Let's face it, counterintuitive — or just plain weird — treats are what your foodie friend wants. ICED TEA CANDY ($2.99), for example, tastes just like milky, sweetened iced tea without the refreshing liquid quality (it may be the least appetizing offering among the wonderful nuts and sweets at Fastachi, 598 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown, 617.924.8787). Or check out Cardullo's SCORPION LOLLIPOPS ($2.99) in banana, strawberry, blueberry, and apple. Sadly, the WHITE CHOCOLATE-COVERED ANTS are currently out of stock.
Of course, a fruit basket is (almost) always welcome. Russo's (560 Pleasant Street, Watertown, 617.923.1500) can probably throw something together. Let's see, a few of those goliath HACHIYA PERSIMMONS ($1.39 each) that are just coming into season, a BUDDHA'S HAND CITRON ($5.98/lb) for sheer creepiness and a lovely lemon scent, and a few RAMBUTAN ($3.98/lb) — the aptly named "hairy fruit" — for color. What foodie could resist?
Clea Simon, who, due to a sluggish economy, will be gifting everyone with homemade jerky this season, can be reached atcleas@earthlink.net.
Related:
Jews just want to have fun, On the 10th drink of Christmas, The holly and the miser, More 
- Jews just want to have fun
The streets are deserted, the storefronts chained shut, and there's not a glimmer of neon to guide you to your favorite bar.
- On the 10th drink of Christmas
Seen through the right lens, Christmas looks like a season of devilish malevolence — a time of gloomy cold, bad movies, gift anxiety and consumer hoards, inane music repeated indefinitely, and family, hour after hour, day after chatty day.
- The holly and the miser
Let the current financial tsunami be a lesson to you, arrogant plebeian consumer: greed cometh before a fall.
- Punisher: War Zone
As former commando turned Cosa Nostra terminator Frank Castle, Ray Stevenson is pretty much what you'd expect — all business.
- Review: Left 4 Dead
Playing Left 4 Dead is like taking a personality test: you can't hide your true nature.
- Boo-ya!
Maybe it’s because dressing up as the economy would be kind of lame, but I’m haven’t heard Jack O’Shit in the way of truly scary costume ideas this year.
- Geeky gifts 101
“Smelly Yankee Candle for Grandma? Check. Tie for Dad? Got it. Toy dump truck for Tommy? Yup. Man, this holiday shopping stuff is easy. Now, who’s next? . . . Um. . . Hmmm.”
- Wish-fulfillment for a burning world
From the shining big-screen debut of Iron Man to the large amounts of green produced by the Incredible Hulk, this was the year the public couldn't get enough of their favorite heroes.
- Josephs Two
It's tough to be a punctuation stickler who writes about restaurants.
- 163 Vietnamese Sandwich
163 Vietnamese Sandwich is a typical slightly shabby Chinatown storefront.
- Review: Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective began as a band of fringe weirdos, but over time they've dropped the freak from their folk.
- Less
Topics:
Food Features
, Culture and Lifestyle, Beverages, Food and Cooking, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, Beverages, Food and Cooking, Foods, Fruits and Vegetables, Tea, Candy, Seasons 2008, turducken, Less
