priced at £150. You can also get food processors, steamers and mixers from here, but I can't imagine who'd thank you for it. Further down the High Street, you'll ?nd Ark (161 Stoke Newington High Street), with a tempting and affordable range of gifts, including Penguin Books mugs (£8.95), Murano glass necklaces (£14) and even recycled notebooks made from car tyres (£2.95).

Stoke Newington Bookshop (159 Stoke Newington High St) have some great new books for Christmas. They have helpfully predicted their top five sellers. At number one we've got the brilliant new hardback glossy Jackie Annual at £16.99. Anyone over the age of 30 will remember this from old and be delighted by the make-up tips and advice from agony aunts. The beautiful Pop-Up Pirate Ship book (£14.99) will please lots of children. It has a great adventure story, cut-outs sections to play with and opens out to 360 degrees to reveal the pirate ship. We've got two books at number three: Nigel Slater's new Kitchen Diaries and Claudia Rosen's Arabesque are both perfect for foodies at £25 each. The Lonely Plant Shoestring Gift Boxes are a super present for anyone planning a trip. Each box contains a Lonely Planet Guide (there are South American and Australian boxes amongst others), a key ring and bottle opener, a frisbee and a travel journal, all for the bargain price of £20. Finally, at number five we've got two local authors. Sally Gardner's new children's title I Coriander (£8.99) is flying off the shelves both here and in the States, and Travis Elborough's The Bus We Loved (£12.99) is proving immensely popular and would be a good gift for any Londoner.

Now, I think clothes are incredibly difficult to buy for other people. Maybe it's my selfish approach to clothes shopping, who could say? Casino and Ribbons & Taylor (136 and 157 Stoke Newington Church St respectively) have a good selection of vintage clothes - jeans and boots a speciality in both - which are guaranteed to be unique presents. Casino has also begun to stock Pop Boutique clothes including polo shirts (£18) and jackets (£28). Ribbons & Taylor have some excellent cocktail dresses which will ensure that you don't show up to the office party in the same Top Shop number as at least three of your colleagues. Red (129 Stoke Newington Church St) is the winner on accessories this year, with some lovely ribbon-strung beads in purples and greens (£12), plastic jewel coloured bangles (£8) and an array of handbags. The sale shop is definitely worth a look for some absolute bargains for boys and girls. The illustrious Hub (49 and 88 Stoke Newington Church St) now has two branches on Church Street and has started to stock boys' clothes as well as women's and children's - you could go mad and do most of your shopping in here. Knitwear, shoes, bags and some really lovely, if expensive, winter coats would all appreciated by the lucky recipients, I'm sure.

Now, I know some people think that gift vouchers are a complete cop out - and on occasion I'm inclined to agree: cds and books, how hard can it be? - but some of the vouchers available this year will be a treat to receive and a far better plan than that Bodyshop White Musk bath set you've been eyeing.

Gift certificates are available from local hair salons Beaucatcher (44 Stoke Newington Church St) and Shine Holistic (52 Stoke Newington Church St) for any amount and can be redeemed on any of the services offered. Shine vouchers are also redeemable on the wide range of holistic therapies offered from shiatsu massage (£45 per hour), to acupuncture (£50 per hour) to thermal stone therapy (£75 for 90 minutes) so you can indulge someone in some high quality relaxation or a new look for the New Year.

 Sunstone Gym (16 Northwold Rd) is also offering some Christmas specials such as Elemis and Dermalogica facial product gift sets at half price (£25-£45), Simply Sunstone pamper days which include an express facial or exotic hand ritual, lunch and full use of all the facilities for the day on a two for one offer (£79). Anyone wanting to embark on an emergency weight-loss campaign for the impending round of Christmas parties can sign up to the Twelve Days of Christmas programme - full Sunstone membership for twelve days for £12.

Other good pampering gifts for girls and boys are available from Fresh and Wild (32 Stoke Newington Church St) - all organic of course - in box sets from £19.95-£45. Dr Hauschka Beauty Boxes are stylish gifts in silver tins for around £12 and come in daily face care or holistic bath care options. 

You could always indulge someone's creative side and invest in stained glass tutorial at Rainbow Glass Studio ((172 Stoke Newington Church St) who offer beginners classes and tutorials. 

If you have some really tricky people on your gift list this year, then the best plan is to revert to the very basics: food and drink. Gallo Nero (75 Stoke Newington High Street) has a great range of Italian delicacies which should please most. Pannetone come in lovely boxes and range from £3-£16; the Genoan pandolce, a Christmas bread made with pine nuts and raisins, starts from £7. Tins and boxes of amaretti biscuits come in a range of flavours from turkish delight to chestnut (£3.75- £8.50). Boxes of panforte, an after-dinner sweet from Sienna, made from honey, cinnamon, spices wrapped in rice flour and dusted in vanilla, start from £5. Calabrian cookies and nougats are less than a £5. Figs, peaches and pears bottled in sherry, brandy, cognac and calvados start from £5, with Italian wines ranging from £8-£12.

My trawl is over. It may not be completely comprehensive but it felt fairly exhaustive at the time. If you still don't have any ideas don't fret: there's always that camel.

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