IT’S TIME TO START holiday shopping, and if your friends and loved ones are like mine — they’re food-obsessed. There’s no better way to show you care than by sending a gift to fill tummies. If you play your cards right, the lucky recipients may even share a few samples!

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HOLIDAY FOOD GIFT IDEAS

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1. Since 1848, Trappist monks located in the hills of central Kentucky have supported themselves by farming and sales of homemade fruitcake, cheese and bourbon fudge (both chocolate and butter walnut flavors). I’ve been sending this surprisingly devilish, high-alcohol content candy to friends (and myself) for a decade.



2. La Tienda.com is a family-run company based in Virginia that specializes in food products imported from Spain. If you can’t afford to send your Paella-loving pals to Valencia, why not surprise them with the next best thing: a Mini Paella Kit packed with a copy of Paella by Penelope Casas!
3. Regional Best.Com features “local foods that make America great.” If you’re looking for something unique in the Vegan category, Regional Best offers “Vrapple” — made with seitan, locally grown & milled cornmeal, buckwheat and a big pinch of black pepper. Meat eaters are equally well represented with Ham I Am! products and the All Natural Bachelor Pack (Black Angus steak burgers and frankfurters) offered by La Cense.



4. Oprah says, “Zingerman’s sandwiches are an ’11 on a scale of 1 to 5′” — so why not send your favorite deli-lover the delicatessen sandwich of her dreams? Zingerman’s Reuben Sandwich Kit consists of Black Angus lean corned beef, pastrami, roasted turkey, rye and pumpernickel breads,
   redskin potato salad, cole slaw, Russian dressing, Emmentaler Swiss cheese, garlicky pickles and magic brownies — packed in a canvas gift bag. Are you hungry yet?



5. The Spanish Table offers an inexpensive yet pretty (and delicious) Spanish turron gift pack containing bars of almond caramel with sesame seeds, crunchy almond turron, and almond crocanti with chocolate.
6. San Francisco’s Recchiuti Confections hand-makes exquisite candies including seasonal Key Lime Pears bathed in smooth, dark chocolate.



7. Less sophisticated candy-lovers will swoon over the “Decade Box Assortments” available from Hometown Favorites.com. Classic brands and flavors from the 50′s, 60′s, 70′s and 80′s include: Candy Stix Cigarettes, Cherry Mash bars, Necco Wafers, Pop Rocks and Bit-O-Honey.
8. Local Harvest.org (“real food, real farms, real community”) can hook you up with hundreds of small producers selling everything from Christmas wreaths to hickory-smoked rainbow trout. Use the website to find sources of sustainably grown food in your area or shop for shippable goodies on line.
9. Treat a homesick Canadian to a care-package filled with popular food products from Canadian Favourites.com including: Smoked Wild Pacific Salmon, Laura Secord candy, and Tim Horton’s coffee.



10. The BBQ-lover on your gift list will be in hog heaven when you send a combo package from Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous restaurant in Memphis. Each pack contains one slab of their world famous ribs, two pounds of pulled pork shoulder, a bottle of Rendezvous barbecue sauce and a bottle of seasoning.
11. Those with a Southern sweet tooth — and fond memories of New Orleans — will appreciate Café Du Monde’s Chartres St. Gift Basket stuffed with packs of regular and chicory coffee, beignet mix, powdered sugar and a sugar shaker.



12. Give a truly meaningful gift by helping children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant. After you donate, send a printable gift card or e-card to tell your friends and family that you’ve honored them with a Heifer gift.

Tags: Café Du Monde, Canadian Favourites, candy, Charlie Vergos, Gethsemani Farms, gifts, Heifer International, holidays, Hometown Favorites, La Tienda, LocalHarvest.org, Pop Rocks, Recchiuti Confections, RegionalBest.com, Rendezvous, Shopping, The Spanish Table, Zingermans