Next time you plan to stir-fry some veggies, sauté a chicken breast or mix up a batch of salad dressing using olive oil, see what a difference flavor-infused oil
can make. Perhaps you dunked your bread into some oil with a sprig or leaf in it last time you were at the yuppie Italian joint, but have you tasted a crisp green salad with ruby grapefruit-infused oil? Pearson Ranch has a line of citrus olive oils. For $16, you can get about eight ounces of orangic Meyer lemon, blood orange, Tahitian lime or organic jalapeno lime extra-virgin California olive oil. For guests, why not drizzle a bit of Japanese wasabi olive oil over the appetizers to give them an extra kick ($28 for 250 ml)? Or use an eye dropper of white truffle oil from Italy in the omelette pan (at $13.50 for .55 ml, you can’t afford to waste it). Both are available from Culinary Needs, as are hazelnut and walnut olive oil from France ($12 for 16.9 ounces). At Sotto Voce, each small batch of premium oil is infused, bottled and labeled by hand. Reading about the Olio Pomodoro, a garlic-flavored oil infused with sun-dried tomatoes, Greek oregano, and black and white peppercorns will get you salivating. The Olio Santo is a garlic oil blended with rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns and a mild chili pepper. And the Olio Angelico is garlic oil with baby dill, wild ginger, pink peppercorns and fennel. All are $12.75 for 12.75 ounces. And if you really want to splurge, try the Urbani truffle oil gift set, with one bottle of white truffle oil and one of black truffle oil ($76; pictured). Earthy Delights has mushroom-flavored oils such as Da Rosario’s organic porcini oil ($25 for eight ounces) and a “finishing” oil, Moreloilla ($26 for 115 ml), flavored with real morel mushrooms, to be sprinkled right before serving foods.













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