Call me a fusspot but I really don't like having a mish-mosh of spice jars, packets, tins and bags. -Amanda

Amanda and Merrill are at it again, drinking before noon. Watch them prepare and enjoy two delicious punches worthy of any holiday gathering. Enjoy -- and Happy Holidays to all!

Aliwaks won for Your Best Broiled Steak with Cowboy Rubbed Rib Eye with Chocolate Stout Pan Sauce. The Internet Cooking Princess won Your Best Polenta Recipe with Andouille and Dijon Polenta.

Soon after we launched the site, we noticed that a number of long comment threads were taking shape on both recipes and blog posts. We didn't want anyone to miss out on a conversation...

- Amanda

FOLLOW-UP: After a week or so of letting the fruit soak in the gin and brandy, here's what I found: I prefer the gin, which has a crispness that brandy lacks. However, I liked the flavor of ginger and star anise better than cloves and cinnamon, so next year I plan to combine the two -- gin with ginger and star anise. As my mother pointed out, the fruit really is best between weeks 1 and 3, so if you're making the fruit to serve on a particular day, plan accordingly. And as for what to serve it with, I'd suggest passing it alongside a cheese course, spooning it over ice cream or cake (with some of the macerating liquid!), or adding it toward the end of cooking roast pork.

Most years, in early December, my mother starts making a jar of gin fruit for the holidays. Her recipe is mindlessly simple -- layer your favorite dried fruits with some spices, cover with booze -- so I thought I'd play around with two variations. I hope you'll join me in this experiment.

- Merrill

This past Saturday as I was walking home from Pilates class, I brainstormed about what to bring to a Hanukkah potluck the next day. Foods cooked in oil are traditional at Hanukkah, so at first I contemplated doughnuts, fritters and some other fried goodies. But I quickly got sidetracked. I was ravenous because I'd skipped breakfast, and I was really in the mood for eggs. Without warning, my foods-cooked-in-oil musings began to blend with my what-to-have-for-lunch ruminations, and I suddenly found myself craving two of my favorite dishes from the New York Times: Melissa Clark's olive oil fried eggs with polenta (I'm temporarily obsessed with polenta after last week's contest theme), and Denise Landis' escarole with pan-roasted garlic and lemon. What if I were to combine the two? Pondering this, I hurried home to make lunch, all thoughts of the potluck swept from my hungry brain. 

It's hard to believe it but we're already at Week 26, our halfway point in the food52 book project -- thanks for taking part and making the past six months really fun for us! If you'd like to see how the book is shaping up, you can see all the winning recipes here.

Starting at midnight on Sunday, you'll be able to submit entries for:

Your Best Baked Ham

Your Best Holiday Cookie

Some of you may have noticed a new button on the left hand side of the page (it's been hanging out there quietly for over a week). We haven't publicized the shop until now because we wanted to make sure everything was running smoothly. Now that it is, we'd love for you to stop in and have a look around.

In the shop, we've gathered some of our favorite books, artisanal food, cookware and tabletop items for you to browse -- and we've provided links to the producers' websites in case you'd like to buy anything. Right now, the shop is stocked with our personal picks, and we plan to expand it over the next several weeks. But before too long, we hope to crowd-source some of the offerings, as we do the food52 recipe database. After all, no one could be better at knowing what the food52 community likes than all of you who are part of it.

We're still thinking about the best way to do this, so if you have any ideas please leave them in the comments section below. You can also let us know about any small food producers and artisans that you think we should include by leaving a comment. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy exploring the shop!

Watch A&M make broiled steaks: dry rubs, pan sauces and compound butters -- oh my!

• Broiled New York Steak
• Broiled Marinated Skirt Steak with Cilantro and Preserved Lemon Gremolata
• Tuscan Grilled Steak with Rosemary
• Ribeye Steaks and Mushrooms with an Herb, Citrus and Anchovy Butter
• Ina's (Amazing) Middle Eastern Marinade for Beef
• Soy Marinated Skirt Steak with Stir-Fried Wild Mushrooms