Let Them Eat Candy
The sugarplums of which we dream this time of year don't come from factories. At Commodore Chocolatier (420 Broadway, Newburgh; (845-561-3960) and Krause's Chocolates (41 S. Partition Street, Saugerties; 845-246-8377; www.krauseschocolates.com) are both third-generation family businesses that manufacture candy the way it tastes best: using premium chocolate and high quality fruits, nuts, and other ingredients to hand-dip, hand-roll, and hand-fill small pieces of heaven. Each year Commodore and Krause's vy for a "Best of the Hudson Valley" award, and each year they tie. Both businesses offer candy-making demonstrations and boast shelves lined with chocolate in varying shades containing every variety of filling available, plus all the holiday standards in delicious homemade form: peanut brittle, broken bark, ribbon candy, hard candy, sours, and fudge. At Krause's, you can also purchase a box of candy to be sent to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in time for the holidays.

For the Love of Horses
Winter brings an end to racing, but the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame's Winners Circle Gift Shop stands ready to supply holiday gifts for horse lovers of any age, with toys, jewelry, giftware, kitchen wares, artwork, craft kits, and clothing featuring all things equine. Shop until 9pm on Thursday, December 15, and receive a 10 percent discount—the equivalent of which will be donated to the customer's charity of choice. 240 Main Street, Goshen. (845) 294-6330; www.harnessmuseum.com.

Meshing Around
Veronica Evanega designs ready-to-wear chain mail garments and jewelry worn by the likes of Gwynneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker. Her bracelets, rings, gauntlets, and chokers are comprised of various combinations of anodized aluminum, raw steel, nickel-plated steel, brass-plaited steel, copper, brass, bronze, sterling, and titanium mixed with buna or neoprene rings. Accents include leather, pearls, or beads of natural stone, coral, and glass. The look is whimsical, minimalist, futuristic, Goth—and very affordable at $10 to $80. Farfetched Gallery (65 Broadway, Kingston). (845) 339-2501; www.farfetchedgallery.com.

The Heart of Collage
Outsider artist and professional writer Nicole Quinn came to collage and decoupage six years ago when her mother, brother, and sister died within a four-year stretch. "Grief counselors have told me that collage and mosaic artists are often born of grief," she says, "the mind trying to make disparate pieces whole." Quinn's limited edition, collectible collaged placemats are double-sided "to enlarge decorating options or correspond with changes in mood." (Available at www.nicomats.com for $10 each or $35 per set of four.) Her latest obsession—one-of-a-kind boxes are hand-painted with assembled borders—won her entrance this year to the National Collage Society's Annual Juried Exhibit. Quinn's boxes range widely in size, shape, and price, and can be found at The Big Cheese in Rosendale, Saunderskill Farmstand in Accord, or at her home business, Blue Barn Productions, also in Accord, at (845) 706-6790.

Support the Soldiers
My Soldier, launched on Veteran's Day 2004, was founded by Army Sgt Juan Salas, now a student at Manhattanville College. After returning from duty in Iraq, Salas decided to start this nonpolitical organization, reminiscent of the POW/MIA bracelet program founded in 1970, to support his fellow soldiers overseas. Participants come from both sides of the red/blue divide, and provide pen pal companionship, as well as much appreciated holiday care packages, to those on active duty. All it takes is a $10 voluntary donation to make a soldier feel a little bit closer to home. To register, visit mysoldier.com or write to Manhattanville College, My Soldier Department, 2900 Purchase Street, Purchase, NY 10577.

Comedians in the Making
Hoping your baby will someday crack you up? Or does he already, and you want to accentuate his humorous side? Well, the folks at Wry Baby believe clothes make the kid. With "Raise funny people" as their mission, these quirky baby fashion designers make "onesies" (all-in-one t-shirt and diaper covers; $24) and top and leggings sets ($35) inscribed with the drollest of sayings. Let your baby proclaim "I Am Not a Boy," and you might even smile through a bout of colic. Available at Timbuktu (2 Tannery Brook Road, Woodstock, 845-679-1169; www.wrybaby.com.)

Enviro Bags
Vy & Elle caught two quintessentially contemporary kid experiences—school lessons in environmentalism and that "Are We There Yet?" experience of always traveling behind your parents—in their latest bag design. Fashioned from durable reclaimed billboard vinyl and used seatbelts, these no-two-completely-alike urban bags come in a variety of sizes and styles (the "Small DJ bag" is $48) designed to suit cool kids—and adults—of both sexes and all ages. "Recycling is not just for cans," proclaim the bags' label. Here, here. Available at Timbuktu
(2 Tannery Brook Road, Woodstock, 845-679-1169; www.vyandelle.com).

Smells as Good as It Tastes
Let the aroma linger from your favorite hot or cold beverage—including café latte, chai tea masala, lemon squeeze, and 14 other popular sippers—with a naturally scented candle contained in a pretty painted glass tumbler with a matching metal lid. And when the candle's burned down, experience the ultimate in recycling—use its very collectible glass for drinking or as a storage jar. $17.95. Timbuktu (2 Tannery Brook Road, Woodstock, 845-679-1169).

Celebrate the holidays 19th-century style at Boscobel, the Hudson Valley's arguably most elegant Federal-style mansion. Annual holiday decorating workshops (December 1-3, 10am-2pm), led by Boscobel's horticultural staff, offer the chance to use locally grown evergreens, nuts, and berries to make hand-tied wreaths, garlands, and swags, and to decorate fruit pyramids. $45 each; bring clippers, garden gloves, and lunch. Visit Boscobel at its most enchanting on December 16-18, 5-8pm, to experience the mansion in full 19th-century holiday splendor—including evergreens and pineapples, kissing balls, mistletoe, a candlelit tree, a harpist and flautist, poetry readings, and a stunning array of traditional confections, including mulled cider from an antique Wassail Bowl, fruit pyramids, candied cherries and almonds, croquembouche, and Twelfth Night Cake. Candlelight Tours are $12 per adult; $10/seniors; $8 kids ages six to 14. Boscobel will stay open during the day through December 31. Scenic Route 9D, Garrison. (845) 265-3638, Ext. 115.

When Nava Atlas, a local artist and cookbook author, and her husband and sons found some time on their hands one winter, they chose to look inward together. Going into hibernation, they developed longstanding family rituals—"repeated patterns of meaningful acts," in the words of Robert Fulghum—that enriched their life together and cost little. The result of that snow-shoeing, puzzle-doing, cooking, reading, bird-watching winter was a more connected lifestyle that stretched year-round. Atlas's new book, Everyday Traditions: Simple Family Rituals for Connection and Comfort (Amberwood Press, $22) is chockfull of ways to make memories worth preserving.

Mountain Laurel Waldorf School's annual gift-making fair offers the chance to celebrate the holidays the way they're meant to be—with hearts and hands. Make fanciful wreaths, decorations, candles, paper window stars, angels, and more, while the school's children and teachers offer traditional sweets and perform music and puppetry. Watch out for a visit from St. Nicholas and his sidekick/nemesis, Krampus. Sunday, December 11, 11am-3pm. 16 S. Chestnut Street, New Paltz; (845) 255-0033.

Adapt a Toy
Help make new toys a source of joy for kids with disabilities—and their parents—at Northern Dutchess Hospital's annual holiday toy workshop. Workshop volunteers adapt dolls, tricycles, bicycles, electric cars and other toys for special-needs kids who would otherwise don't get many playthings, as adapted toys are generally too expensive for many parents. If you have special engineering, electrician, or woodworking skills, or would like to donate toys for modification, call (845) 871-3425. To register a child for this fun-filled holiday event, call (845) 871-3427. Saturday, December 3, 9am-12pm, Northern Dutchess Hospital, Rte. 9, Rhinebeck.

Airstream Living
Bruce Littlefield & Simon Brown
Collins Design, October 2005, $29.95
A fabulous dream book for anyone with "aluminum fever" (an addiction to those sleek, shiny, Deco-styled trailers.) Whether you already own a tricked-out 1936 Clipper or swivel your neck and yearn, you'll enjoy Simon Brown's luscious photos and lively text by Bruce Littlefield of the chrome-endowed Rosendale Cement Company.

John Lennon: The New York Years
Text and images by Bob Gruen
Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, 2005, $29.95
Gruen, a part-time Greene County resident, spent the 1970s more or less as John Lennon's personal photographer. Think of an iconic post-Beatle image of Lennon and most likely Gruen shot it. Containing 150 photographs and reminiscences, The New York Years is an undiscovered gem of Lennoniana—an intimate portrait of the artist (and Yoko, always Yoko) in his most candid moments.

I'm No Quack: A Book of Doctor Cartoons
Danny Shanahan
Harry N. Abrams Inc., September 2005, $19.95
and
Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Greatest Woman Cartoonists & Their Cartoons
Liza Donnelly, foreword by Jules Feiffer
Prometheus Books, October 2005, $32
If your sides split while reading Shanahan's recent trove of lawyer cartoons, Innocent, Your Honor, this medical compendium may send you into convulsions. Is there something funny in the water in Rhinebeck? Shanahan's upstate neighbor and New Yorker colleague Liza Donnelly has penned an informative, insider's account of the girls at the boys' club, from Helen Hokinson to Roz Chast.

Cat People
Michael and Margaret Korda
HarperCollins, November 2005, $22.95
Dutchess County resident and Simon & Schuster editor emeritus Michael Korda co-wrote this amusing little book with his wife, Margaret. Whimsically accompanied by simple line drawings, the Kordas recount their long and passionate relationship with cats, including stories of the eccentric lengths to which people will go to accommodate their beloveds.

The Spirit of Indian Women
Edited by Judith and Michael Fitzgerald
World Wisdom, October 2005, $14.95
This striking book belongs to the Library of Perennial Philosophy, devoted to the exploration of Sophia Perennis, the universal truth underlying all religions. The Fitzgeralds combine vintage sepia photographs of Indian women with traditional stories, legends, and songs, ranging from the Cheyenne to the Kiowa to the Inuit.