Hanukkah gifts to kvell about —for adults

Fizztival of Lights

by Patricia Corrigan, Special to the Jewish light

Make ‘em laugh – send fashion mavens in your circle Menorah Blahnik Cards. A package contains six cards, each one blank inside for your personal message. The cards cost $13.95 from www.moderntribe.com.

Collector-quality handcrafted menorahs and dreidels are available from artists Tamara Baskin and Gary Rosenthal. Baskin uses cut glass, iridescent metal and fused glass to make her Western Wall menorahs, which cost $200. Working with mixed metals and fused glass, Rosenthal combines dreidels with menorahs. His new line starts at $120. Works by both artists are available at The Source Unlimited, 11044 Olive Boulevard in Creve Coeur. (314-567-1925)

Chef and food pioneer Alice Waters gives the nod to Joan Nathan as a cook, cultural historian and anthropologist for Nathan’s new book, “Quiches, Kugels & Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France” (Knopf, $39.95). Nathan also has a wonderful cookbook called “Jewish Holiday Cooking” ($29.95) that would also make a great Hanukkah gift. Hungry for something by Philip Roth? His new book – his 31st – is “Nemesis” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26). Available at book stores and at www.amazon.com.

Need a pretty Hanukkah plate for the table? Crate and Barrel offers a dreidel plate for $6.95 and matching platter for $19.95. Stop by the store at #1 The Boulevard in Richmond Heights (call first to check availability at 314-725-6380) or see www.crateandbarrel.com/holidays/hanukkah/1.

Joseph Stein, who wrote the book for Broadway’s “Fiddler on the Roof” and the screenplay for the film version as well, died recently. In honor of his artful retelling of Sholom Aleichem’s “Tevye and His Daughters,” consider surprising a family member or friend with the original Broadway cast recording, now on CD. At www.amazon.com, the CD costs $10.49.

Baseball collectors will covet the 2010 “Deck of the Decade” Edition of Jewish Major Leaguers Baseball Cards. This 50-card set combines photos and “stats” of all current players plus a large grouping of Jewish baseball “record-setters” and “firsts,” along with updated cards of “career leaders” and a complete all-time roster of Jewish players. With only 3,000 sets sold, it may very well turn out to be a collector’s item. It costs $36 per set, plus $3 for postage per order. You can order at www.jewishmajorleaguers.org or by check to JML, 104 Greenlawn Avenue, Newton, Mass. 02459.

For those Red Hot Mamas on your gift list, consider tickets to the New Jewish Theatre’s production of “The Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” which runs Dec. 1 through 26. Tickets to this original musical revue about vaudeville star Sophie Tucker range from $28-$40. The NJT performs in the Harlene and Marvin Wool Studio Theatre in the Jewish Community Center’s Arts & Education Building on the I.E. Millstone Campus. See www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283.

Speaking of the J, gift certificates for therapeutic massage range from $60 to $85 per hour for members or non-members. You may also buy gift certificates for J members for sessions with personal trainers in the fitness center at either location. A one-hour session costs $55. Stop in the fitness center at either JCC or call 314-432-5700.

If you’re into relaxation at a “gelt-free” price, consider the “Fizztival of Lights,” available at area Lush stores (St. Louis Galleria and West County Center) for $19.95 The set of four different scented bath “bombs” are designed to enhance your seasonal soak and keep your spirits up long after the Hanukkah candles have burned out.

Fans of salty snacks go nuts for gifts from Mound City, the kosher nut company operating in the area since 1917. Gift boxes range from $11.99 to $46.99 at 7831 Olive Boulevard in University City. (314-725-9040) If chocolate appeals, the Godiva stores at the Galleria (314-863-1355) and West County Center (314-966-6635) offer bags of chocolate coins for $7.50 or boxes of assorted chocolates ($25 for 19 pieces or $45 for 36 pieces) wrapped with blue ribbons with silver stitching.

What better than to wash down those nuts with a cold beer? He’brew – “the chosen beer” from Schmaltz Brewing – is available throughout the St. Louis area, including the Wine and Cheese Place, Provisions, Starrs, Dierbergs and World Market. Speaking of World Market, it offers a variety of Hanukkah-themed kosher gift baskets, ranging in price from $49.99 to $69.99, online at www.worldmarket.com. A four-tier tower of sweets, including kosher shortbread cookies, toffee pretzels and chocolate, is perfect for the noshers on your list while a basket of kosher gourmet delicacies surely would satisfy the most finicky of Jewish mothers and mother-in-laws.