Gourmet cheese baskets often come with crackers to spread the cheese.
The hardest gifts to buy are usually for people you don't know well enough to know their tastes. Luckily, you can almost never go wrong with a gourmet food gift of nuts, meats, or cheese. These include exotic nuts, European cheeses and even holiday hams. Gourmet gift baskets filled with one or all of these items are available online and in gourmet shops for purchase. Get an idea of the kinds of food or snacks the person enjoys before selecting a gourmet food gift.
Meat Gifts
For the boss who you always see munching on cheap beef jerky, give him a gift basket of gourmet jerky in a variety of flavors. Give the friend who stops for bagels every morning a gift package of hand-sliced smoked salmon, gourmet cream cheese and fresh bagels. Send a family member a honey-glazed ham for the holidays. Other meat gifts include gourmet sausage baskets, with a wide variety to choose from, frozen gourmet crab cakes, and a surf and turf dinner of frozen hiqh-quality filet mignon and lobster tails.
Cheese Gifts
For the co-worker who oftens gets the cheese sampler appetizer at lunch, give her a gift basket full of cheeses from around the world. Choose a gift basket that includes crackers to spread the cheese. Another idea for a true cheese lover is a one-year "Cheese of the Month" subscription. Several cheese companies offer this monthly service where different cheeses are delivered to the person's door each month. You can also give someone a gift of cheeses from a particular area, region of the country or world, especially if you know they are fond of that particular place.
Nuts
When giving gifts of nuts, save money by selecting the nuts and layering them in a jar yourself, with a decorative ribbon around the lid. Contrast dark- and light-colored nuts in the jar. If you would rather not, or would like to give a gift of specialty nuts, plenty of assorted nut gift baskets are available. You can find nuts dipped in chocolate, sweetened with sugar or seasoned with hot spices. Some nut gift baskets have trail mix that includes candy-coated chocolate, or dried fruit. If you're not sure which the person would prefer, select a gift basket with a variety of flavorings to try.
Combination Gifts
The ultimate gift basket includes nuts, meat and cheeses in one. For this impressive gift, select a basket that offers a wide range of all three food items such as chocolate and spicy nuts, dried meats and sausages, and a wide range of cheeses. While you can purchase a gift basket that has all three at a gourmet shop, another idea is to select individual items and put them together in your own basket. Gift baskets, staging foam, stuffing, giant bows and large sheets of cellophane are available at any craft store. Whatever you decide, the gift baskets should include other complementary items such as crackers, chocolates and olives.
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