Want to really impress your sweetheart? Give a gift for Valentine's Day—or any occasion—and give back to the community as well. Benevolent Baskets, a Baltimore online gift-basket enterprise, helps needy women build self-esteem and confidence. "It's very rewarding for them," says Rhonda English, a residential supervisor at My Sister's Place Lodge, a Catholic Charities facility that houses formerly homeless women.

It’s dinnertime at Stone Mill Bakery in Lutherville, and owner Alfie Himmelrich is working the room, doling out granola cookies at every table, schmoozing with customers, and filling a vat with the cafe’s signature nonfat vegetable soup.

When a customer requests shrimp chopped salad, Himmelrich apologizes. “Sorry, we’re all out for tonight,” he says. But several seconds later, he has a change of heart. “You know what, I’ll make it for you,” he says.

Sparkling wine is a vastly under-appreciated and under-consumed slice of the wine world. Most folks use it solely for special occasions and the holiday season, then forget about it.

Fortunately, it is the holiday season, so there are loads of opportunities to slurp down some bodacious bubbles. There will be times when you’ll simply need a good quality sparkling wine as an aperitif or for a group toast. There will also be moments when only Champagne will do. Here are some picks that cover all the bubbly bases.

Zoë Tsoukatos is carrying on the candy legacy of her Greek ancestors, who immigrated to Baltimore in the early 1900s and sold chocolate from a pushcart. Today, Zoë, 28, and her brothers, Pantelis, 31, and Petros, 21, are third-generation chocolatiers with stores in Frederick and Waynesboro, PA. Their father, George, is also involved in Zoë’s Chocolate Co. and continues to hand-roll candy canes from scratch. “It’s a family tradition,” Zoë says.

You have to love a restaurant like Soup’R Natural (17114 York Road, Parkton, 443-491-3464) that features a freshly made version of the owners’ wedding-cake recipe for dessert. The moist one-layer carrot cake with rich cream-cheese frosting looks homemade, but that’s the point at this cute farmhouse-like building, where fresh and natural ingredients are the focus of the seasonal menu.

This month, the holiday season really gets into gear. Thanksgiving kicks off weeks of festivities, from religious celebrations and office parties to momentous family gatherings and lighthearted fetes with friends. One never knows when a celebration might erupt, and it certainly isn’t the time to be low on wine.

I’ve gathered six wines that cover all the bases, from sparkling to sweet. With these bottles on hand, you’ll be prepared for any occasion.

No matter what the economy, we still like to have our steak and eat it, too. Maybe we’re channeling our inner Mad Men and need to indulge, or maybe there’s just nothing like a hunk of beef to soothe the belly. While most steakhouses adhere to a formulaic décor—you know, dark wood, leather booths, dim lighting—they carve out their own personalities with preparation, presentation, and service. So where’s the beef? We’ve been visiting local spots for several months, eating (and putting on) pounds of choice and prime cuts of steak along the way. Grab a fork and join us on our tour.