Gourmet Gift of the Day Blog

I think this basket is one of the most festive ones offered online for the holiday season!  I love the dark wicker basket with the bright, cheery sign on the front.  The food items inside the basket also add to the fun holiday presentation!  Offering much more than just candy and sweets, Christmas Gifts & Gift Baskets has combined sweet and salty gifts and kept the price affordable.  For $44 plus $9.95 shipping, this basket is perfect to have around for when unexpected guests or carolers stop by for a visit!  Items included in the basket are:

• Pecan Pralines
• Holiday Peanuts
• Chive and Onion flavored biscuits
• Tomato Basil Pretzels
• Cheese Lover’s Pub Mix
• Fruit and Nut Snack Mix
• Raspberry Cookies
• Caramel Corn
• Fruit Sours
• Wafer Rolls
• Happy Holidays Reception Sticks

If Thanksgiving is more of a scaled-down affair at your house, consider this delicious alternative to the standard turkey and stuffing feast.  Skinlesss, white meat chicken is wrapped around a tasty dried cherry and sage stuffing that mixes with the natural chicken juices when cooked.  This dish is simple to prepare, attractive to serve, and combines two of the main components of a traditional Thanksgiving meal in a modern way.  This Chicken Ballotine serves 4-6, and can still arrive in time for Thanksgiving for just $31.95 plus shipping.

Last Christmas, my cousin and her husband were looking for unique holiday cookie gifts.  She knew that I do most of my shopping online, so she asked if I could point them in the right direction.  I sent her directly to one of my favorite websites – Cookie Gift Baskets.  She found a cookie tower that was in their price range, and with some help from the friendly customer service rep they were able to create a logo that said “Happy Holidays from The Whites”.  My cousin was especially pleased that a live person answered the phone immediately when she called this company, rather than having to leave a voice mail message or being forced to maneuver through a number of menu options.

The service rep explained that a company logo was not necessary for this tower, and even provided suggestions on how my cousin could create a festive and functional “family logo” for the cookie.  My cousin ordered these towers to be shipped to her house, then she hand-delivered them to their friends and colleagues – she even kept one for taste testing.  She has already told me they will be ordering the same tower again this year because they were such a big hit last year!  She thought the $66 price was very reasonable considering all that was included, and shipping was relatively inexpensive since they ordered well enough in advance to have the towers shipped via UPS Ground.

One of the most sought-after coffee flavors is the rare Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.  Adored by coffee enthusiasts worldwide, this elite bean can only be sold by certified Jamaican Blue Mountain distributors.  One of these distributors is Specialty Java.  Over the years, this company has been able to establish wholesale connections with gourmet coffee growers in more than 20 countries.

A glance at their product listing shows an impressive array of flavors – from a light and crisp Kenyan bean to a dark, smoky Organic French Roast.  Specialty Java also offers shipping discounts to a number of midwestern states, and guarantees you will love their product or they will give you a full product refund.  If you are searching for an intense coffee experience, look no further!

This unique gift set offers tasty food items with a football theme.  The cutting board is firebranded with your company’s logo, and the beef summer sausage is shaped like a football!  Along with the cutting board and meat, the gift set includes mild cheddar cheese, sesame crackers and a cheese knife.

These personalized gift sets can be shipped directly to your clients or can be bulk-shipped to your office to be given in person.  Each gift costs $37, and the customer service team at Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets will help to ensure your logo will be perfectly firebranded onto each cutting board.

When my girlfriend was married 11 years ago, her aunt made authentic German kuchen for each reception table.  A traditional German dessert, kuchen is a big part of my friend’s heritage and she wanted to introduce guests at her wedding to the delicious pastry.  Kuchen is made in a pie pan, but that is where the similarity to pie ends.  The outside is more like a cake than a crust, and the filling is a sweet and creamy custard.  Kuchen can be made with plain custard, or it can be flavored with virtually endless combinations of fruit and/or spices.

During my online kuchen search (since I haven’t been able to reproduce the recipe I was given with much success), I discovered that kuchen can also be found in nearly every grocery store in Chile.  It seems that when German settlers introduced the dessert to their new Chilean neighbors, they fell in love with the dish and have now made it a staple in their country.

For a sweet German kuchen experience, try the gourmet desserts offered by Lapp’s Kuchen.  Located in Hebron, North Dakota, the Lapp’s have been perfecting their recipe for years – much to the delight of German-Americans nationwide.  Try a case of 6 – available in more than 30 flavors – for $25 plus shipping.

For a sweet appreciation gift during the season of Thanksgiving, nothing is more appropriate than this adorable tin filled with iced sugar cookie cut-outs!  The fall-themed tin is a great decoration, and the cookies inside are a fun surprise for your recipient.

Very reasonably priced at only $19, order a tin for everyone that has gone that extra mile for you this year – employees, teachers, neighbors, even the mail carrier!  Ship these delightful cookies anywhere in the country for only $8.75.

The taste of this jam is very smooth and fresh, which makes the name appear to be deceiving.  Nothing was “bumbled” when this recipe was created – Steve Cory of Cory’s Kitchen has put together a divinely sweet topping for bread, muffins, even ice cream!  With a myriad of fruits added to the mixture, if you taste carefully you can taste each flavor – farm fresh strawberries, rhubarb, peaches, blueberries and raspberries.  I loved the jam with cornbread, and my son said it makes a yummy PB&J sandwich!

An 8oz jar of this delicious topping is available directly from Sweet Berry Farm in Rhode Island for $8.50.  But hurry, because quantities are limited and berry season is over for the year!

This elegant wine gift highlights the fruits of California wineries and makes an exquisite presentation for an important client or esteemed colleague.  I ordered this item as a special thank you gift when my husband’s boss offered him a great business opportunity.  I knew he was a wine connoisseur, and thought it was the least we could do to show our appreciation.  My husband said that his boss showed this gift to the entire department, and raved about how delicious the food items were!  He also told my husband that he enjoyed the rich flavors of the wine selections.  I was glad that this gift was such a hit, and would highly recommend ordering it as a thank you or housewarming gift.  All About Gifts & Baskets offers this gift for $140, and also has an extensive collection of other wine gifts so you can find one that fits your needs.

This container in this gift is actually a leather magazine rack, and the items included are:

• Sesame Pepper Crostini Crackers
• White Zinfandel Havarti Cheese
• Spanish Olives
• Cheese Straws
• Cabernet Biscuits
• Torn Ranch Mixed Nuts
• Biscotti Cookies
• Mocha Truffles
• California Cabernet Sauvignon
• California Old Vine Zinfandel
• California Chardonnay
• California Sauvignon Blanc
• Wine Corkscrew

Many years ago, our family continued to grow and my grandpa and grandma were running out of Christmas gift ideas for us.  They were very strict about spending the same amount of money on each grandchild, and had even resorted to giving all the money to the parents and having them buy something to put under the tree at Grandma’s house for Christmas morning.  The most memorable gift I got from them was the year that Grandma put Grandpa in charge of presents.  He gave each of his 11 grandchildren the same thing – a king-sized candy bar with a $20 bill wrapped around it.  At first we were skeptical, because there were 11 identical gifts under the tree.  But after we opened them, everyone was jumping for joy!

Borrow my Grandpa’s idea for your hard-to-buy-for recipients this year.  Instead of a standard chocolate bar, order a case of gourmet milk chocolate bars adorned with a dark chocolate Santa and engraved with snowflakes and a Merry Christmas logo.  Purchase a 5 lb case for $60 from Christmas Gifts & Gift Baskets.