Q: Last time I was home, I noticed that my mom and my sister had piles of recipe clippings, and I thought a recipe binder would make a great gift for them. To personalize it, I wanted to get some nice recipe cards customized for them. Any recommendations on where to find those online? More

Finding affordable, airtight containers to package food gifts in a pretty way is one of the challenges of giving homemade treats. Plain white soup or ice cream containers fit the bill — they're sturdy yet lightweight, and are ready to be decorated however you like. More

Do you have a friend or loved one on active duty overseas? If you'd like to send them a holiday food package this season, go right ahead! But here are a few rules to keep in mind when shipping edible goodies to troops overseas: More

As I think about the many stories I could write about cooking my way through last week's hurricane, I feel an abundance of gratitude that I can sit here and even ponder writing about the meals I made by candlelight, the cocktails invented with lack of ice, and the ways having a gas stove made it possible to not just survive but to thrive in my dark yet dry fourth floor walk-up just a few short blocks from some of the most devastating flooding to ever occur in Manhattan.

I won't complain. I am instead grateful to be able to tell you about how, when the power came back on, my daughter and I rode our bike uptown to the barely opened Trader Joe's to buy a few simple ingredients and a box of zippered plastic bags to eventually make ten pounds of granola for those whose hurricane stories were less romantic than our own. More

New parents always appreciate the gift of homemade meals, but here's an idea for a gift that keeps on giving: a collection of your best slow cooker recipes and a new slow cooker, if you know your friends don't have one. More

Since we're now into November it's safe to start thinking about gift giving for the holidays—specifically, all those handmade treats we'd love to give (and receive). When I hit up my local IKEA recently, these $5 finds sucked me in. They're the perfect containers to hold your homemade edible goodies! More

Welcome to November! We are on the cusp of travel and dinner party season, so we thought we'd kick this month off with a look a a few favorite gifts for a host or hostess. My view is that hostess gifts don't have to be expensive, but they should be something that feels extra special, something that your friend is likely to enjoy but probably wouldn't buy themselves. A bottle of elderflower soda, for example, or a tin of wild harvested tea. Really nice dish soap made with essential oils is always nice, or a set of measuring spoons for tiny amounts (for when you need a "pinch" or a "dash"). Here are a 15 favorites: More

Traveling this season? Make it a little more pleasurable with this cocktail bitters traveler's set from The Bitter Truth. Each mini bottle is only 3 ounces, so they're TSA-approved. Just add a few drops to sparkling water or a little gin, and say hello to happy flight. More

I had a forehead-slapping moment at the grocery store this week. It's finally turned a bit blustery and rainy in Seattle, and so many of us have been welcoming the fall weather with open arms. So I found myself gravitating towards the bulk tea aisle, where I picked up a jug of apple cider and got sucked into buying an over-priced satchel of mulling spices. When I returned home, my boyfriend chided me for falling into the "mulling spice trap." More

It's a little early, I know, to be thinking about holiday gifts. But if you want to give a special person a handmade gift created just for them, then you may have to start organizing it now. One thing to consider is commissioning a favorite recipe to be made into original watercolor like the one above from Lucile Prache in Paris, France. More