The strawberry feel
There is something warm and comforting about seeing boxes of strawberries in the market. Their appearance heralds the festive season. However, with Christmas just around the corner and a gazillion tasks at hand, it might seem a tad difficult to add prepping strawberries to the task list. This is where Le Crush de Monin’s new strawberry flavour comes to the rescue. This non-GMO, vegan and gluten-free product is a great base for bakes and cocktails. I have been using it for a strawberry margarita, with good results. It also works well in a muffin, both in batter and icing. There are two other flavours but there’s nothing quite like strawberry. — Avantika Bhuyan
Christmas with Darlene Love
You could make an argument that George Michael is, for a lot of us, the king of Christmas songs. Last Christmas and December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas) are two of my favourites. But nobody sets the mood for Christmas quite like American singer Darlene Love. My absolute favourite Christmas song of Love’s is All Alone On Christmas . Many of you will remember it from the original soundtrack of the movie Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, which begins with a fun mix of church bells and jingling sleigh bells. It’s a classic Christmas rock song, released in 1992, with heartwarming lyrics that never get old. Another song from Love that makes my Christmas playlist every year is Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), which she recorded way back in 1963. — Nitin Sreedhar
Candy crush
If you want to imagine the scent of Christmas conveniently bottled, I don’t think you could do better than the perennially popular Winter Candy Apple range from Bath & Body Works. The top note is, naturally, the smell of candied apple (think tart green apples overlaid with a caramel-y scent), which makes way for the spicy notes: a woody cinnamon smell mixed with orange peel that reminds one of smoking mugs of hot toddy sipped on chilly winter evenings. The entire range has been a seasonal favourite for many years . I always have the hand cream or a small bottle of body lotion in my bag—one whiff is enough to remind you of Christmas every time. — Shrabonti Bagchi
A tin of treats
Plum cakes are good, mulled wine is better, but bring me a box of assorted cookies and I am all set for Christmas. I wasn’t always a fan of festive cookies but the cookie tin from Mumbai’s TwentySeven Bakehouse has changed my world view. For it comes with crescent-shaped, moon-like Austrian cookies, Scottish shortbread cookies, Israeli florentines, soft American chocolate chip and pecan cookies and raspberry jam-filled Austrian Linzer cookies. The sheer variety is remarkable. You might feel the need to google the Austrian cookies to find out more, just like I did. It adds to the fun, really. Paying ₹952.38 for about 15 cookies might feel a little expensive but it’s worth every penny. Of all the sweets I have sampled this festive season, my friends and family have enjoyed this box the most. — Jahnabee Borah
