sunday special holiday hotlist: how tortured is your orchard?

...and again, by "tomorrow," i can sometimes mean "in the foreseeable future." clearly, it was imperative that i go out dancing this weekend; as an aside, i wore a sequined skirt, and ripped-up israeli army tee shirt, my grandmother's huge star of david pendant, and fishnets. i have a thing for dressing on theme. happy hanukkah.

speaking of happy hanukkah, you know what's a great gift that also tastes delicious on latkes and looks fashionable in a decorative gourmet gift basket (i'm a big fan of bringing a holiday hostess a nice gift basket or bottle of wine instead of flowers, that way she can enjoy it herself and doesn't have to attend to it right away)?

tortured orchard.

ripe and delicious

my beautiful and talented friend amanda k. walley has created the ultimate gourmet food product, and you'll look like the most fashionable gourmand at the party for knowing about it before it goes viral. tortured orchard is vegan, diabetic-friendly, low-fat, low-sugar, low-cholesterol, and HIGH fashion (and not just because you can eat it and continue to wear sample sizes).

my favorite holiday suggestions for this fashionable foodie gift?

- buy a set of four and allow your new best friend to experiment and pick his or her favorite.

- bring a jar of sweet apple blush and use as a dip or topper for crackers and cheese for an hors d'oeuvre (also DELICIOUS on latkes, word to my jews).

- stir fry chicken and veggies in lemon ginger twist and serve over jasmine or basmati rice.

- marinate pork tenderloin in spiced pineapple zinger for a great twist on sweet and sour pork for christmas dinner

- use the garlic balsamic glaze for a modern twist on chicken satay as a fun finger food appetizer.

i can't stress enough the value of the gourmet gift. not only are you successfully bringing your hostess something she likely would never think to treat herself to trying, you're also giving her the gift of not having to think about something later, when the party is over and she's feeling a bit peckish. and listen up friendly fashionista readers: the first 10 orders to mention this blog receive a FREE TORTURED ORCHARD TEE SHIRT with purchase! (p.s. how cool is that logo? wearing a tortured orchard tee is like having the inside track on some new underground band.)

as an aside, my personal favorite is the sweet apple blush. my roommate and i can legit go through about 4 jars of this per week if we aren't careful. it's full of huge chunks of apples and cranberries and general deliciousness. it goes on anything. for real. ANYTHING.

so this is love.

you can order directly from amanda the great here, or if you like, use the handy store locator page on her website, as she distributes to many gourmet and specialty shops in the new england/northeast area. also, be sure to keep checking her website for when she takes her show on the road! amanda is always popping over to shops and fairs to meet people and provide samples of her fabulous product!

so what are you waiting for? you know someone is cooking you that turkey, roasting you that ham, and stuffing for you that, well, stuffing... the least you can do is bring some fantastic sauce!