Can you believe Christmas and Hanukkah are around the corner? A late Thanksgiving this year means even less shopping time than usual. Here are a handful of specific gift ideas for foodies on your list. Other suggestions include shopping at our local chocolatiers and checking with local restaurants for gift-type products they sell. For example, The Midway has homemade chili paste and hot sauce; Zachary’s has coffee cake and loaves of signature oatmeal molasses or jalapeño cornbread or coffee cake.

1. Two talented women bakers

Every holiday season, Alexis Barry’s bakery Tart+Tin Cakes and Confections (tartandtin.com) offers unique themed boxes. This time, her collection includes a sugar plum fairy themed box, available in varying sizes, including items like caramel crunch cake popsicles and peppermint macarons. A brownie box features Biscoff, gingerbread and chocolate truffle brownies. Boxes can be shipped; order by Dec. 18. Local pickup — with three days’ notice — is in Marina (at the bakery, 3114 Del Monte Blvd.) or Watsonville (a residence: address given upon ordering). The last day to place pickup orders is Dec. 19. If you fall in love with her treats, don’t fret: throughout the year she creates items like custom wedding cakes and selections for events. “I offer a full dessert bar menu which includes our famous donuts, cupcakes, dessert cups and small bite desserts,” said Barry.

If a Buche De Noel (yule log) is the sweet gift you’re seeking, Anouchka Bakery (anouchkabakery.com) is offering chocolate cake roulades with hazelnut/chocolate whipped cream filling and chocolate buttercream frosting for Christmas Eve pickup or delivery. Also available: organic chocolate cream pie with a gluten-free crust option and iced gingerbread cookies. Place orders by Dec. 21.

2. For people who aspire to cook more

The fun calendar “A Culinary Adventure” lets your gift recipient explore cuisines from around the world. There are 12 small-batch spice packets; each month features an easy recipe from award-winning chef and former South Bay resident Danae McLaughlin, with a vegetarian option for each. The calendar has vibrant illustrations by Los Gatos resident Sandra Hovancik. The year begins with Mesa Verde, Colorado, and a smoky chipotle spice packet to accompany flank steak or Portobello mushroom quesadillas. The journey includes destinations like South Africa with a Piri Piri spice packet for shrimp or tofu with lemon mint couscous. You can purchase the calendar through Uncommon Goods (uncommongoods.com). McLaughlin and Hovancik also have an Etsy site (etsy.com/shop/lifeofspiceshop) where they sell their spices and sampler boxes with accompanying recipes.

3. Wise Goat Organics

This Hollister-based business has many delicious, nutrient-dense gifts. Have a friend who loves fermented products like sauerkraut, kimchi and kvass? Wise Goat has you covered. Order online at wisegoatorganics.com or find them at Aptos and Santa Cruz farmers markets: Saturdays at Cabrillo College and Sundays in Live Oak (15th Avenue/East Cliff Drive). There is a current farmers-market-only promotion: buy any two tinctures or teas for $24. Products include elderberry syrup wellness tonic, cardamom herbal tea and golden milk elixir.

Know a cocktail fan? Wise Goat owner Mary Risavi suggests mixing kimchi gut tonic with vodka for a Bloody Mary spin. “Use a 2/3 tonic to 1/3 vodka ratio,” says Risavi. A splurge gift idea: sign someone up for the Wise Club (wisegoatorganics.com/kraut-club). They will receive three rotating items by mail in monthly, bimonthly or quarterly intervals. Wise Goat products like kimchi hot sauce and fermented spicy mustard have consistently earned nominations and wins at the prestigious Good Food Awards. Also, Wise Goat is partnering with Amanda May Wellness for a January 2025 event, and you can buy admission for your gift recipient. The month-long “health rebalance” includes a set of Wise Goat products, yoga, meditation and coaching. Sign up by Friday at amandamaywellness.com/wise-goat-form.

4. Annieglass treasures

Annieglass has a wonderful retail shop inside the renowned glassmaking company’s production facility in Watsonville (310 Harvest Drive, annieglass.com). Glass dishes, ceramics, drinking glasses and stemware in an array of designs and sizes are available, along with serving utensils, cheese spreaders and wooden cutting boards. The shop also carries clothing and jewelry by other artisans, Merge4Socks from Taylor Reinhold (founder/local resident Annie Morhauser’s son), and a few rotating culinary items that make great food gifts, including Bella Cucina Artful Food jarred pesto (from “Oprah’s List of Favorite Things”) and grenade-shaped bottles of veteran-owned business General’s Hot Sauce. Weekend art classes are held in an on-site workshop space. One fun idea is a “DIY succulent garden” offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except Sundays. It includes a custom Annieglass planter trimmed in 24K gold.5. Cookie Towers from Pacific Cookie Company

Pacific Cookie Company (1203 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, pacificcookie.com) always has many gifts to choose from, and this year there is a standout: cookie towers with iconic labels created by local artists Tessa Hope Hasty, Lynn Piquett and Jimbo Phillips. These include a nightscape featuring the coastline, the Boardwalk and farm fields, and a vibrant design celebrating surf and skate culture. Customers can pick one or two cookie flavors to put in the boxes (which hold a dozen cookies), and either buy from the downtown Santa Cruz bakery or go online to ship directly to a gift recipient anywhere in the U.S.

6. Jam baskets and so much more

At Watsonville’s Gizdich Ranch (55 Peckham Road, gizdich-ranch.com), the gift shop is a good place to buy gifts. Pre-packaged gift baskets include combinations like olallieberry jam and apple butter, or apricot jam with pancake/waffle mix plus raspberry syrup. Or create your own mix from the several jam varieties that Gizdich Ranch has been making for decades. Other edible items include honey, packages of Jordan almonds or chocolate-covered espresso beans. Additional selections include pie-making tools, stainless steel food mills and olive oil cans, tea towels, china teapots and cup/saucer sets. Don’t forget to stop and enjoy freshly made pie at the Gizdich deli and pie shop in the neighboring barn (and mark your calendar for the warmer seasons when Gizdich Ranch, which has 30 acres of apples and berries, has apple and berry u-picks open to the public).

7. Vegan goodies

Have a vegan friend to shop for? Visit The Buzz Market (1005 Cedar St., Santa Cruz, thebuzzsushi.com), which opened in October. Owner Tavo Guerrero has carefully curated selections for your shopping pleasure. These include homemade items like vegan kimchi, habanero sauce and salad dressing. Vegan packaged items include coconut bacon from Madly Hadley and Popadelics crunchy shiitake mushroom chips in flavors like Twisted Thai Chili. Plus, a gourmet infused seasoning in a beautiful tin: Gustus Vitae Japanese green tea matcha cane sugar and packaged tea sachets from Tea with Tae. Vegan, gluten-free sweets include Planet Bake donuts and gourmet chocolate bars from Los Gatos-based Deux Cranes (flavors like passionfruit chocolate and dark chocolate with hazelnuts). Other items include bottles of Spiritless Jalisco 55, a distilled non-alcoholic spirit to make non-alcoholic margaritas and more. While gift shopping, you can buy delectable sushi (traditional, or vegan made with plant-based fish) for lunch or dinner.

8. Gifts for home chefs

Earlier this month, chef Jessica Yarr of Felton’s bakery/café The Grove (6249 Hwy. 9, thegrovefelton.com) opened The Kitchen Corner (thegrovefelton.com/kitchen-corner) two doors down from her café. With high-quality chefs’ tools, cookbooks and more, you’re bound to find a gift for any cooks on your list. You’ll find cookware like what’s used at The Grove, plus vintage cooking items, serving platters, bakeware, chefs’ knives, utensils and ravioli presses. Pantry items include chili oil, natural wine, sea moss seasoning (think umami) from Woon Kitchen and olive oil from Like Family. Since it’s brand new, hours are currently limited to 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. To energize your shopping trip, you might want to first stop at The Grove for a sweet or savory bite! Also, there is currently a 10% off holiday sale on gift cards: purchase these in person and online through Jan. 1. Cards are usable at both The Kitchen Corner and The Grove.

9. Wine gifts for holiday dinners

With the sheer volume of fantastic wineries in our area, it’s impossible to list the majority of them. Two highlights: Established in 1964 in the Santa Cruz Mountains, David Bruce Winery (21439 Bear Creek Road, Los Gatos, davidbrucewinery.com) is recognized for crafting world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. One of its current releases, a 2021 Pinot Noir Estate, makes a perfect gift for wine lovers. As the winery’s notes suggest, with a nose including ripe sour cherries and dark plums, and tastes including pomegranates and dried cranberries, it’s ideal to serve with turkey at a holiday dinner. Purchase this and other wines at the tasting room or online.

Sante Arcangeli (154 Aptos Village, Aptos, santewinery.com), which specializes in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines, is running a promotion for a wine package specifically chosen to pair with holiday feasts. Customers can buy a three-bottle bundle containing 2023 Rosé of Pinot Noir, 2023 Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay and 2022 Saveria Pinot Noir for $99 (the retail value is $135). The sale is available through Dec. 24, online or at either of its locations. In addition to Aptos, there is a tasting room in Pescadero.

10. Local beer

Our county is also blessed with an amazing number of breweries. Here is one gift suggestion: Discretion Brewing (2703 41st Ave., Soquel, discretionbrewing.com) is offering Holiday Bottle Bundles. When you buy one bottled beer, you get a Discretion Logo Glass at half off ($4 savings). If you buy two bottles, you get two glasses at half price ($8 savings). There are five beer choices, and the bundles include red, pebble-finished carrying cases so they are ready for gifting.