16","slug":"santa-cruz-foodie-holiday-gift-guide-2020-local-gifts-part-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=3064","title":{"rendered":"Santa Cruz Foodie Holiday Gift Guide 2020: Local gifts, part 7"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Goodies from Cheese Shop 831
Photo courtesy of Cheese Shop 831<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the final installment\u2014part 7\u2014of my holiday foodie gift guide with information for several local businesses if you have some last-minute shopping to do. Contact me at tara@santacruzfoodie.com<\/a> with questions or comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gift guide part 1<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gift guide part 2<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gift guide part 3<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gift guide part 4<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gift guide part 5<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gift guide part 6<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: some past installments include events that have taken place, but they also mention local businesses you can still support!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to mention one non-food-related idea: there are so many wonderful artists in our County, and some rely on the annual Open Studios<\/strong> event to bring in a significant part of their income. Due to the pandemic, OS could not take place this year. The sponsoring organization\u2014Arts Council Santa Cruz County\u2014launched a great \u201ccurated directory\u201d website to showcase visual artists and provide easy opportunities to support these creative individuals. Visit the Visual Artists Network website<\/a><\/strong> at visualartsnetworkscc.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mother, Fereshteh Fatemi, is one of these artists\u2014a talented jeweler\u2014and she\u2019s donating 10% of her sales through Christmas to Second Harvest Food Bank<\/strong> Santa Cruz County<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Second Harvest Food Bank<\/a><\/strong>, another gift idea is to make a donation to them in honor of someone that you care about. This year, more than ever, people are relying on SHFB for food. The organization distributes over eight million pounds of food each year to children, families, vets and seniors in Santa Cruz County.  More than half of the residents they serve are kids. Traditionally, every dollar donated provides four healthy meals to someone in need. Right now, thanks to a challenge grant from the COVID-19 Local Response Fund at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, donations are being matched so your dollars are having a double effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few more gift possibilities:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captiola\u2019s Brown Ranch Marketplace (the center with Trader Joe\u2019s) recently welcomed the store Cheese Shop 831<\/a><\/strong>. Owner Jillian Pirolo was supposed to open her business several months ago but got delayed due to the pandemic. I\u2019ve been told by one friend who shopped there that they have amazing cheese\u2014including local, regional and international varieties\u2014and I\u2019ve seen on Instagram @cheeseshop831 that they have other products like olive oil, handmade cheese boards, truffle hot sauce, towels and oven mitts. Visit cheeseshop831.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aptos gift shop Hammond Glass Engraving & Gifts<\/a><\/strong> is open by appointment from Tuesday through Saturday. They carry items like Christmas mugs,  Spode mugs, wine glasses, high-ball glasses and serving dishes. The shop has been around for 30 years, and Jessie & David Campbell bought the business in 2018. I haven\u2019t been there myself, but I hope to check it out post-holiday-season. Visit hammondaptos.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five Star Catering<\/a><\/strong> put together a fun Local\u2019s Gift Box<\/strong>; read more and purchase online<\/a>. It supports eight local Santa Cruz area businesses affected by the pandemic\u00a0including Mutari Craft Chocolate, Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company, Edith Meyer Wedding Cakes, and Magnolia Fine Gifts and Apothecary. They are even offering no-charge, no-contact SC County delivery. Visit fivestarcatering.com\/holidayboxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Kneads Dough<\/a><\/strong> Monterey County is home to talented pastry chef Michelle Lee. A finalist on Food Network\u2019s recent Halloween Baking Championship and a former staff member at restaurants including The C Restaurant+Bar at Intercontinental the Clement Monterey, Michelle found herself out of work due to the pandemic. She decided to get her cottage food permit and start doing pop-up \u201cQuaranTreats.\u201d I\u2019ve enjoyed her food at The C and at special events, and also bought one of her yummy QuaranTreats and plan to buy more. I don\u2019t know if she does gift cards for future treats, but just telling any \u201csweets fans\u201d you know about her is a gift in itself! Visit Instagram.com\/michelle.kneads.dough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lots of wineries and breweries<\/strong> are offering gift cards if you want to give your gift recipient the choice of what exactly they will receive. You can get contact info for many wineries at the Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains<\/strong> website<\/a>. Visit winesofthesantacruzmountains.com\/wineries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final list of stores & vendors <\/strong>(without going into too much detail I wanted to make sure and at least share a few more names):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santa Cruz County<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Counter Cultures Kitchen<\/a><\/strong> Visit IG @countercultureskitchen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Salchichero<\/a> <\/strong> Visit elsalchichero.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far West Fungi<\/a><\/strong> Visit farwestfungi.com\/pages\/santa-cruz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmer Freed Salts<\/a><\/strong> Visit farmerfreed.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Itso & Notso Hot Sauce<\/a> <\/strong>Visit makefoodhappy.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marini\u2019s Candies<\/a> <\/strong>Visit mariniscandies.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mountain Feed & Farm Supply<\/a><\/strong> Visit mountainfeed.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sushi Market Sprouts<\/a><\/strong> Visit Instagram.com\/sushimarketsprouts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monterey County<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmel Honey Company<\/a><\/strong> Visit carmelhoneycompany.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chef\u2019s Stash<\/a><\/strong> (weekly local food boxes curated by chef and restaurateur Gabe Georis and chef Brandon Miller, with omnivore and pescatarian options). Visit thechefsstash.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elroy\u2019s Fine Foods<\/a><\/strong> Visit elroysfinefoods.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Girl Kitchen<\/a><\/strong> Visit happygirlkitchen.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jerome\u2019s Carmel Valley Market<\/a> <\/strong>Visit jeromescarmelvalleymarket.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Brother Beer<\/a><\/strong> Visit otherbrotherbeer.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow me on:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twitter @santacruzfoodie<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instagram @tarafatemiwalker<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facebook @santacruzfoodieexaminer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the final installment\u2014part 7\u2014of my holiday foodie gift guide with information for several local businesses if you have some last-minute shopping to do. Contact me at tara@santacruzfoodie.com with questions or comments. Also see: Gift guide part 1 Gift … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,20,80,30],"tags":[1686,1747,1755,1751,179,655,1563,1744,644,654,1748,81,398,1675,1756,1761,1752,1753,1758,1749,1757,1763,1750,1716,1676,1746,1737,1759,1745,1754],"class_list":["post-3064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-benefits","category-cooking-chefs","category-food-food-news","category-wine","tag-carmel-honey-company","tag-cheese-shop-831","tag-counter-cultures-kitchen","tag-edith-meyer-wedding-cakes","tag-el-salchichero","tag-farmer-freed","tag-five-star-catering","tag-food-gift","tag-food-gifts","tag-foodie-gifts","tag-hammond-glass-engraving-gifts","tag-happy-girl-kitchen","tag-holiday-gifts","tag-holiday-shopping-2020","tag-itso-hot-sauce","tag-jeromes-carmel-valley-market","tag-magnolia-fine-gifts-and-apothecary","tag-michelle-kneads-dough","tag-mountain-feed-farm-supply","tag-mutari-craft-chocolate","tag-notso-hot-sauce","tag-other-brother-beer","tag-santa-cruz-coffee-roasting-company","tag-second-harvest-food-bank-santa-cruz-county","tag-shop-local","tag-support-artists","tag-support-small-business","tag-sushi-market-sprouts","tag-visual-artists-network","tag-wines-of-the-santa-cruz-mountains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3064"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3067,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3064\/revisions\/3067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}