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The Holiday Deluxe Collection from Ethel M is $34.99. (courtesy Ethel M)
Baskets put together by members and volunteers at the Blind Center of Nevada are $65, or $60 each for more than 10. (courtesy the Blind Center)
A traditional Yule Log from Carlo‘s Bakery at The Venetian sells for $34.95. (courtesy Carlo‘s Bakery)
A five-pack of 1.05-ounce chocolate bars from Hexx is $25.95. (courtesy of Hexx)
Cookies from Wonderland Bakery‘s celebrity series are, top to bottom, Taylor, Channing, Kylie and Kobe, $24.95 per pair. (courtesy Wonderland Bakery)
Nonna‘s Italian Cookies from Ferraro‘s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar are $20 per pound. (courtesy Ferraro‘s)
Gingerbread cupcakes from Sprinkles are available through Dec. 24. (courtesy Sprinkles)
PopShoppe popcorn from Opportunity Village is available in numerous flavors and sizes. (courtesy Opportunity Village)
Baby Cakes Artisan Bakery at M Resort is offering holiday shortbread cookie bouquets for $20. (courtesy M Resort)
Pahrump Valley Winery wines run $13.95 to $16.95 a bottle, with discounts for cases and half-cases. (courtesy Pahrump Valley Winery)
This basket, priced at $85, is an example of those available from Artisanal Foods (courtesy Artisanal Foods)
The Buche de Noel from Rosallie French Cafe is available in a variety of flavors and priced at $12 to $18. (courtesy Rosallie French Cafe)
Dining Out

Your guide to holiday shopping for the foodie in your life

By Heidi Knapp Rinella Las Vegas Review-Journal
December 9, 2015 - 2:18 pm
 

Christmas is rapidly closing in on us, which means opportunities are dwindling to find the perfect gift for that special someone who has everything (everything but your gift, that is). So here's an idea that would appeal to just about anyone: food.

That's a pretty broad category, and can encompass everything from groceries (give them a supermarket gift card) to restaurants (gift cards again, and many restaurants offer deals on them at this time of year) to about a gazillion and a half specialty-food items.

More and more of those items, it seems, are being made right here in Southern Nevada. They abound as well, so we offer a dozen, in a variety of types.

Artisanal Foods, 2053 E. Pama Lane, offers ready-made and custom baskets and can even create baskets filled strictly with locally produced foods. They'll design whatever you want, but some examples are pasta, $85; truffle pasta, $99, or $199 with 1.5 ounces of fresh black winter truffle; caviar, $199; Gourmet's Pantry, $175; breakfast, $99; and sweets, $99. Call 702-436-4252.

Baby Cakes Artisan Bakery at M Resort, 12300 Las Vegas Blvd. South in Henderson, creates holiday cakes and baskets, but a specialty this year is its cookie bouquets by Fred Isla, who's on the current season of the Food Network's "Cake Wars: Christmas." They're available in shortbread Christmas designs or macarons and are $20 each. Call 702-797-1000.

Baskets put together by members and volunteers at the Blind Center of Nevada, 1001 N. Bruce St., contain white chocolate popcorn, hand-dipped Double Stuf Oreos, peanuts, cocoa batons, Ghirardelli chocolate-covered pretzels, Stockmeyer shortbread and cookies and milk-chocolate-covered peanuts, and come complete with decoration and holiday greetings. They also can be customized to reflect a business, and you can add a company-branded item if you'd like. The baskets are $65, or $60 each if you order 10 or more; call Robin Kelly at 702-912-0531 or email her at robin@blindcenter.org.

Carlo's Bakery, originally of Hoboken, N.J., and more recently at the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, offers a whole variety of seasonal treats in addition to its regular assortment of cakes and pastries, including the traditional Yule Log. Made of vanilla-flavored cake with chocolate ganache buttercream frosting, it's $34.95. Advance ordering is advised; go to the bakery or call 702-607-2356.

Ethel M is one of the oldest food-producing companies in Southern Nevada, and produces its chocolates right at the factory at 2 Cactus Garden Drive in Henderson (702-435-2655). Shopping at the factory is especially pleasant at this time of year if you visit after dark (store hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily) because the company's sprawling cactus garden is illuminated for the Christmas season. Ethel M also has a shop at the California Hotel at 12 E. Ogden Ave. downtown (702-383-3340) and four shops at McCarran International Airport, although they're all past security, so you can only shop there if you're flying; you also can order online at www.ethelm.com. This year's offerings include the Festival Collection of four boxes, complete with bows, which are $74.99 for all four or $19.99 each, with each box containing peppermint bark, milk chocolate creamy caramels, Almond Butter Krisps or Pecan Caramel Raptures. Collections include the 24-piece Holiday Deluxe Collection, $34.99; 16-piece Cocktail Collection, $27.99; 30-piece Creme Liqueur Tin, $44.99; and Satin Creme Cactus Garden box, $27.99. Plus there's the 16-piece sea-salted caramel box, $27.99, 24-piece mixed brittle box, $34.99, design-your-own collections, gift baskets and more.

Family matriarch Rosalba Ferraro has been busy baking Nonna's Italian Cookies, which are available at Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar at 4480 Paradise Road. They're $20 per pound and sold in 1-, 1 1/2- and 2-pound boxes. Also available are Italian food gift baskets in three sizes at $150, $200 and $250. Basket orders must be placed by Dec. 16 at 702-364-5300.

The chocolate shop at Hexx Kitchen + Bar at Paris Las Vegas, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is the only bean-to-bar chocolate producer in town, using cocoa beans from Peru, Venezuela, Tanzania, Ecuador and Madagascar. A sample pack of five 1.05-ounce bars is $25.95; a pack of five 2.12-ounce bars is $31.95; the Alexxa gift box, with eight 0.75-ounce bars, is $24.95; individual bars are $5.95 for 1.05 ounces, $7.95 for 2.12 ounces and $34.95 for 16 ounces. Call 702-331-5100.

The PopShoppe at Opportunity Village has been popping like mad, with clients and volunteers putting together numerous flavors of popcorn that will be available only through the end of December. The flavors are Classic Pop (caramel corn with chocolate drizzle), Tuxedo Pop (caramel corn with white and dark chocolate drizzle), Peppermint Pop (caramel corn with dark chocolate drizzle and crushed peppermint candy), Cinna Pop (caramel corn with cinnamon and sugar), White Cheddar Pop and Nacho Cheese Pop. A 3-ounce snack bag is $2, an 8-ounce bag is $4.55 and 12-ounce tin $16.29; if you get a tin, you can get it divided into three flavors for the same price. Call 702-262-1557 or visit www.popshoppelv.com.

Yes, you can make wine in the desert, and Pahrump Valley Winery has proved it by grabbing a bunch of awards. Bottles run $13.95 to $16.95, with discounts for cases or half-cases. Delivery, which is extra, is available to a bunch of states (including Nevada and California); order at www.pahrumpwinery.com/wines, visit the winery at 3810 Winery Road in Pahrump or call 775-751-7800.

French expatriate Jonathan Pluvinet of Rosallie Le French Cafe, 6090 S. Rainbow Blvd., also is offering a Yule Log, known as a Buche de Noel in France. It's made of sponge cake and buttercream (available in praline, mocha and coffee) and is $12 to $18. Order at least two days in advance at 702-998-4121. Pluvinet also has created a variety of gift baskets for coffee and tea lovers.

Sprinkles at The Linq, 3535 Las Vegas Blvd. South, continually comes up with novel holiday specials (not to mention a cupcake ATM), and they sure haven't left out Christmas. Gingerbread and chocolate-peppermint cupcakes are available only until Christmas Eve, but they'll be followed, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 10, by the return of the s'mores cupcake. And special boxes are available themed to joy, Hanukkah, New Year's Eve and Peace. They're $3.75 each, with holiday boxes at $42 or $52.

You may not be able to give the gift of fame, but you can at least give your friend or loved one a taste of it, through the celebrity gingerbread series at Wonderland Bakery at 2010 Festival Plaza Drive in Downtown Summerlin. The series includes cookies decorated to resemble Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Ariana Grande, Kylie Jenner, Lil Jon, President Obama, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Channing Tatum and Kanye West. They're sold by the pair in a castle-shaped tote for $24.95, and you can personalize the cookies and packaging. Order in advance by calling 702-363-3333.

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Find more of her stories at reviewjournal.com, and follow @HKRinella on Twitter.

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