A tasteful gift idea

Tasteful Additions in Pittsford

Every year I try to find something thoughtful and a little different for hostess gifts, teacher gifts, or small gifts for friends. Some years I’ve made gifts from the kitchen. Other years it’s been a favorite new CD.

This year’s gift: nice balsamic vinegars, olive oils and salts, which I purchased at Tasteful Additions in Pittsford.

Tasteful Additions sells small size bottles of their vinegars and oils; that size does not appear on their website. A pair can be combined into a nice gift box. I think it’s nice that the recipients won’t have large bottles of an unusual ingredient to use up, but can have fun experimenting with them. Thus far, they’ve been very well received.

I like that these gifts can support everyone’s New Year’s resolution to eat healthier. The olive oils are heart healthy and add flavor to even ordinary dishes. The balsamic vinegars add zip to veggies and fruits.

Diplay at Tasteful Additions

A selfish reason for shopping for these gifts: it’s fun! You can taste all of the products. Tasteful Additions has cubes for dipping into the oils, vinegars and salts. The staff will even give suggestions for what flavors work well together. I was surprised at how much thicker the balsamic vinegars are than their grocery store counterparts, and even bought a bottle of white balsamic vinegar for myself.

Another place with a similar approach is F. Oliver’s. I visited their Park Avenue location earlier this year, and purchased their Tuscan Blend olive oil. I love it -- it has added a great herbal note to ordinary weekday dishes as well as for dipping bread. It is almost gone.

It’s hard to know what gifts people will appreciate, so I fall back on the adage of giving gifts you’d like to receive yourself. These definitely fit the bill.

(This also appeared in my blog for the Flavors of Rochester website.)