Whatever the economy, when you're buying gifts it's far more important to find that one gift that makes the recipient say "Wow!" than it is to buy a truckload of mediocre merchandise. After 10 months of searching, testing and comparing, I've put together a foodie gift guide this year that will help you get your "Wow," along with possible unbridled expressions of physical affection if your giftee is so inclined.

As ever, I've tried to cover a wide range of gift options. We've got some of the finest truffles ever made, sea salt I can almost guarantee no one you know has ever tried, a bit of maple madness and a host of others.

Without further ado, let's get started!

Dean's Sweets: Who knew an architect could make great chocolate? Dean Bingham made his bones designing buildings before he turned his hand to designing truffles, and what truffles they are! They're all individually hand-dipped, and the array of flavors is simply mind-boggling. From Tequila Lime to Chocolate Stout and from Raspberry to simply the best Maple truffle in the known universe, Dean's Sweets does it right. Many truffle makers get either the chocolate or the flavorings right, but it's very rare to find someone who pays close attention to both and knocks them out of the park. You can buy individual flavors or gift boxes of varying sizes. Just click here and start shopping!

Vivabox: This just might be the most original upscale gift idea I've ever seen. If you're worried about what exactly to get for someone on your list, Vivabox lets them help you make the decision! There are several different Vivabox options, but since this is a food column, I tested the Gourmet To Your Door box. What your recipient will get is a lovely gift box containing two fine linen napkins, silver napkin rings and even a card with napkin-folding directions. But the real treat comes when the menu opens. The heart of the Vivabox is the Gourmet Station menu, where your recipient can choose from a great variety of menus such as French Bistro, New Orleans Favorites or Taste of the Sea. Once they pick their meal, the Gourmet Station chefs prepare the food and it's shipped to their door ready for a fantastic dinner for two. Just click here to start your Vivabox adventure!

Shaver-Hill Farms: If any of your gift recipients are breakfast fans (or mustard lovers), Shaver-Hill Farms has you covered! You can get their fantastic maple syrup in various sizes, maple mustard in sweet and spicy blends (great for Christmas ham sandwiches), pancake mix, coffee, tea and maple cream that may be the best thing to ever happen to toast. What I really like about Shaver-Hill is that everything they sell complements their main product, the syrup, very well. They don't get sidetracked with sausage or other items that will make them money but not necessarily please the customer fully. They're all about the maple. For a real treat, try their Extra Dark syrup. It's commonly referred to as "cooking syrup," but I prefer the more robust, more intense flavor on just about everything. You can order individual items or choose from a nice array of gift baskets. Just click here to start shopping!

Frankenstein Mills: What's great syrup without great pancakes? Shaver-Hill has its own mixes, but I'm sure they won't mind if I remind you all that the best pancake, on this or any other planet, in any dimension, on any plane of existence, comes from Frankenstein Mills. While their flagship, the Aretha Frankenstein's restaurant, is recovering from a devastating fire that pretty much totaled the place, Frankenstein Mills continues to make the pancake mix that is so good it really should go by a different term, perhaps Powdered Awesome or Box Of Magnificence. The three-box pack of mix will feed the hungriest maw for quite a while, or you can go whole-hog and order by the case. I'd recommend the latter, as each of the 12 boxes in the case will make a great present for someone you know. Actually, make that 11 boxes, as you'll have to keep one for yourself. To summon Frankenstein (Mills), just click here.

TexMexToGo: Annie DuBois is always on the lookout for the latest and greatest from Texas and south of the border, and her newest find is some of the best sea salt I've ever used. This salt comes from the Sea of Cortez on Mexico's Pacific coast, and what's almost as great as the salt itself is the presentation. There is a big 6-ounce ceramic ramekin of margarita salt, perfectly sized to give that great salt rim that makes a margarita proper. You could also go for the incredibly attractive hand-blown blue glass bottle of salt crystals with a handy grinder top. My favorite, though, is the "pinch" ramekin, sized just right to live by your stove or on your dinner table for whenever you need a bit of great sea salt flavor. You can order all three, as well as anything else your heart desires or mind conceives when it comes to Texan or Tex-Mex supplies, click here and start drooling!

Grandma's Chicken Soup: Chances are fairly good that you know someone who's got a cold, the flu or is feeling otherwise generally under the weather this holiday season. Unless you're close enough (and have enough spare time) to make your own chicken soup for them, you'll want to visit Grandma's Chicken Soup. Not only is the soup made by an actual grandma, it comes in some of the most creative and thoughtful packaging I've ever seen. The Original, for example, comes with a half-gallon of soup (with matzo balls and/or noodles), a huge ceramic soup mug, an equally huge soup spoon, oyster crackers, a carrot pen and a delicious cookie iced to look like a chicken. If you know someone who needs a little cheering up, a little long-distance healing or just anyone who loves really great soup, you need to check out the full selection of gift baskets. They even have nifty poems to adorn the gift cards for any occasion, such as the Scratchy Throat: "Because I heard that you were illin/Here's some Jewish penicillin/Slurp it down your scratchy throat/And you won't sound like a goat." OK, so it's not Emily Dickinson ... but click here and get to shopping anyway!

All Spice Cafe: Of course, it wouldn't be a Short Orders gift guide if I didn't include some hot stuff, would it? This year, JD Cowles at All Spice Cafe has earned the honor of being the official 2008 gift guide selection. Every one of his three sauces speaks volumes about the dedication JD has put into his work. The Cayenne Habanero is a fiery blast that will elevate your homemade chicken wings to legendary status. The Caribbean Spice will have you pondering things like jerk chicken and slow-smoked pork basted with its fiery goodness. My personal favorite, the Chipotle Garlic, is quite simply the best combination of flavor and heat I've come across in many, many years. The smokiness of the chipotle and the sharpness of the garlic mingle beautifully. You'll eat it on everything from scrambled eggs to pizza to the back of a spoon. Click here to start shopping!

Sonny & Joe's: When you think of Yuletide, the first thing you think of is ... hummus! OK, maybe that's not exactly true, but one taste of Sonny & Joe's products will at the very least have you keeping it on hand. If you think of hummus as the fairly bland, kind of creamy chickpea paste most often seen being consumed by vegans and other fringe elements (send hate mail here), you'll soon change your mind when you take your first bite of Hummus Galilee, with Galilee olives, or Hummus Pinoli, with roasted pine nuts. To my taste, it's a dead heat between the Garlic Addiction and the Hot Enough as to which is my favorite. Even the "plain" flavor, Just Hummus, has a depth of flavor that makes you think you're eating something other than traditional hummus. Whether you buy this for friends or to have on hand for your own holiday parties, you'll want a LOT of it. Click here and find your own favorite flavor!

Of course, as I say every year, the very best holiday food gift is one you make yourself. But if you don't have time to bake Aunt Fleta's perfect pound cake for every person on your list, one of the above selections should fill in nicely.

Got a question? Comment? Topic you'd like to see covered? Drop me a line, anytime!