My Favorite Present to Give: Truly Good Food
Walking through a crowded store with my arms full of packages is not my cup of tea. My mother loves to shop, but I did not inherit those genes. The part that I detest the most, however, is trying to guess what presents everyone would actually enjoy and appreciate. I used to have this ever present fear that all of my shopping efforts usually resulted in a rushed trip back to the store or, worse, out to the dumpster. I could never develop any sort of confidence about what to get my Grandma or Uncle Arthur. Now, I can appreciate the stores, especially during the holidays, because I walk through empty handed, unhurried, with all of my shopping already long finished. I do all my shopping online, now. Well almost all of it.
While online shopping keeps me from being pushed around in a busy department store or standing in line at a little boutique, it doesn’t keep me from the most dreaded part of any gift giving event; choosing the right gift for a birthday, a holiday, a sick friend or whomever. Then about five years ago, I discovered food.
That wasn’t very honestly phrased, because I discovered food when I was still an infant. But I didn’t discover food as a gift idea until recently. You see, at that time I received a gift basket full of hardly edible sausages, processed cheese spreads (mostly chemicals I think) and crackers that were about as crunchy as a rock. However, the poor quality of what passed as food in that gift turned out to be my inspiration. “What,” I thought, “If I had received genuinely good food?” How different that would have been, and how much I would have enjoyed it.
Since then, I have been busy conducting research (that’s just my word for “sampling”). I have found online vendors who offer genuine quality for about the same price that you can get that synthetic stuff at the mall. (You know the one I mean, but I’m not about to open myself to a libel or slander charge by naming the brand.) Just like the mall kiosks, the online shops handle all the shipping, gift cards, everything. I know that my gifts will be exceptionally pleasant surprises for all of my gift recipients.
These Internet shops offer everything from gourmet fruit baskets to live lobster dinners (well, they won’t be alive when they are actually eaten), from wine gift baskets to cookie bouquets. The array of gift foods is really quite amazing.
I do keep gift foods around the house, beautifully or cleverly arranged, for my guests who come to my house or for those whom I visit in person during those gift giving times. The Internet provides assistance to me even in these cases, because it is packed full of great ideas for arranging and wrapping gift food.
So help me thank the Internet (maybe Al Gore?) for allowing me to walk through an aisle of a store, empty handed, with a huge smile. I can do that, now, just to soak up the atmosphere of the season, whatever season it happens to be. I’m a tourist when I’m there instead of a harried shopper.
Tags: food gift, food gifts, fruit basket, gift idea, gift ideas, live lobster, lobster dinner, wine gift basket