I relish a good gift guide, especially one with obscure and quirky things I dream about gifting myself (and the people, I love of course!) Here for you, FRESCA’s gift guide for indecisive lovely humans who just need to go for it and order the damn gift. It’s a list of five things that have maximized pleasure in multi-sensory ways for me this year. Best part? They’ll arrive on time for XMAS, and I offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee that the recipient will be floored, or cry (even better).

Nothing is sponsored and there are no affiliate links, just real gift ideas of things I love for you.

Black-Sesame Gâteau $60

Also known by its Basque name, etxeko bixkotxa, it translates to "cake of the house." The filling is typically pastry cream or black cherry jam which is full stop perfection as two of the things I can eat by the spoonful, but this gâteau Basque made by one of my favorite bean-to-bar chocolatiers is filled with BLACK SESAME.

L.A. native and Dandelion Chocolate Executive Pastry Chef, Lisa Vega, layers silky Costa Esmeraldas single-origin chocolate pastry cream, and emulsifies it with roasted Kuki black-sesame paste from Yokkaichi, Japan. They bake the velvety filling into a tender chocolate crust — it’s crumbly and dense like a chewy blondie, but the filling is creamy and silky. They only make gâteaus for the holidays, and they sell out always, but some flavors are still in stock as of the moment this Fresca hits your inbox. The best part? They ship it ground for free, nicely packaged like a gift.

Philosykos Eau de Parfum $230

People stop me in the streets all the time now to ask what perfume I’m wearing and I feel shy, but I also can’t shut up about this perfume that smells of fig leaves, fig tree sap, and like my neighbor’s front yard in Long Beach. I’ve been lucky to live next to a massive, prolific fig tree —greeted during summer and fall by its intoxicating scent. I gifted myself this perfume by Diptyque for my last birthday and I’m obsessed. It’s stupid expensive, but it is made of natural oils so a little goes a long way and maybe it means it will last a long time?

Wrap fish in fig leaves and slow-roast it (here’s a highly adaptable recipe) for a very subtle and magical vanilla-like scent.

Make tea with one fig leaf and lightly sweeten it with honey to sit with a book. Ice it and serve as agua fresca.

Vivan los higos.

Roma Tomato Candle $51

The candle to end all candles. The scent is reminiscent of a gardening session on a balmy summer evening while pruning tomato vines, then putting your hands on your nose and taking a deep breath of the herbaceous, peppery tomato vine essence. It’s my favorite candle to gift to the peak-tomato obsessed.

Passion Fruit Pie $73

Totally unfair and totally inconsiderate of me to write about this wildly delicious pie if you’re not in the L.A. area, but I must tell the world about the Macadamia graham crust, passion fruit custard, whipped crème fraîche, with fresh local passion fruit pulp pie that will make you gasp, scream profanities, shed a tear. The pie moves you. It’s only available when passion fruit is in season, as in right now. It’s my birthday cake every year, and so is Javier’s.

Taco wine $70+ tacos

You have a lot of friends. All of them love tacos. They also love wine. Truly perfect humans in my book.

I have a great plan for you: Take them out for tacos de carne asada at night (the timing is important to keep it in the down low). When everyone gets their order, you blow them away by pulling out of the trunk a bottle of excellent wine to pair with their tacos. You tell them the pairing is by L.A. sommelier, Eduardo Bolaños, like this 2016 Hirsch Chardonnay Estate. I typically stay away from California Chardonnay because the oak is too intense, but Eduardo changed it all for me when he explained a Chardonnay that is at least eight years old transforms oak into a delicate but intense nose of nutty popcorn and mushroom. Great intensity in the mouth that does not compete with your mesquite-grilled asada, tangy acidity to follow the squeeze of lime.

Don’t forget Solo red party cups.

XOXO

Do it! $5/month for all Fresca xoxo