Emily Paine Carter

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Whether you live in Catawba, Glenvar or "Salem proper," the ingredients for an appreciated gift are nearby -- you might even say "at hand":

n I had dismissed one such possibility: the rich, shiny chestnuts peppering my back yard. Fallen in great numbers from a neighbor's mighty tree, they had failed to lure my "inner serf." Now the Spartan Square Kroger features a barrel of them. These were not the fancy peeled ones featured in schmancy food boutiques and catalogs; they looked like my backyard crop. Too late: Chestnuts need a quick harvest and freezing to kill any worms. Dang.

n Gather, bag and add bows to some walnuts, pecans, apples (Fujis, yum!) or even a promissory note for local strawberries (Salem Farmers Market vendors Leighton and Valerie Hodges will sell the luscious delights starting in May: a new venture for their Catawba farm).

n Jamisons' Orchard Farm Market has sweet additions for your fruit-and-nut baskets, well worth your slipping across the border to their Roanoke County store. You can buy their hard candy in assorted yummy flavors -- or zero in on a friend's favorite (make mine butterscotch). Or make your own, as clever, kind Sybil Taylor, our boys and I used to do; if nothing else, you will appreciate the Jamisons' labors.

n Ditto, of course, making your own cookies and other candies. Say, chocolate/peanut butter "buckeyes," butter creams or truffles: simple ingredients, but labor-intensive, so recruit the family's well-washed, preferably surgical-gloved, hands. Kids, we're making memories here.

n Make your own peppermint ice cream. Sadly, the Salem Ice Cream Parlor is closed until February. So, buy any vanilla ice cream, stir in your smashed candy canes, spoon into small plastic storage containers and refreeze. Just crunch the canes in 1-gallon freezer bags with a marble rolling pin or your handiest heavy, blunt object (clean). Trust me, clobbering the candy is a dandy holiday stress reliever.

Save some of the divine concoction for your own Christmas dinner: serve in individual chocolate cups for a lovely presentation. Or give yourself a personal time-out and retreat to a hideaway corner with a big ol' bowlful.

n Make and freeze individual "TV dinners," soups or casseroles for your parents or grandparents -- heck, for anyone who would appreciate not having to cook. When TV weathermen are whipping us into a Possible Winter Storm frenzy, folks will appreciate not having to dash to the store; "hooray," they'll say, "we can zap that homemade macaroni and cheese, thanks to thoughtful _____" (imagine your name here).

n Make your own croutons and/or bottle your own salad dressing, as my daughter did last year. Eventually we need to abandon the sugarplums and munch a salad.

n Or make coupons, redeemable for a homemade, delivered meal. If folks are leery of your cooking, our local caterers, restaurants and trusty coffee shops have gift certificates for dine-in or for your fetching and delivering to the giftee. Many folks, especially those of us of a certain age (ahem), say they have enough stuff and really prefer such useful things.

n There's always friendly Bob and Josh May's fine array of soups, nuts, truffles and wines at their downtown Salem store Countryside Classics.

n Of course, our local merchants have much more than food gifts for sale. The amazing Mays also stock a wealth of decorations, clothing and gifts. Nice folks -- and even a nice doggy by the register (ask for Filson).

n Hey, our Salem neighbors include all kinds of talented artists and crafters who deserve your gift dollar. Why, just among Salem's potters we have Jessie Rusinko, April Semones Griffin, Ben Carter (no relation), Jeff Hodges, Lucy Farrell, Beth Stec, Linda Duncan, local students ... too many to list. Seek, and you will find.

Jamisons' Orchard Farm Market: 5635 Grandin Rd. Ext., Roanoke 24018. (540) 774-5537.

Countryside Classics, 120 E. Main St., Salem. 387-2688.