I may not have been among the 226 million Americans who went
shopping this past holiday weekend, but today is a different story. Today, Cyber Monday, is a great way to get
online deals and a reminder that one of the most comfortable, least stressful
ways to Christmas shop is on your computer, from the comfort of your own home.
Food gifts from cookies to cheese are perennial holiday
favorites, particularly when shopping for office gifts. Sites like Williams-Sonoma and Dean andDeluca are gold standards, always there you with the requisite Tower of Treats
or box of petit fours to give to secretaries.
This year Tasting Table’s shopping section is making a big push for a
slice of the business and year-old Gilt Taste is in the game too with edibles
ranging from gourmet macarons to gluten-free vegan brownies.
Regardless of the offers of free shipping and special
discount codes, I’m always in favor of supporting the small producer, buying
direct, and giving a unique food gift to friends or colleagues in the
process. Thanks to the egalitarian World
Wide Web, even the most humble candy maker in Spokane, Washington making the
world’s best soft peanut brittle can take an order online and ship wherever you
want it to go. Be sure and reward
yourself for clever, carefree shopping by putting a little something extra in
the virtual shopping basket, destination you.
Chocolate Honey Cakes
from Bee Desserts: I have known the proprietor of Bee Desserts
for years, when her Brazilian café was serving caipirinhas and burgers and
desserts were more of a personal addiction than business venture. But Claudia struck gold in my opinion a few
years back when she started to manufacture these pint-sized cakes. With the look of a Ding Dong or brightly
colored hockey puck, the cakes unwrap to reveal a hard chocolate casing
surrounding a moist interior cake sweetened with honey. With five to a box, there is more than enough
to pass around an office. Best part is
these freeze well, potentially prolonging the sugar rush well past Christmas
Day. Favorites:
Classic Chocolate Honey Cake and Almond Honey Cake.
Cheese and More
from Beehive Cheese Company: I first fell for the cheese from this
Utah producer after one bite of Barely Buzzed, a cheddar-like cheese with the
rind rubbed with coffee and lavender.
After visiting their tasting room recently, I discovered this little
company does more than just cheese. To go with the cheese Beehive does
a small production of rusks, a triangular cracker made with whole grains that
pairs exceptionally well with a range of cheese from the local salt and honey rubbed
Seehive to Smoked Apple Walnut. Beehive is also a huge promoter of other local artisans making everything
from salami to chocolate, much of which they sell in their cute, yellow tasting
room. The
Party Box on the Beehive website is a good way to give a taste of everything
from the region- rusks, Creminelli salami, Pepperlane Jalapeno Pepper
Preserves, chocolate from Chocolot, and of course, cheese. Favorites:
Rosemary rusks, Barely Buzzed Cheese, Seehive Cheese.
Soft Peanut Brittle
and Butter Toffee from Bruttles: It is remarkable I ever discovered
this gem of a classic candy store in Spokane, Washington considering people who
have lived there for years don’t always know about it. The signature candy of this old fashioned
shop is their soft peanut brittle. The
store shelves are lined with jars of saltwater taffy and foil wrapped
chocolates. But one cannot leave this
store, online or in person, without trying the individually wrapped
Bruttles. An offspring of the popular
soft peanut brittle, the best way to describe this unique candy is that it is
like a homemade Butterfinger. I have
never tasted anything quite like it. The
sampler box is a nice way to try their full range of classic candies. One thing is for sure, if you give the gift
of Bruttles, you probably don’t have to worry about anyone else giving the same
gift, at least this year. Favorites: Bruttles, soft peanut brittle,
butter toffee
Amy Powell is a food and travel writer based in New York City. She is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and the French Culinary Institute. Follow her on Twitter @amymariepowell
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