For Gifts, Gatherings, & Gobbling
Ho,ho, ho - it’s the sweetest time of the year. But please, put down that chocolate chip cookie, you deserve something more luscious and flavorful - alfajores! Our gift boxes make fabulous gifts for the naughty and the nice, ready for shipment to Anywhere, USA! They also fair well at holiday parties, gatherings and in a bucket next to your sofa. Cutting down on gluten? We’ve got ‘no gluten’ alfajores as well as bonbons. You can’t go wrong.
Of course, we make special flavors for this time of year. Our Peppermint Chocolate alfajores consist of mint and chocolate cookies joined with dulce de leche, covered in dark chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candy canes. Believe it or not, they taste even better than this description. But don't take our word for it - check out the CandyGurus’ recent response to a sampler we sent them. I think we made one of them cry.
Our Latinx Gift List Increíble
Now that you've sent your loved ones some alfajores, here's some other ideas for the gift-giving season, especially tailored for the South American in your life.
Check out TiendaJosephineh on Esty. She's got awesome mate gourds covered with traditional Andean textile Aguayo fabric and metalic virola. The gourd shape is ideal for mate because it helps compress and preserve the nutrients in the mate tea. Free bombilla (metal straw) with every purchase.
Speaking of yerba mate. Get some of the best for your friends and family - Argentinian Targaui. Don't know what mate is? It's a tea with the strength of coffee and the health benefits of botanicals from holly leaves. It is very popular all over South America.
Pacific Merchants Trading Company makes traditional, hand-turned wooden plates from responsibly-forested Acacia wood. The naturally water-resistant wood makes for easy cleanup.
Sure - they're are neighbors, but they also make some mighty fine coffee. That's why we use their espresso in our Espresso Chocolate alfajores. These guys strive for the best damn fair trade, sustainably grown coffee, and they are local Oaklanders to boot.
Beef
Think Americans love their beef the most, try taking some from an Argentinian. Beef is a form of high art in Argentina, so sending some primo meat to a loved one could get you written into their will.
Snake River Farms will deliver some of the best meat you'll ever eat right to your door. And if you're in the Bay Area and want to get your asado on,
Pampa BBQ can bring an amazing asado to your backyard.
This husband and wife team's
Oaktown Spice Shop was recently named one of the world's best spice shops by Food & Wine Magazine. They
grind and blend their own spices in small batches, making their products extremely fresh compared to what you'll find at the grocery store. Oaktown sources the best tasting and highest quality whole spices from around the world.
Another Etsy find - EthnicAr sells fancy ass, Argentinian pure wool ponchos. These ponchos take months to make and the results are flat out gorgeous. They look great on everybody.
Mafia bags and backpacks are made from re-used sails, so they are water and weather-resistant, sustainable, and come in a variety of vibrant colors. You can even donate your own sail to keep it out of the landfill. Mafia Bags started in Argentina, but it's quickly growing into an international company.
The AndeanShop sells all sorts of Bolivian crafts, but our favorite - these sneakers featuring Bolivian and Peruvian
Aguayo cloth. Aguayo is wool cloth
used in traditional communities in the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. It typically features colorful stripes and interrelated symbolic figures. The shop currently has a Christmas sale going on, so take advantage of their discount prices.
Do you need a Golden Girls votive candle? Rachel Maddow? Missy Eliot? We thought so. We need all the prayers we can get right now, so stock up on some alternative candles straight out of Philly, and light them for us all.
Buenos Aires has a long tradition of hand sign-painting (fileteados) and
Gustavo Ferrari is one of the tradition's masters. He created several awesome signs for Wooden Table. If you're looking a little closer to home,
New Bohemia Signs, based in San Francisco, has been making high-quality, custom, hand-painted sign since 1993. They know their stuff.
These guys will make a custom pinata of ANYTHING. Just send them a photo and, voila, they build a pinata of it. Need a pinata of a friend, a coworker, your pet, a certain person in the Oval Office - done. Now this is Christmas.