The New York Times, Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Dining In: Online, Not in Line For Holiday Treats

I’ve spent the last 12 months turning over a lot of clouds in search of silver linings to find enough delightful food to rave about this holiday season.

It has been harder than expected because, even after seven years of looking for holiday gifts online, I still encounter some problems in ordering. More than once after logging on, I had to telephone to ask questions that a Web site left unanswered, a step that some busy holiday shoppers won’t take.

My main complaint is that food sites sometimes fail to give enough information about their products. Some items require more than unwrapping, and no company should assume that the customer knows how to roast its heritage chicken or that there’s more than on a way to make its potato pancakes.

But even if you have to make a follow-up call, each product described here is quire special. The cost of shipping, which keeps going up, may give you pause, at least until you factor in the value of your time and the high cost of gasoline.