Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Got A Foodie On Your List?



Baffled with what to get them? Have I got the gifts for you. Sunday I was the recipient of a fantastic box of goodies from a very close friend of mine. Here's the secret, this is my favorite type of gift. I love putting together gift boxes and baskets by wandering around specialty stores and picking up a bottle of this, a bottle of that. But I love it even more when I am on the receiving end of such a gift.

Here to the right you see the most fantastic assortment of Bella Cucina Foods! On the far right is a tube of double concentrated tomato paste. Next in line we have a jar of Preserved Farmhouse Lemons, a bottle of Citrus and Fennel Sea Salt, a Porcini Pesto, Artichoke-Lemon Pesto, and then two jars of creams- one Blood Orange, one Meyer Lemon. Wow! Can you see why I might be excited!! These are more than just jars of specialty foods. These are going to be fun! Each jar is going to get some special treatment. For example, the artichoke-lemon pesto makes the best cheese dip ever, and it will do that once, and possibly it will also be tossed with chicken and penne for a quick dinner. The preserved lemons I'm really excited about. To me, that means that I need to explore some Moroccan Cuisine and feature the preserved lemons. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the tomato paste or porcini pesto, but they both will get the wheels spinning and really make me think about the best way to feature them and put them to good use. Each jar of yummy goodness here will get special treatment.

So the lesson here? Have a foodie to shop for? Pick up that never-before seen jar of preserves, or that unique looking jar of olives. I promise, the foodie in your life will be ecstatic. If you are interested in the products above, you can check them out, along with soooo many others at Bella Cucina Artful Food.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I love putting baskets together — it's like a treasure hunt, especially when the bounty is edible.

Erika W. said...

It's always hard for me to find a stopping point when I'm putting together a basket. I can always find "just one more thing" to tuck into it.