Looking for a delicious summer treat—for a special occasion or no occasion at all? Consider specialty gift baskets! They make the perfect wedding, shower, birthday, anniversary, Father’s Day, housewarming, congratulations, or “just because” gift for anyone who likes food! Meat and cheese gift baskets—in addition to fruit and nut selections, gourmet and kosher food choices, chocolate themed baskets, and even coffee and tea collections—are sure to tempt your taste buds and give recipients an extra special treat.
You can even get them for yourself! What a great way to surprise your significant other, to kick off a picnic in the park, or to try delicious new easy-to-carry food choices as you travel together to your favorite vacation spot.
Meat and cheese gift baskets are substantial gifts that provide real sustenance. Featuring real Wisconsin cheeses like Monterey jack, medium cheddar, zesty cheddar, pepper cheese, sharp cheese, Swiss cheese, and hot Swiss cheese; original and garlic Wisconsin sausage, beef summer sausage, hot summer sausage, Bavarian summer sausage, and beef salami; cheese spreads like creamy jack cheese spread, hickory cheese spread, Merlot cheddar cheese spread, and tomato basil hoop cheese spread; and specialty crackers including wheat crackers, peppercorn crackers, water crackers, wheat wafers, and more, these gift baskets aren’t just a snack—they’re a complete meal.
Most meat and cheese gift baskets contain even more than sausage, cheese, and crackers, though. Often there are several courses packed into the wicker basket or other container they come artfully arranged in. Hearty selections and collections might include mustards (hot n’spicy, yellow, and/or grained), salsa, smoked salmon, caviar, pepper jelly, green or garlic stuffed olives, smoked pate, spiced almonds, snack mix, pistachios, veggie dip, pita chips, and Cabernet Sauvignon hoop cheese among dozens of other delicacies.
Other snack items like pretzels and pretzel nuggets, peanut butter pretzel nuggets, foccacia snacks, trail mix, tortilla chips, and mini Italian breadsticks are also frequently included.
But let’s not forget the sweet treats! Before dessert, enjoy gourmet coffees, English tea, or cocoa mix with biscotti, milk or dark chocolate sticks, chocolate dipped spoons, mocha almonds, or chocolate covered cherries, blueberries, cranberries, and apricots. Then for dessert there are decadent selections tucked into some of the meat and cheese gift baskets like chocolate cheesecake, cappuccino wafers, hazelnut wafers, chocolate chip shortbread, chocolate chip cookies, raspberry cookies, almond cookies, and milk chocolate pastilles. They’re enough to make your mouth water just thinking about them.
Delicious candies and chocolates including toffee, truffles, peanut brittle, fudge, old-fashioned salt water taffy, and/or Ghirardelli chocolates are other great additions.
Many of the meat and cheese gift baskets come packed in or with a wicker hamper or basket, a picnic basket, a cutting board and/or cheese knife, and/or coffee mugs. Could a gift or a special day get any easier? Gift baskets are quick and easy to order and have delivered, and they always make such an impressive presentation.
For your Jewish friends, family, acquaintances, or business associates, you can also opt for a kosher gift basket. Smoked salmon, salmon pate, la chevre fresh goats milk cheese with roasted garlic and parsley, baby gouda, crispy flat breads, marinated braided mozzarella cheese, fruit hamentashen, rugelach, apricots, prunes, and other kosher food choices create beautiful, thoughtful gifts.
The perfect accompaniment to any of these selections is one of the other specialty gift baskets like the fruit and nut baskets—with assortments of mixed or specialty nuts and delicious fresh fruits— grapefruit; navel oranges; green, red delicious, jonagold, or granny smith apples; pineapple; Asian, comice, bosc, concord, columbia d’anjou pears, or seckel pears; or dried apricots and prunes.
A wine gift basket would round out the occasion perfectly. Make it a French country picnic with a bottle of La Vielle Ferme Cotes du Ventoux Rouge wine, a fruity and spicy Rhone red blend with ample body. A gift basket containing the wine along with fig and walnut jam with goat cheese make a delicious appetizer and sets the mood for the rest of the meal. (This also makes a wonderful, romantic wedding or wedding shower gift—or the perfect gift basket to take on the honeymoon! Or send it to the couple who just announced their engagement or just moved into their first home.)
There are many other great wine selections for gift baskets, as well. For instance, Ironstone Cabernet Sauvignon, DeLoach Cabernet Sauvignon, L de Lyeth Cabernet Sauvignon, Tin Roof Cabernet Sauvignon, Tintara Shiraz 2005, Veramonte 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Reserva, Francis Ford Coppola Rosso, Francis Ford Coppola Bianco (Pinot Grigio), Stone Cellars by Beringer Merlot, Hanna 2007 Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Kenwood Russian River Pinot Noir, and Murphy-Goode Chardonnay are just a dozen of the fine wines that go beautifully with many dining selections and for many occasions and work wonderfully tucked into a gift basket with complimentary food items.
Regardless of the occasion—or for no occasion at all—beautiful gifts just don’t get much easier than when you give a gift basket. Well, except maybe for just writing a check. But then where is the personal touch in that? A gift basket has so much more character and charm. And it leaves a lasting impression in the eyes of everyone who sees it—and especially the gift recipients who get to enjoy the tasty summer treats.
Coppola’s Wine and Food
