This Valentine’s Day, gift an experience

At Artelexia, we have something for every love language

If gift giving is your thing, check out our Valentine’s Day Goodies section for a broad selection of stationery, balloons, jewelry, stickers, and fun everyday products that suit your boo. Greet them with a La Reina or Taquero Mucho balloon. Choose from our colorful earrings and pendant necklaces to gift them a token of your love. Encourage them to unwind with the soothing Mexican Moon Bath Salt Soak. Help them stay cozy through the rest of winter with their favorite themed socks. Finally, craft the perfect note for them in one of these cute Valentine’s Day cards that wraps up your gift with a pun!

For those of you who are more about quality time, we’ve gathered some ideas on how to spend it. And given our strong penchant for Mexican food and drink, you won’t be surprised that they’re entirely centered around the dinner table 🍽. Select from our products below — from books to booze — to craft the perfect dinner date for the gourmand.

• Pick a salsa, mole, taco, or plant-based recipe from the following books:
  • Tu Casa Mi Casa — Mexican Recipes for the Home Cook. You don’t need to be at Criollo or Pujol to bring this chef (Enrique Olvera) to the table. Impress your love with fish fillets wrapped in banana leaves with citrus and herbs, or keep it simple without compromising flavor with the Chicken Tinga.
  • Salsas and Tacos — The Santa Fe School of Cooking by Susan Curtis. Skip the neighborhood taco truck on this special day and take it up a notch with homemade Pork Carnitas or Creamy Chicken and Almond tacos. Incorporate their favorite fruits into the playful salsa recipes that bring out the best of flavors like orange and papaya. You’ll have plenty to taco ‘bout 😉 .
  • The Food of Oaxaca: Recipes and Stories from Mexico’s Culinary Capital by Alejandro Ruiz. The process of cooking together is perfect metaphor for the labor of love! Take your Valentine on a culinary journey through the mountains, coast, and capital of Oaxaca. Learn how to make tortillas and mole together from scratch, and a Oaxacan Chocolate Mousse (check out our chocolate selection) for dessert. Bonus tip: bring this book to life with Netflix’s Street Food: Latin America episode on Oaxaca for inspiration!
  • A Guide to Spirited Parirings: Tequila & Tacos by Katherine Cobbs. For the taco and cocktail lover alike, these recipes make for the perfect pairing. Pick a fish taco to go with a Paloma or Mezcal Manhattan — whatever goes together like you two 👫
  • Nopalito: A Mexican Kitchen Cookbook by Gonzalo Guzmán. Keep the tradition and spark alive with classic regional ingredients (like corn flour and chiles) transformed into Crispy Red Quesadillas or Tamales with Red Spiced Sunflower Seed Mole. For dessert, tell them you’re their biggest flan or that you love them un churro.
  • La Vida Verde: Plant-Based Mexican Cooking with Authentic Flavor by Jocelyn Ramirez. Vegan or plant-based? Not a problem! Show them you support their lifestyle by making them Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos or Mushrooms in Green Mole, and a Flan de Coco for dessert.

If time and experience in the kitchen are scarce, we’ve got you. These Artelexia favorites will give you a head start while preserving the homemade essence of your date night:

• Mole pastes: Try any of Mexican Mulli’s popular trifecta of Oaxacan Black or Red Mole, or Mole Veracruzano. For another regional favorite, go with Hernán’s Mole Poblano or Mole Pipián, perfect for chicken enchiladas. Vera Mexicana’s Mole Negro is another nod to the Oaxacan specialty, which incorporates chocolate and warm spices. Finally, you can’t go wrong with Guelaguetza’s three iconic Oaxacan mole starters — red, black, and coloradito — that can be easily made following the family recipe!
• Spice it up 🔥 with our selection of salsas that will complement these homemade dishes. Read more about them here.
• Use our chocolate products to make chocolate chip cookies!

And finally, don’t forget to set the tone with decorative kitchen pieces that will make your table setting the perfect primer for love. Use these heart-shaped napkin rings to dress up our Guanajuato Handwoven Cotton Napkins, and cheers 🥂 with our wide selection of floral painted and Oaxacan handblown glassware!

Artelexia turns 12!

This week, we celebrate the 12th anniversary of Artelexia. For over a decade, our shop has shared the vibrant culture of Mexico with its customers in the form of gifts, art, décor, gourmet foods, cultural events, and more. We’ve grown tremendously, and are so grateful that our loyal customer base has grown with us — your support and enthusiasm for our mission has been vital to our success. So today, we celebrate Artelexia as much as we celebrate YOU!