In the mood for fondue but not quite up for the hassle? The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills has an easy and delicious solution - their Fondue for Two.

The Fondue for Two is a scrumptious cheese fondue that's ready in less than half an hour, so it's perfect for a quick dinner or appetizer.

The Cheese Store's "secret cheese blend" is served up in a round French roll. Just take it out of the plastic wrap and stick it in the oven, and you'll have an ooey gooey cheese fondue in no time.

If you're someone who can make an entire meal out of cheese (like me), the Fondue for Two is really satisfying. I served mine with a light tossed salad and a glass of chardonnay - an absolutely delightful combination.

If you're wondering about the "secret cheese blend," it's a combination of the best Swiss fondue cheeses: Appenzeller, Gruyere and Emmentaler. The fondue also has garlic, white wine and Herbs de Provence, so how could you go wrong?

$15 from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills

If you love almonds even half as much as I do, Charleston Cookie Company's Absolutely Almond cookies will blow you away.

I've never been a huge fan of nuts in my cookies, but the Absolutely Almond cookies are amazing. And the reason why? Almonds three ways: slivered, ground and almond paste.

These cookies are moist, chewy, rich and positively delicious. They really taste like homemade, too, because of the fresh, high quality ingredients: unbleached flour and creamery butter.

All of Charleston Cookie Company's cookies are available in bags by the half-dozen or in tins by the dozen, but I guarantee even a dozen of the Absolutely Almond cookies will disappear in no time.

The Absolutely Almond cookies arrived in an elegant, matte gold tin that's perfect for gift giving or to keep for future use.

Charleston Cookie Company bakes more than 30 types of cookies, sugar-free cookies, brownies and bars and has plenty of gift baskets available for personal and corporate giving.

$25.95 for a dozen from Charleston Cookie Company

The South Shop takes you on a culinary tour of the land down under and reveals some authentic and unique Australian cooking spices.

Aussie Aromatics is a set of four spices from Herbie's Spices that are highly regarded in the southern hemisphere and around the world.

Lemon myrtle can substituted for lemongrass in Asian dishes. The vegetable curry spice is milder than some but still packs a lot of curry flavor.

Pepperberry is a native Australian pepper with a fruity flavor and lots of heat. Sydney all spice adds a clove-like flavor to recipes.

$31.95 from The South Shop

Oliver Kita Fine Confections creates gorgeous, handmade artisan chocolate in the Hudson Valley, using only the finest quality chocolates and unique flavor complements.

Kita is an extraordinary chocolatier committed to producing small-batch artisan confections made from responsibly sourced organic and fair trade chocolate.

The 16-Piece Studio Collection is a brilliant example of the diversity and unusual flavors Kita marries with chocolate.

Included in this collection are a variety of bon bons including Shiki Matcha Crunch (green tea infused ganache with croquant crunch), Caramel du Sel (pink Hawaiian sea salt accents with fresh butter caramel), Scarlet Caramel (strawberry and caramel), Palet d'Opium (seductive blood orange, lapsang and spice) and Cognac Creme Brulee (amber, caramel, cardamom and vanilla).

All of Kita's creations are positively exquisite (the Palet d'Opium being among my favorites), but what's even more impressive is his commitment to premium fair traded, organic and green chocolates.

$40 from Oliver Kita Fine Confections

Holiday entertaining is a lot more enjoyable when you don't have to stress about your servingware. Lenox has a beautiful and sophisticated holiday serving piece that's multipurpose and saves space.

The Lenox Holiday Four-in-One Serving Set functions as a footed cake plate, a cake plate with glass cover, a chip and dip plate and a punch bowl.

The base of the set is decorated with Christmas holly and crafted out of Lenox ivory porcelain. The edges are accented with 24 karat gold.

The dome is made of glass, which is why it serves as a beautiful punch bowl (if turned upside down) and cover for the cake plate.

As a cake plate with glass cover, the set measures 9-3/4" tall.

This set is so elegant, yet not too dressy for more casual gatherings. If you're like me and have limited storage space, you'll love this set!

$89.95 from Lenox

The Cheese Ambassador selects the finest small-batch, handcrafted cheeses available and delivers them to cheese lovers in a trio that's perfect for a cheese tasting party or to serve during a cheese course.

The American Artisanal Collection contains three carefully handmade American artisan cheeses: Aged Gouda, Cave-Aged Blue and 3 Year Old Cheddar.

All three varieties complement each other beautifully but can also hold their own quite well.

The Aged Gouda hails from a fourth-generation master cheesemaker in central Wisconsin. It's aged over 6 months and acquires a nutty flavor and a smooth, velvety texture.

The Cave-Aged Blue follows the tradition of Roquefort and Gorgonzola and is matured for 70 days in the sandstone caves of southern Minnesota. It has a bold blue cheese flavor with a deliciously creamy texture and rich taste.

The 3 Year Old Cheddar is from Amish country in Pennsylvania and is produced by their dairy farmers (using old-fashioned farming techniques including horse-drawn plows). It's a complex cheddar that crumbles beautifully.

Before serving the cheeses, allow them to come to room temperature. We sampled the American Artisanal Collection with a sliced baguette, raspberry jalapeno jelly, orange blossom honey and a platter of prosciutto and genoa salami.

I was partial to the Cave-Aged Blue drizzled with a little honey, but The Cheese Ambassador includes full tasting notes with each trio of cheese.

$35 from The Cheese Ambassador

All of Roseda Beef's cattle are raised in clean environments with no synthetic hormones or antibiotics.

The meats arrive next-day in a cooler after being flash-frozen to seal in the natural juices and preserve the quality and flavor.

Around the Farm is a unique gourmet package from Roseda Beef that contains some of the lesser known cuts of beef.

This package contains two ranch steaks, two flat iron steaks, two sirloin steaks, two chuck eye steaks and one rump roast.

These are interesting cuts that you won't always find at your average supermarket but versatile enough for a wide variety of culinary uses.

$105.78 from Roseda Beef

How much do you know about the tea you drink? Do you know how it's cultivated or the differences among the many varieties?

The Tea Drinker's Handbook is an educational and comprehensive guide to all things tea.

The handbook is a gorgeous hardcover filled with 200 illustrations and full-color photographs. It not only educates on the cultivation process - it also lists the world's 50 best teas by country.

You can also find detailed tasting notes and preparation instructions for those top 50 teas.

Everything you could ever want to know about tea is in The Tea Drinker's Handbook.

This is a lovely gift for anyone who enjoys tea and would like to learn more about the art and ecology of tea drinking.

For me, this book is a fantastic reference as well as a fascinating read.

$29.95 from Abbeville Press

Corriher is the winner of the James Beard Award for Excellence and an authority on baking. Her background as a chemist shines through as she explores the science of baking and kitchen chemistry.

BakeWise is the quintessential resource for learning the science, fundamentals and techniques of baking.

She expertly answers common baking mysteries and answers questions that baffle even the most accomplished bakers.

Corriher provides fascinating and relevant information about flour, leavening agents, etc., and BakeWise dedicates entire chapters to cakes, cookies, pies and bread.

Because baking is such an exact science, this cookbook and informational resource is essential.

Whether you want to truly understand how things work or are simply looking for fail-safe recipes, BakeWise is a must-have, especially with holiday baking just weeks away.

$26.40 from Amazon.com

This cookbook is part of the Gourmet Cook Book Club, and for good reason. Filled with more than 100 recipes, Carmellini creates sophisticated yet achievable recipes for home chefs.

Urban Italian covers base recipes, as well as the following courses: antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni and dolci.

But first, Carmellini shares a chapter called "True Stories" that's filled with anecdotes and the story of his Italian-American background and culinary school experiences.

For the chefs at home, Carmellini's first tip is "Do not stress out." The recipes are designed so you don't have to be a slave to measuring and so you can work with what you have on hand.

This cookbook has a great amount of humor, as well. He openly admits, "There are a lot of frickin' tomatoes in this book." Rightfully so, too, because what would an Italian cookbook be without tomatoes?

Urban Italian has a fantastic assortment of unique twists on traditional Italian fare - this cookbook is a must-have for any Italian kitchen.

$23.10 from Amazon.com

I think the concept is brilliant: kid and dishwasher-safe plates that are lightweight, durable and personalized! I can see these being a huge hit at the kid's table at family get-togethers or backyard barbecues.

La Plates has a great selection of holiday styles that would be perfect to set out at the kid's Christmas dinner table.

La Plates has a snowman (pictured here), Santa, a present and a Christmas tree. You can then choose to personalize or monogram your design with your choice of font and color.

What child wouldn't be excited to have his or her own personalized plate? And not being able to break it, well, that's just an added bonus.

$20 from La Plates

For many women, shopping and chocolate are a match made in heaven. Julia Baker Confections' 6-Piece Purse Box is a delectable accessory for any chocolate lover.

The faux "Louis Vuitton" is filled with six luscious hand-cut chocolates and finished off with a hot pink satin ribbon handle.

The chocolates are decorated in colorful and vibrant dots, stripes, plaids and handbags.

The flavors included in the Purse Box are Dark Irish Creme, Raspberry, Milk Chocolate Ganache and Passion Fruit.

Each chocolate is silky smooth and richly delicious.

This petite chocolate assortment from Julia Baker Confections is a must-have, especially if you love raspberry (my favorite of the four flavors).

$25 from Julia Baker Confections

It's almost time for a new wall calendar, and if you appreciate food, the 2009 Down to Earth Calendar is a great choice.

The Down to Earth Calendar celebrates the local farmers of Columbia County in gorgeous full-color photographs by documentary photographer Roey Yohai.

Each month features a different portrait or agricultural scene in rural New York.

Profits from the calendar will go straight to not-for-profits New York City Greenmarket and the Sylvia Center to support their joint education program.

With the ever-growing focus on eating locally and supporting fresh, organic foods, the Down to Earth Calendar is the perfect daily reminder of why we should all pay attention to what we eat.

$12.95 from Down to Earth

Deborah Brackenbury is the artist behind these hand-made, multi-colored concrete trays, plates, vases, bowls and basins.

Each is made through a unique process of layering hand-rolled and hand-cut colors of concrete in molds and wet-carving the green concrete.

Then, each piece is finished with a food-safe waterproof sealant.

The Cinnamon Roll Plate is a stunning 11" platter that's perfect for indoor or outdoor serving.

Pile it up with baked goods or fresh fruit, and you have a unique tabletop piece that's sure to grab some attention.

$55 from Impure Vessels

South 'n France is "where southern flair meets savoir faire" - delectable bon bons straight out of North Carolina.

Bon bons have long held a place of honor in the eyes of chocolate fanciers, both for their luscious decadence and for the labor-intensive process of making them.

South 'n France has certainly earned that reverence with beautiful hand-dipped chocolate bon bons kissed with sweet Southern ingredients.

Their seven flavors are Cafe au Lait, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Coconut, Cookies 'n Creme, Fudge Brownie, Peanut Buttah and Pistachio.

While all the flavors were fantastic, I couldn't get enough of the Cookie Dough (that's it in the picture, doesn't it look yummy?). I'm a serious addict, now.

For the holidays, you can get 16 colorful foil-wrapped bon bons all snuggled up in this adorable Snowman container. Who wouldn't love him?

For your 16 pieces, you can either choose a bon bon sampler or any individual flavor. The sampler is a lot of fun, though, since you get to try a couple of every flavor.

$38.95 ~ ships on or after Nov. 17 from South 'n France