A boozy, easy holiday treat with a twist

You don’t need an expensive new piece of equipment, or an obscure ingredient you have to hunt for. You just need a fresh way of preparing an old favorite. In "One Way," we’ll revisit classic ingredients and dishes, giving them a new twist with an easy technique you haven’t tried before.

My unpopular holiday opinion is that food gifts are almost always a terrible idea. When I see the annual deluge of recipes for candy cane bark and the like, I just want to add a warning to them that asks, "Does your intended recipient really want this? Are you sure?"

Don't get me wrong; a thoughtful, well-executed gesture is always welcome. I am still dreaming about the perfectly infused spicy olive oil a friend bestowed last year, and the devastating coquito my neighbor makes. But food is so personal, so idiosyncratic, so time and space and taste and dietary restrictions dependent, that unless you are very confident about your giftee, you can easily wind up creating something that will just go to waste. (Raise a hand if you've ever watched a batch of holiday cookies grow hard and stale on the kitchen counter, before meeting their inevitable January fate in the bottom of the trash can.) I believe that giving food as a present is like giving scent as a present — there's just way too much room for disappointment.