Food: Gift Baskets for New Year's Day

Food Shopping
Articles
Seafood Articles

Cheeses
Chocolates, & Candy
Coffee & Tea
Desserts
Fruit
Gift Baskets
International Foods
Meats
Nuts
Seafood
Specialty Foods
Complete List
Home

Article List
Directory
Resources

Articles/Resources:
Beans
Breakfast
Budget
Cheese
Chinese
Comfort Foods
Dessert
Diet
Eating Habits
Everything Food
Fast Food
Food Gifts
Food History
Food Shopping
Food Traditions
Foods and Events
Foods and Holidays
Foods and Places
French
Fruits
Gift Baskets
Healthy Foods
Italian
Lunch
Mexican
Recipes
Restaurants
Treats
Vegetables

Archives:
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006

Have New Articles E-Mailed To You!

Gift Baskets for New Year's Day
Tuesday, December 27, 2005

By Christina VanGinkel

New Years day around our house means kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying a good evening meal. Before the meal itself though, is a day filled with snacking. It has become somewhat of a tradition around our house to have for those snacks, at the least, several assorted gift baskets. You know, the kind often received during the holidays from friends and family. To be sure that we have enough snacks for the day, we do not rely on the chance that others may give us these luscious baskets, though we always welcome them as a gift choice. When we shop for these ourselves for giving to others, we have gotten in to the habit of purchasing a few extras just for New Year's Day for our own household.

I think it all began years ago when our daughter was about seven or eight, and was so intrigued by these towers and baskets of goodies that we bought to give as gifts to others, that in future years; she always requested one as her main gift at Christmas. Not until she hit her teenage years and jewelry requests replaced these, did she ever not file them at the top of her list. Even as an adult, she still loves getting the baskets that hold all sorts of tiny treasures. Crackers in flavors we might not be brave enough to buy a whole box of, tiny sweets so tempting that even looking at them is sure to pile on the pounds, and cheeses and sausages that make up the perfect stack of snacks no matter how you slice them.

When she was little, she would place her basket on top of her dresser Christmas morning, only opening it if we told her something inside should be refrigerated, otherwise she did not disturb it until News Years Day. If something did need refrigerating, she would open the basket oh so carefully and take out just what needed to be kept cold, and then warn everyone in the house, (her two brothers!) that they were not to disturb the items. She would let them know when they were ready to eat. Then, on New Year's Day, she would share her basket with everyone. Her little brother was always as intrigued as she was, and to this day, he enjoys receiving his own gift basket of assorted treats on Christmas morning to save and relish on New Year's Day.

Some of our favorite places to shop for these towers of treats and baskets of delight through the years have included Harry & David's, Starbucks, Hickory Farms, and even places such as Wal-Mart. We always look for baskets that have more product than fill, and ingredients that are a bit different from what we would normally choose on a trip to the grocery store.

On New Year's morning, the baskets are opened and sausages and cheese are sliced and arranged on serving trays to be covered and placed in the fridge for snacking throughout the day. Sweets are opened and arranged elegantly on serving dishes. If there are jams, and we always try to have at least a few of these, they are set in the middle of the kitchen table and served with fresh from the oven biscuits first thing in the morning, along with an assortment of any teas or coffees that we found tucked among the baskets. We also love to get at least one new mug for each person to enjoy the teas and coffee in and to have as our new cup for the coming year. As we are all big tea and hot chocolate drinkers, a new mug each year is just a small touch of whimsy that we allow ourselves to enjoy. It also adds to the gift giving amongst ourselves. As mostly adults with everything we could possibly need already, (save for our one teenager and our new grandson) this gives each of us one thing to look forward to each holiday season, as we have chosen to keep the gift giving in general to a minimum except for the kids.

This has also given us all an excuse to try something new each year, and so we always try to include at least a few food items that we might not otherwise seek out. Start you own holiday tradition and purchase your family their own gift baskets to enjoy!

5:37 AM Comments:
Post a Comment

<< Home