Gourmet Gift of the Day Blog

Last year when my sister and her husband were in Maine, they made the rounds of many local gift shops, including The Blueberry Patch in Bar Harbor, ME.  It was there that they found these crunchy and delicious Dilly Carrots – and became instant fans!  The baby carrots are preserved in a dill mixture and are a great snack.  The Dilly Carrots are a unique creation by the owner of Pickles-N-Things, and she has a number of other homemade products to choose from – including pickles of various flavors, salsas, relishes and chutneys.  Many of her recipes have won accolades at various fairs and trade shows.  The crunchy dilly carrots sell for $6.95 per jar, and if you order 6 jars from the website you receive the 7th for free!

Earlier this spring my nephew Logan broke his leg during baseball practice.  He was sliding under a tag at 2nd base when the second baseman accidentally landed on his leg, giving him a hairline fracture.  He was so disappointed that he could not participate in baseball this season and became very bored very quickly!  To cheer him up a bit we sent him this fun goodie tin, filled with fresh baked cookies, candy and snacks.  My sister said that Logan loved the tin and he kept it hidden in his room so he wouldn’t have to share with his brothers and sister!  Logan did let his mom try one of the cookies (the peanut butter one), and she said it was fresh, moist and delicious!  The reusable tin arrived very quickly and cost only $8.95 to ship.  The tin itself is priced at $30 and you can choose from 6 different cookie flavors.

I love to sample a number of foods when we go out for dinner.  I especially like buffet-style dining so I can try a little of this and a little of that before deciding what to eat.  That’s why I particularly like the samplers offered by Gourmet Station.  Their International Soup, Bread and Cookie Combo gives me 6 unique soup flavors along with 6 mini baguettes and 6 White Chocolate Macadamia cookies.  The soups included take you on a virtual world tour:  Bistro Mushroom & Sherry Soup, Cream of Tomato Basil Soup, Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Italian Wedding Soup, Lobster Bisque and Tomato Florentine Soup.  The servings are generous and the taste are exquisite.  You can try them yourself for $69.99 plus as little as $19.99 shipping.

Our neighbor’s son is graduating this year, and we have found a great gift to satisfy his sweet tooth!  My boys love the neighbor because he always has candy with him – and he loves to share with our little ones.  The candy bouquet pictured here contains some of his favorites – Skittles and Airheads – as well as a large variety of chocolates (more than 20 candies in total) and a small graduation bear.  At $43, we found this unique gift to be economical and something we know our neighbor will love!

Featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show and the Home Shopping Network, the Tortuga Rum Company has spent the last 20 years perfecting their top secret rum cake recipe.  This combo features their wildly popular 16 oz Golden Rum Cake paired with an 8 oz package of Rum Cream Coffee.  The fun containers show an elaborate pirate ship logo and the reasonable price of $29.95 includes shipping so you can order one for yourself without feeling guilty!  The Tortuga Rum Company produces more than 5,000 gourmet rum cakes each day, hand-glazing each cake with 5 year old premium rum, then vaccuum sealing each cake to preserve freshness.  The cake and coffee combo is a great breakfast treat, housewarming gift or thank you for a special teacher.

My husband and I recently refinanced our home mortgage.  Our lender was able to lock in a great interest rate and save us more than $200 a month on our mortgage payments.  Because she saved us thousands of dollars over the next 30 years, we thought this cookie gift expressed our sentiments very well!  The gourmet tin was tied with a green bow and included the phrase “Thank You” written in a fancy script on the cover.  When our lender opened the tin, she was delighted by the colorfully decorated Oreo cookies that were covered in Belgian chocolate and then sprinkled with money-themed decorations.  She called us after they arrived and thanked us for the delicious show of appreciation.  We found this tin at Gourmet Cookie Bouquets for $35.

This unique gourmet gift basket contains the perfect accompaniments to a finely shaken martini.  E. Waldo Ward & Son sends everything except the gin and vermouth!  The decorative wicker basket is filled with four varieties of jumbo stuffed olives (10 oz each), a martini shaker and two martini glasses.  This gift would be great for a number of occasions – to celebrate a new house, a new job or a lifelong friendship.  The basket is on sale for $81.60 and currently includes free shipping to the US (except AK and HI).

As a treat for all the mothers in our office, my boss ordered this gourmet basket in honor of Mother’s Day.  The large and beautiful basket was filled to overflowing with fresh fruit,  savory meats and cheeses and sweet treats like chocolate and toffee.  Everyone in our office found something they loved – whether it was the fresh pineapple, pepper and onion relish, deluxe mixed nuts or bing cherry chocolates – and we made sure there were no leftovers!  This basket is a great gift idea for an office of up to 15 employees, and is a great way to send something for everyone to enjoy.  The Corporate Celebration Fruit Basket sells for $200 and is shipped via 2nd Day or Overnight Air to ensure freshness.

This year my sister joined her new in-laws for Easter Dinner.  Rather than our traditional Ham dinner, her mother-in-law served a smoked turkey .  My sister’s in-laws have relatives in Texas, and they happen to live near the New Braunfels Smokehouse so they have been sampled many tasty meats created there.  They sent a Peppered Smoked Turkey up north for Easter dinner and my sister was very happy that they did!  She really enjoyed the spices added to the meat, and the smoked flavor was just enough to compliment the hot cross buns and creamy mashed potatoes that were served with the meal.  The New Braunfels Smokehouse has been in the mail order business since 1945, and currently has their 9-11 pound Peppered Smoked Turkey on sale for $33.95.

A new cake trend has been emerging in the wedding industry.  Rather than a standard tiered wedding cake, brides are opting for extreme cakes, cakes made entirely of cupcakes, individual cakes for each guest, even cookie cakes.  This is a great way to show the couple’s individuality, and  Cookie Gift Baskets has recognized the new trend by offering giant wedding cookies as well as their wedding cake cookie favors.  The jumbo cookie is shaped like a four-tiered wedding cake, and can be personalized with the bride and groom’s names, their unique color scheme, or any number of custom design options.  A perfect compliment to this giant cookie are the individual cookie favors, which can be an exact duplicate of the larger cookie, can be made in different colors and designs, they can even serve as a unique bridal shower favor or fun wedding announcement.  There are so many ways to show the couple’s individual style at their wedding, this great option is also a tasty one!

The giant cookie pictured weighs nearly 3 pounds and is sold for $33.  The cookie favors measure approximately 5″ high (about 1/4 lb apiece) and range in price from $4.50 to $5.75 apiece.