Give the epicureans on your shopping list something to savor with these tasteful gifts
Belly up
What’s better than bacon? How about bacon as often as you want it? This pork-happy dream can be a reality with Tender Belly, the bacon specialists who use vegetarian-fed pedigreed heritage pigs from sustainable Iowan family farms to create their flavorful, fine-restaurant-quality signature thick slices of yummy bacon – with no antibiotics, no nitrates, now available via a monthly subscription. Order up a three-month subscription ($177) of four pounds of glorious, delicious dry-cured and cherrywood-smoke bacon shipped door-to-door at the beginning of each month. Or, for smaller appetites, order strips by the pound ($14.75).
Bake by numbers
The baking beginner on your list will feel like an accomplished chef with Scratch and Grain baking company kits. These color-coded ready-to-bake kits make homemade baking fun and easy. Just follow the step-by-step instructions and whip up delicious treats made with organic, high quality ingredients. Kits cost between $5.49 and $8.49 and include snickerdoodle, classic sugar cookies and limited-edition holiday sugar cookies. Other cookie kits include chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, gluten-free chocolate truffle, and chewy peanut butter gluten-free. There’s also cupcake kits and organic pumpkin markets. Available at www.scratchandgrain.com
Cool beans
Stock up the foodie on your list, with mixes for soups, chili and baking like Old-Fashioned Chili Mix ($5.95) , Chocolate Brownie Mix ($5.95) , Golden Cornbread mix ($3.95) or Gourmet Popcorn kits ($5.95) from the Women’s Bean Project. Each product is lovingly handmade by women who support themselves and their families through their work for this philanthropic-minded company that gives opportunities to disadvantaged women. Gift baskets and other items like dog treats are also available from www.womensbeanproject.com.
Hostess helper
Your hostess with the most-est will appreciate your gift of exquisite desserts and treats from Matthews 1812. Baked in Connecticut-based and shipped nationwide, these delicious serving-size party pleasers, like Bourbon Pecan Minis ($20) or Bourbon Fig Cake )$33), are the perfect hostess gift, or great for serving at your own holiday gathering.
Meat me
Carnivores will salivate for delicious and tender steaks from Greensbury, a dedicated leader in the grass-fed movement, with its origins in the Amish farms of Pennsylvania and now ranching in Texas, Ohio, New Mexico and Illinois. This beef-by-mail company delivers exceedingly high-quality meat products from cattle raised humanely and sustainably, free of hormones, steroids and antibiotics. The taste and quality of the meat comes from careful cutting, vacuum sealing and boxing of the meat, using only natural enzymes and a 21- to 28-day wet aging process. The company also sells premium seafood, pork, lamb, poultry and game products. Two six-ounce fillet mignon steaks cost $43.99. Subscriptions offer a reduced cost for regular customers.
