Gourmet Gift of the Day Blog

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.

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!

Made with real fruit juice and just as tasty as the fruit itself, these tasty fruit paste candies are a great garnish for your gourmet desserts or as a special treat to accompany afternoon tea. The delicate candies are imported from Belgium, and contains a number of fruit flavors – including strawberry, tangerine, peach, pear, pineapple, cherry, fig, and many others. The one pound assortment arrives in a gold box wrapped with red ribbon, so it can also be presented as a hostess or housewarming gift.  Available with FedEx Priority shipping, the fruit jelly candies cost $36.

I definately inherited my love of chocolate from my mother.  Dad can take it or leave it, but mom is the one who taught me the art of making hot fudge, then making it disappear!  That’s why I have chosen a fitting gift for her this Mother’s Day – a beautiful wicker basket filled with a variety of Godiva chocolates.  Godiva chocolates are one of the world’s finest, and mom is going to love me for sending her flavored chocolate bars (strawberry and caramel), heavenly truffles and a gold ballotin box topped with a chocolate flower.  The gourmet Mother’s Day basket is available for $70 from Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets.

As usual, my New Year’s resolution of eating healthier and finding lower-calorie snacks has been long forgotten, but one good residual from this year’s resolution are the tasty and relatively healthy CocoaBerries that I found!  The Rubicon Bakery in San Francisco uses all natural products to create these dark chocolate-covered fruity meringue bites that contain real bits of freeze-dried fruit (either strawberry or blueberry).  A single serving size (5 bites) contain only 90 calories, and unlike most candy snacks, deliver 1 gram of fiber and 1-2 grams of protein.  I can’t choose between strawberry and blueberry – they are both decadently delicious – so I have a box of each on hand.  The whole family enjoys them, and priced at $14.99 per 3-pack (each pack includes 3 servings), the price is right as well!

The company who produces CocoaBerries is a non-profit organization that helps individuals in the San Francisco area overcome adversity by providing training, housing, employment and support for people in need.  This makes me feel even better about purchasing their excellent products!

If your company sponsors a yearly golf outing, this gift bag is a great addition to your prize kitty!  We bought 4 of them last summer for each member of the winning foursome, and they all enjoyed the snacks inside.  My co-worker’s brother was one of the winners, and she said he still uses the cooler almost daily for his lunches.  The sturdy cooler comes stuffed with golf-themed treats – including chocolate golf balls, “hole in one” candies, golf-shaped cookies, 10th Tee Energy Bar, Golfer’s coffee and a bottle of spring water.  The cooler sells for $48 and ships very quickly.

Chocolate instantly makes me feel better – part of it is the sweet and creamy taste, but part of it is also the mental stress relief it brings!  That’s why I like to have some chocolate around at all times – as part of my “stress buster” box.  The box has been empty lately, partly because of some personal stress and partly because my co-workers have discovered the box!  Since the helped empty it, two of my co-workers sent me this Deluxe Chocolate Bouquet as a way to refill the stress buster box.  The bouquet was too beautiful to take apart so I kept it on my desk for over a week, until the “flowers” started to disappear!  The remaining blooms went into the box, but not before my co-workers and I chose our favorite flavor and held a little chocolate celebration!  The bouquet was filled with gourmet chocolate flavors from Ghirardelli and Lindt – 21 pieces in all for $46.

I could not imagine growing up lactose-intolerant.  Growing up on a dairy farm, our daily diet consisted of milk, cheese, butter and usually ice cream.  To this day my favorite beverage is still an ice cold glass of milk.  I am so very thankful that my boys are able to consume lactose as well, but I’m just as glad that there are lactose-free substitutes that I taste just as good as the “originals”.  One such item is this Belgian Chocolate Big Tooth Bunny that is available just for the Easter season.  The bunny is made with rice milk, so it is perfect for anyone you know who is lactose-intolerant.  My niece’s best friend has this condition and her mother recommended all the products found at A Bountiful Harvest.  Their products are specifically made for non-traditional diets – they offer products that are lactose-free, gluten-free, sugar-free and wheat-free.

This cute and tasty one pound chocolate rabbit is available to slip into your child’s Easter Basket for $14.95 plus shipping.

With Easter just around the corner, don’t forget about loved ones who are either diabetic or watching their calorie intake.  All About Gifts & Baskets offers a great treat basket just for them – filled with tasty candy choices and even a sugar-free chocolate bunny!  The basket also includes my personal Easter addiction – marshmallow Peeps (I didn’t even know they made a sugar-free variety), gumdrops, chips, apple and honey flatbread and other tasty diabetic-friendly snacks.  The snacks are packed in a colorful Easter-themed basket for $46 plus $9.95 ground shipping.

Not only is Easter a time to overindulge on candy and hard-boiled eggs, it is also a time for me to reflect upon the many blessings I have been given.  One of my most treasured blessings is my family – both my husband and boys and my close-knit extended family.  We love to celebrate together as often as possible, but since my brother moved to Oregon last summer it’s not as easy.  To keep my brother, his wife and son included in our holiday traditions – even though we are separated by two thousand miles – we will order two of the same gift basket and have one sent to them while we share one here at home.  This year we found an Easter basket that will satisfy my sweet tooth, and will provide my sister-in-law with a new coffee flavor to try!

The large basket offered by Holiday Gifts & Gifts Baskets includes a fun Easter-themed basket that is filled with a great variety of snacks for kids and adults.  For $54, we will receive:

• Spring Mix of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
• Milk Chocolate Bunny
• Pecan Caramel Crunch
• Milk Chocolate Egg
• Berry Good Snack Mix
• Danish Butter Cookies
• Fancy Water Crackers
• Cheddar Cheese Spread
• Dutch Gouda Cheese Biscuits
• Honey Roasted Peanuts
• Eggstraordinary Blend Coffee
• Sparkling Cider