Looking forward to gathering around a holiday table with family and friends? Us too! To properly thank your dedicated hosts for their exquisite meals and warm welcomes, bring along a little gift made at home or one of the myriad marvelous products from your IGA grocer! Forget about the played-out bottle of wine and find inspirational fodder for your hostess gift—or loved one’s stocking—with our gourmet homemade and store-bought gift ideas! 

Tomato sauce: A gift for the busy moms in your life

Bath products and scented candles begone! This year, give your busy mom friends a helping hand with big jar of homemade tomato sauce. So simple, yet ever so appreciated—especially those evenings when time is of the essence. The same holds true for this three-herb pesto, which is a saucy sensation when combined with pasta, cherry tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. 

100% local cider: the perfect stocking stuffer for men

Surprise the men in your life with exceptional ciders that are made in Quebec and have become a huge hit thanks to the innovative and expert cider makers behind them: think Michel Jodoin, Lacroix, and Verger Hemmingford. These brands offer a large selection of top-quality products, including sparkling ciders made using the same process as champagne, and hard ciders, which one should approach like wine.

In recent years, flavoured ciders have made their way into stores, bringing much joy to cider lovers.

Watermelon, peach, pineapple, cherry, raspberry, pear, ginger, cranberry, strawberry, blueberry: it seems that apple is the perfect pairing for all kinds of other fruits! Not to mention rosé cider, like Michel Jodoin’s Cœur à tout, which is a versatile and refreshing drink that can be served as an aperitif or alongside poultry and grilled fish. 

Christmas cookies for the win!

Whether you’ve baked them in advance and presented them in a lovely tin, or packed them ingredient by ingredient—deconstructed—in a Mason jar, cookies are pretty always a welcome surprise. People with a sweet tooth will be delighted, while the others will eventually give in to the deliciousness…Who has the fortitude to resist these super seasonal cranberry and maple biscotti?!

Short on time? Pick up a tin of Panache's extraordinarily delicious assorted Belgian cookies. 

The breakfast kit: a Christmas morning stocking stuffer

Give your loved one a stocking filled with wonderful little breakfast items to turn their morning ritual into a daily celebration. Add a selection of original herbal and fruit teas to help them start their day off on the right foot. Another thought: you could even create your own morning blend using this chai tea/latte recipe with spices and orange peel.

Combine the ingredients in a glass jar, leave handwritten instructions on it and, if you’re up to it, your favourite shake recipe. You can also stuff that stocking with a solid citrus squeezer so your recipient can make fresh juice. If you’ve got the budget, why not throw in some homemade/artisanal jams as well?

Jam: the homemade morning-maker

Jam is a real crowd-pleaser. Try combining strawberry and peach to make your jar pop red, or vanilla melon to wow your loved ones with an original gift idea. Bonus points: making jam means an entire day of filling your home with mouth-watering aromas.

Short on time? This 70% fruit fig jam by Kitchen & LOVE is a fabulous brunch, raclette, and wine and cheese tasting option.

Chocolate truffles: short on ingredients and big on taste! 

Did you know that you can make ridiculously delicious truffles with just 5 ingredients? Roll them in cacao, icing sugar, shredded coconut, walnuts, or crushed pecans, or even in gold food powder to give them a hit of glamour. Then feature them in tins!

Short on time? Everybody loves a box of chocolates when the holiday season rolls around, and you can find them almost everywhere. Try brands that you’ve never tried before or lean into tried and true options like the world-famous Ferrero Rocher.

Kettle corn: an inexpensive, eye-popping Christmas gift idea! 

It’s crunchy, it’s sweet and salty, it’s melt-in-your-mouth goodness: kettle corn is a chic cocktail hour must.

Check out this s’mores style recipe with chocolate and Graham cracker crumbs. It’s a real head-turner with see-through cellophane tied up in a colourful bow, or in a bakery-style paper bag with a window opening to show off the goods inside. But be forewarned, you’re going to need to keep these far away from the kids if you want any left for yourself.

Short on time? Make your own sweet and salty mix with Compliments butter and caramel popped corn.

Get your pickle on: another cheap Christmas gift idea that’s actually priceless

As a sandwich garnish, a barbecue side, or cocktail hour antipasti, pickled veggies and other condiments will never let you down. Think grilled bell peppers, ginger and coriander carrots, salsa, cucumbers with rice vinegar and maple syrup, and beets…

Money hack: Purchase your favourite vegetables in large quantities during harvest season to take advantage of the year’s lowest prices. Then, pickle them to enjoy these fresh local products all year long—or give them away as holiday gifts. Finishing touch: decorate those tasty little jars! 

Fine Quebec cheeses: go local and yummy!

Zacharie Cloutier, Alfred Le Fermier, Sauvagine, Migneron, and Louis D’Or are sought-after local cheeses. The offer and the demand for Quebec cheeses are equally strong. And it’s easy to see why! Some of these cheeses are best served plain on a platter, while others are best suited to enhance your raclettes, gratins, French onion soup, quiches, spirals, etc.

To discover a whole bunch of local artisan cheesemakers that the people of Quebec can’t get enough of, check out this report and this article.

A very timely advent calendar

Reinvent your yuletide traditions with a modern advent calendar that serves as a daily portal to explore the creations of some of La Belle Province’s most creative cheesemakers. A total of 6 different individual size cheeses!

Fine oils and vinegars: for an elevated gift basket

Plain or flavoured extra virgin olive oils (think herbs, garlic, pepper, lemon…), sesame oil, almond oil, walnut oil, and camelina oil are easy additions to enhance your dishes and salads. By gifting your loved ones with different kinds of vinegar—apple cider, white/red wine, balsamic—you help them add a bit of the unexpected to their meals in under a minute. For a well-rounded gift basket, slip in some fine salad dressings or mustards. They’re gonna love it!

Suggestion: try this extra virgin olive oil and this Stefano balsamic vinegar of Modena. They’re an amazing mixture to dip a bit of baguette into at your next cocktail hour! 

Recipe magazines for beginners and experts

Whether they offer a thousand and one recipes, teach you about culinary fundamentals, or both, recipe magazines are a fabulous holiday gift idea for chefs on training wheels, pros who have already worked their way up to beef wellington, and everyone in between. Ricardo’s magazine is a huge help when it comes to creating meals that are simple, salubrious, and scrumptious!