Gifts from Pecorino Have Good Taste

The holidays are here and that means that your calendar is likely filled with parties.

From work gatherings to family celebrations to late nights with friends, the holidays practically guarantee you will be invited somewhere.

And you hate to show up empty-handed.

Simone Linsin, the owner of , can help. Her North Grafton shop, which celebrated its first anniversary in September, is stocked with wine, cheese, chocolates and other goodies that make great hostess gifts.

“People like to give food gifts,’’ Linsin said.

She can suggest gifts in a range of prices, from $10 to the sky’s the limit. The key, she said, is that she can package them in creative ways and work with customers to make the best choices at any budget.

“We’re trying to really hear the customer, what they want to spend, who the gift is for,’’ she said.

One option, for example, is to pair a hunk of Parmesan cheese with a cheese knife. Or Brie and pate dishes.

Cookies always hit the spot and she offers some that are “a little more off the beaten track.’’ Honey gingerbread cookies shaped like horses with bittersweet chocolate and imported from Germany are one example.

Cheese, of course, is always popular. She prides herself on carrying a range of cheese and cheese products, from as far away as New Zealand and as close to home as Fat Toad Farm in Brookfield, Vt.

She also sells unusual chocolate items, including chocolate-covered organic hazelnuts, European chocolates and chocolate-covered figs, which she said have been selling as fast as she can order them.

Specialty tea is another popular choice. Teas can be matched up in baskets with sugar and cinnamon mixes, cookies or dessert wines, for example.

And speaking of wine, she carries a range of “ready-to-drink’’ wines that “can be opened and enjoyed tonight.’’ Most of the wine she carries costs $10 to $20 a bottle. She also carries sparkling wines, which are displayed in a vintage cabinet for a stylish and different approach.

Pecorino is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Last year, on Small Business Saturday, business was brisk that day and on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when Americans traditionally shop until they drop.

Many of her customers both days, she said, were “people that didn’t want to deal with the craziness of the mall.’’