Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. For this week, we’ve turned it into the second installment of our holiday gift guide, with recommendations from T staffers on what we are coveting for ourselves this season, as well as the gifts we’re thinking of giving our friends and loved ones. Read the first edition here, and sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday. And you can always reach us at tlist@nytimes.com. |
Hand-Painted Chocolates From Beverly Hills |
 | | The 24-piece Signature Collection box from andSons, $59, and-sons.com.Ed Rudolph |
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The Beverly Hills chocolatier andSons was launched last year by the brothers Marc and Phil Covitz, who grew up watching their mother, Aviva, run the local outpost of the Swiss chocolate brand Teuscher. Hoping to create American chocolates as luxurious as those they ate as children, the pair — along with the esteemed pastry chef Kriss Harvey — debuted their own hand-painted bonbons (some filled with fruit-forward ganaches, others with rich house-made pralines and popping candies), which come in beautiful foil-stamped boxes that open from their center. No less covetable are the brand’s holiday specials, including its Eggnog Snowmen, with white chocolate shells and creamy centers that strike the perfect balance between sugar and spice. |
Fragrant Holiday Wreaths Complete With Bows |
 | | From left: Flowerbx Winter White Outdoor Wreath, $175, and Red Berry Outdoor Wreath, $170, flowerbx.com.Courtesy of Flowerbx |
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There may not be a gift more likely to be universally well received than an expertly arranged winter wreath. And Flowerbx, the international flower purveyor headquartered in London, is offering some of the most beautiful versions around, from a traditional grouping of Douglas and nobilis fir, alpine cones and pussy willow to a uniquely aromatic blend of wood-scented pine, red seeded eucalyptus and rose hips. The availability of specific styles will vary depending on supply and your location, but they can be shipped from almost anywhere in the world, with complimentary standard delivery in the U.S. (around two to three days); orders should be made by December 19 to ensure arrival before Christmas. If your hearth needs a little trimming, twisted garlands of eucalyptus, berries and fir are also just a click away. |
A Bread Cloche That Marries Form and Function |
In my fantasy kitchen there would be not much more than one big pot, a single perfect knife and a heat source, and all other unnecessary equipment would be banned. (No more apple corers or egg slicers.) But I would make an exception for this bread cloche, which is impressively effective: Made from mica-rich clay in England by the ceramist Isatu Hyde, it creates a steamy enclosure for your dough as it bakes in the oven, producing bread with a uniquely light texture and well-developed crust. It is also pretty enough to sit on your counter and double as a vessel in which to store your loaf. |
Equestrian-Inspired Lacquered Bracelets |
 | | Hermès Jumping Bangle PM Bois Laque, $145 each, (800) 441-4488.Courtesy of Hermès |
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There are few thrills greater than receiving an Hermès orange box, especially around the holidays. This year, I have my sights set on these painted wood bracelets, which can be worn individually, but look best when stacked on the wrist. Hand-lacquered in France, their sporty saffron, burgundy and coral stripes were inspired by the 19th-century blankets once used to cover racehorses (an updated version of which Hermès now sells as the Rocabar throw for the home). I like that the bangles don’t feel too precious (or expensive), while still possessing the elements of history and craftsmanship for which the brand is known. |
Artisanal Jams and Wholesome Honeys |
 | | Left: Trade Street Jam Co. jams, from $14, tradestjamco.com. Right: Zach & Zoë Sweet Bee Farm honey, from $20, zachandzoe.co.Courtesy of the brands |
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Holiday parties might be on hold, but extra time at home is cause enough to elevate one’s pantry. Two of my go-to brands are Trade Street Jam Co. and the family-owned raw honey farm and label Zach & Zoë Sweet Bee Farm. The first finds ways to use less sugar to create small batches of jams with offbeat flavor combinations such as strawberry, chipotle and fig, while the second blends its honeys with other superfoods like bee pollen and beetroot powder. Try glazing your butternut squash with plum and rose jam or dressing up your morning bowl of granola with a drizzle of wildflower-lavender honey. |
Ceramic Insects That Bring the Garden Indoors |
The Dewberry in Charleston, S.C., is one of America’s most interesting hotels — truly Southern, it’s both insouciant and warmhearted — and for its holiday pop-up shop this year, the hotel has found an ideal collaborator in Houses & Parties, a new online retailer created by the Savannah- and New York-based interiors and event designer Rebecca Gardner. The vibe is establishment dinner party gone kooky: There are chintz tablecloths, patterned china and colorful, faceted glassware that, when arranged together, suggest a sunnier, more social time. I’ll be sending friends the ceramic insects, a swarm of 10 different beetles and dragonflies made by hand in France with intricately glazed bodies and wired legs or antennae. Someday, they’ll make for unique place-card holders for guests — for now, they’re welcome tabletop distractions. |
Worthy Social Organizations Selected by The Times |
 | | Ali Awow and his daughter Anisa in 2019 at the custom clothing shop he runs out of a stall in a San Diego market. Awow, a Somali refugee, established his business with the help of the International Rescue Committee, one of 10 organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund this year.Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times |
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A few years ago, I stumbled across a January 1988 New York Times article about people who’d recently given to the paper’s Neediest Cases Fund — which dates back to Christmas Day 1911 and solicits donations from readers for the less fortunate — and was delighted to read that my mother had donated $100 in my father’s name. At the time, she was working for the Legal Aid Society of New York in Queens as a public defender and likely did not have an abundance of disposable income. (She was also weeks away from finding out she was pregnant with a child who would develop lamentably expensive tastes.) When I brought the fact of the gift up with her, she had no recollection of it, but gave a pleasantly surprised shrug. More and more — and especially at the end of a year during which the sitting government has failed so many — I’m trying to channel her easy generosity. A contribution to the 2020-21 campaign will support 10 carefully chosen social welfare agencies (you can specify which if you’d like), from Children’s Aid to World Central Kitchen to First Book. |
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