la.foodblogging

Previous Gift Tips Here. So you’re having a few friends over and want to serve them a treat from your home town? Here are a few suggestions.

Tamara’s Tamales. Tamales are a traditional holiday dish and there are plenty of sources around LA to pick them up. If you’re on the Westside, I would suggest trying out Tamara’s. Be sure to order ahead, especially around the holidays when demand runs high. There are all sorts of flavors to choose from and delicious salsas to go on top.

Tamara’s Tamales
13352 West Washington Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90066-5108
(310) 305-7714

Benett’s Ice Cream. Located in the Third and Fairfax Farmer’s market, Bennett’s has been locally made since 1963. I love the pistacio ice cream and when you buy a hand packed pint, you get a hand packed pint. In fact, I think that they manage to pack a full quart into a pint sized container, if that is possible.

Benett’s Ice Cream
6333 W Third St Ste 548
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-939-6786

Wine Expo. Of course, your holiday party will need some wine (even with tamales). I have never felt so welcome in a wine shop as I felt in Wine Expo. They introduced me to my new favorite Monte Calvi after I went in for a Tignanello (saving me a bundle) and also pointed me to some everyday type Sangiovese for under $20 (some closer to $10). They also bill themselves as “Champagne Headquarters”, although I have only bought the non-bubbly from them.

2933 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 828-4428

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.