Gourmet Gift of the Day Blog

Last year my husband and I had the chance to escape to a Bed & Breakfast for a romantic week-end.  The colonial home was beautiful, the scenery was breathtaking, and the food was top notch.  My favorite treat of the week-end was a large basket filled with fresh fruits that was set in the foyer for guests to enjoy.  I loved it so much that I had to ask the owners where it came from.  They were happy to tell me the story of how a guest turned them on to a website that offers fresh fruit baskets at very reasonable prices, and they have become regular customers.  The website specializes in fruit, but also offers teas, ciders and cheeses – both organic and non-organic.  The basket we sampled was this Fresh Fruit Frenzy Organic Gift Basket, which sells for $59.95 plus shipping.  The natural bamboo basket is filled with 5 organic oranges, 5 organic pears and 4 organic apples.

My cousin Bridgette is a graduate student and she has midterms coming up.  Besides being a full time student she also works a full time job and like many of her classmates, she doesn’t get much sleep during the week of midterms.  Bridgette and I are very close so I have decided to send her a little help for her late night study sessions.  This coffee-themed gift basket has a tasty mix of coffee and chocolates, so the caffeine should keep her eyes open long enough to ace her exams!  I ordered this for $52 plus $10.95 shipping from one of my favorite online retailers.

The wicker basket is shaped like a coffee cup and is filled with the following treats:

• Dark & White Chocolate Espresso Beans
• Milk Chocolate Cappuccino Bar
• Espresso Shortbread Cookies
• Hazelnut Coffee Jelly
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Jamocha Almond Fudge Coffee
• French Vanilla Coffee

I love the smell and the taste of fresh baked bread!  But with 2 children and a full-time job, I have very little time for baking bread – not to mention that I have never made it from scratch before.  I may not be a baker but I am a superstar at online shopping!  Since we were out of town for the holidays, I ordered a gourmet bread basket to be shipped to my grandmother’s house while we were visiting.  Even though I didn’t bake the goodies myself, I was still able to add something to the holiday dinner table and I got to take the credit for this fresh and delicious basket of assorted breads, breadsticks, dinner rolls, jellies and beverages.  The large bread basket is $95, and can be delivered via overnight air to maximize freshness.

Since I love sweets but I’m also trying to fit into a smaller dress size, I’m exploring sugar-free treats.  One tasty looking gift I have found is this blooming longstem cookie gift.  The longstems in this vase are actually colorfully-wrapped sugar free chocolate chip cookies.  They are surrounded by greenery and silk baby’s breath, and from the reviews listed online they are delicious!  I have emailed this item to my husband as a Valentine’s Day suggestion – so I can still enjoy the holiday without the guilt!  He can get a dozen of these fresh-baked longstems for $51 from Cookie Gift Baskets.

My dream job would be as a taste tester for the Dessert of the Month Club.  According to their website, hundreds of desserts are sampled each month and only the finest selections are shipped to their club members.  Since I can’t see that job being available anytime soon, I would be willing to settle for a subscription to the Dessert of the Month Club.  Although it wouldn’t fit in very well with my weight loss plan, some of the desserts shown on this website are positively sinful!

If you are interested in sending this as a gift, you can choose a 3 month, 6 month or 12 month plan, or you can choose to have one dessert sent every season (4 times per year).  The recipient will receive a gourmet dessert, a dessert lover’s newsletter with each shipment, free shipping and a free personalized gift announcement.  If you choose the 12 month plan, the price works out to be only $29.95 per month.

A great combination of healthful and sinful is contained in this Chocolate Covered Nut Tin, where six varieties of nuts are covered in cinnamon butter, milk, dark or white chocolate. For $29 plus shipping you can send the following:

• Milk Chocolate Macadamia Nuts
• Milk Chocolate Cashews
• Dark Chocolate Pistachios
• Dark Chocolate Peanuts
• White Chocolate Pecans
• Cinnamon Butter Almonds

Your gift recipient will go “nuts” over the delicious variety, and they will appreciate the health benefits cleverly hidden under a mask of chocolate!

Add some spice to your dinner with these all natural Indian Curries from Zamouri Spices!  Rated among the top ten Middle Eastern Food Sites by about.com, these spice blends are made from traditional Indian recipes so you can create authentic Indian dishes at home!

The Gift Set sells for $29.95, and includes 8 ounces of the following curries:

• Red Curry Singapore Style
• Madras Curry
• Kashmiri Curry
• Sambaar Powder
• Biryani Hot
• Biryani Mild

If you are looking for some inspiration, you can also find a number of regional recipes at this website.  The recipes are easy to follow, and a shopping list automatically appears at the bottom of each recipe – which inclues a list of all the spices needed to create the dish.

Last week, my sister-in-law and her husband lost their family business to a fire.  Three buildings and all the contents were completely destroyed, but luckily no one was injured and the firefighters were able to save the house.  The buildings were insured, so after the initial shock wears off they will be able to rebuild the business and everyone will be OK.

To show her appreciation for the hours of work that the firefighters performed in sub-zero temperatures, my sister-in-law is sending the fire department 5 of these adorable cookie bouquets.  She said that many of the firefighters personally spoke to her to make sure she was OK.  She was so grateful that no people were injured, and she was able to send the fire department a personalized message with each bouquet.  The largest size she can order is a 12-cookie bouquet, so she ordered 5 to ensure that each firefighter would receive at least one cookie.  12 hand decorated cookies sell for $82 at one of my favorite online retailers – Gourmet Cookie Bouquets.

My mom’s favorite indulgence is homemade fudge – she loves the smooth, creamy, rich chocolate morsels that melt in your mouth!  While my fudge-making abilities are less than perfect, I’m still able to send mom some “homemade” fudge for Valentine’s Day.  Shipped directly to her from Grandma’s Fudge Factory, we usually send her a 2 lb sampler box that contains 6 luscious flavors – chocolate, chocolate walnut, peanut butter chocolate swirl, rocky road, maple walnut and divinity.

Mom also loves to share her goodies so we have been able to sample this delicious treat.  The fudge tastes better than homemade, and the price of $27.95 (including shipping) is easy on my pocketbook.  Mom and I have both become frequent shoppers at Grandma’s Fudge Factory!

My family enjoys going to the movies it is tough for my 2 young sons to site quietly the entire time without disturbing other moviegoers.  Fortunately, we subscribe to a service that delivers movies right to our door – and I have found a fun Movie Gift Basket that brings all the snacks to our home as well!

The “Movie Night Gift Basket” offered by All About Gifts & Baskets includes my sons’ favorite candies – Twizzlers, M&M’s, Snowcaps and Jawbreakers.  The extra large boxes have plenty of treats for all of us to share.  We also receive a tall bag of moviehouse popcorn (that we think tastes better than at the theater) and a package of microwave popcorn.  We even use the themed gift box to serve our popcorn.

All of these fun treats with a movie reel collector’s tin sell for $36, or a larger size is available for $48.