Looking for a last-minute Mother's Day gift? Think food

REBECCA SODERGREN MAY 10, 2017 12:00 AM

If Mom is a foodie and you’re a last-minute gift buyer, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a guide to local food gifts you can consider for Mother’s Day, which is this Sunday.

Class in cooking

Mother/adult daughter class: Gaynor’s on the South Side will hold a three-hour Mother’s Day class at 2 p.m. Sunday, where you’ll learn to make baked goods such as fresh cream Pavlova and special Mother’s Day cupcakes ($25 per person). You also can order Mom a gift certificate to take a cooking class of her choice in the future. gaynorsschoolofcooking.com.

Other cooking classes: Crate in Scott (cratecook.com), Rania’s in Mt. Lebanon (rania.com), Chop, Wok & Talk in Bloomfield (chopwoktalk.com), and The Kitchen by Vangura in North Huntingdon (thekitchenbyvangura.com) also offer lessons in cooking. Scan their course offerings and book a class based on Mom’s interests, or buy a gift certificate and let Mom schedule her own class.

Order takeouts

Spak Brothers Mama Mia pizza. (Cody Maze)

Spak Brothers: For Mother’s Day, the Garfield pizzeria will have a Mama Mia pizza with caramelized onion and butter sauce, Parma Sausage’s finocchio (fennel) salami, Beemster’s aged gouda and Penn’s Corner arugula. You can have a note for Mom added to the box if you like. The Mama Mia pizza is $12.99 for a small, $15.49 for large and $17.99 for extra large (there’s no medium size). Spak also makes traditional and vegan pizzas as well as specialty pies such as margherita, white, barbecue, seitan and “Dealer’s Choice,” a rotating pie dreamed up by the Spak crew, in addition to hoagies and calzones. spakbrothers.com; 412-362-7725.

Conflict Kitchen: Takeout is the only option at this Schenley Plaza kiosk, which is set to close May 27 as the staff begins focusing on continuing international dialogue through means other than food. The menu for its final month is Palestinian — small plates ($5) feature hummus, baba ghanoush and salata gazawiya (spicy tomato dip) and large plates ($8) include falafel and shawarma. conflictkitchen.org.

For chocoholics

Mother's Day chocolates are available at Sarris Candies. (Sarris Candies)

Sarris Candies: The company sells an 8-ounce box of assorted chocolates with a Mother’s Day logo for $13.95 online, or you can take Mom on an outing to Canonsburg, buy her the box of chocolates and get her an ice cream cone at the attached Sarris ice cream shop. Children can buy an “I love Mom” chocolate button for $1.50 or a chocolate bar with a Mother’s Day wrapper for $2.29. Check the website at sarriscandies.com for a list of other retailers that sell Sarris.

The Chocolate Moose: For out-of-the-ordinary chocolate, visit the Squirrel Hill candy shop. It currently has Hawaiian chocolate bars flavored with ghost pepper or ali’i kula lavender, as well as chocolate-dipped churros and chocolate bars in flavors such as mint matcha and turmeric ginger. chocolate-moose-2.myshopify.com/; 412-422-2208.

A519 Chocolates: Take Mom to paint her own truffles with A519 Chocolates. Truffle painting will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Wigle Whiskey in the Strip District and will include three truffles to paint and a cocktail for $10. The Neighborhood Flea will be taking place across the street, so Mom could even do some shopping afterward. wiglewhiskey.com/mothers-day-a519-chocolates.

Drink gifts

Tea merchandise: Tea Pittsburgh at Margaret’s Fine Imports in Squirrel Hill is offering Mother’s Day gift baskets priced at $25, $35 and $50, containing various tea items and chocolates. Tea Pittsburgh has also opened a second location at 1451 Collier Ave in Carnegie. Many teashops also offer gift certificates for Mom to take a tea class. For more on what’s available at Tea Pittsburgh’s shops, visit pittsburghcuppa.com. The website has a tab listing links to other area tea houses, as well.

Wine baskets: For the wine connoisseur, go beyond a bottle of wine. Wineries and shops are offering gift baskets and gift certificates for wine-tasting classes. Palate Partners in Lawrenceville has gift baskets with bottles of wine and spirits, wine-filled truffles, imported chocolate-covered nuts, savories, cheese sticks and more. palatepartners.com; 412-391-8502.

Another option is to buy Mom a wine subscription so she can try a different wine every month, or at other intervals of your choice. Greendance Winery at Sandhill in Mt. Pleasant offers subscriptions where you can choose red, white or fruit according to Mom’s preference, or send her a random mix. Call 724-457-6500. Greendance also has a Mother’s Day luncheon from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The lunch includes seating by the winery’s nectar garden and choices are chicken salad croissant, roasted turkey sandwich or tomato-basil-mozzarella naan. Luncheon tickets are $15 each. greendancewinery.com.

Meals by mail

For a scrumptious breakfast-in-bed that won’t need any fussing order a meal kit such as Home Chef’s Strawberry Malt French Toast Casserole. Home Chef is a weekly delivery service. You choose the meals you want from a weekly menu, and you’ll get a box of ingredients with easy-to-follow recipes on your doorstep. Meals take about 30 minutes to prepare. Use promo code “MOM” to save $30 on your first box. Ordering Mom a subscription will save her some time in the kitchen later, too. You can skip weeks or cancel the service anytime. homechef.com.

Gluten-free or vegan goodies

Gluuteny: The Squirrel Hill bakery makes gluten-free and dairy-free baked goods, including cakes, cookies, muffins, breads, and even baking mixes. gluuteny.com; 412-521-4890.

Jeanette Harris at the counter of her Gluten Free Goat Bakery. (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)

Gluten Free Goat: This new bakery and café at 4905 Penn Ave. in Garfield held its grand opening celebration on May 5. This is a gluten-free, vegan and soy-free bakery selling cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies, brownies, doughnuts and more. Grab Mom a treat to go, or take her to the café for weekend brunch. glutenfreegoat.com.

High-end gifts

All-inclusive hotel and dining package: For the mom who likes being pampered, The Priory Hotel, North Side, offers a “Treat for Mom” gift package that is available either on Sunday night or as a gift certificate for Mom to use at a later date. Included is a one-night stay in a king room, a bottle of chilled champagne and roses in the room, a two-and-a-half-hour spa treatment at Verve 360 Salon, a $50 voucher for dinner at The Carlton and transportation to and from the spa and restaurant. The price is $349 based on double occupancy. thepriory.com/priory-specials.php; 412-231-3338.

Gifts for giving back

If Mom is philanthropic at heart, you could support food-related charities when you buy Mom’s gift.

Grow Pittsburgh merchandise: The nonprofit teaching urban agriculture holds a seedling sale each spring. You can order herbs, flowers, spring and summer vegetable plants if Mom has a green thumb. If she’s not the gardening type, you could buy her a Grow Pittsburgh T-shirt ($20), cotton tote bag ($10) or journal ($7). growpittsburgh.org; 412-362-4769, ext. 207.

Donate in Mom’s name: Many Pittsburgh food charities would appreciate a donation in Mom’s name, including the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (pittsburghfoodbank.org); 412 Food Rescue, which works to reduce food waste (412foodrescue.org); Just Harvest, an anti-hunger organization (justharvest.org); and Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, which trains at-risk individuals in culinary job skills (communitykitchenpittsburgh.org).

Rebecca Sodergren: pgfoodevents@hotmail.com; @pgfoodevents.