It's a very COVID Christmas!
Too soon? Sorry. And yet-I think we can all agree that we pretty much could all use some extra cheer this year. And my food loving heart thinks that the best gift is a tasty one. So I've rounded up some of my favorite food gifts that you can order online and send to your loved ones. I can attest (through personal experience) that all of these companies make delicious delicious food and whoever receives them is very lucky indeed.
Is this list a gift guide for you or a wish list for me? You decide.
This one is super exciting to me-I met Susan (the woman behind the Little Red Kitchen) back when we were just a couple food bloggers in NYC. And now she has a successful baking business! Everything she makes is all natural (no preservatives and nothing artificial!) and baked fresh to order with high quality and mostly organic ingredients. And they are DEEELICIOUS. Little Red Kitchen Bake Shop offers cookies, bars (like brownies!), hot chocolate mix, cookie kits, cookie pies, and even a cookie of the month club subscription (the perfect gift for any cookie lover). When they were just starting I was lucky enough to sample some of the cookies (peanut butter, s'mores, and their signature chocolate chip: YUM YUM YUM) and I just recently got to try their Rocky Road Cookie Pie and seriously....I am a dessert snob. SO SO GOOD. The cookie pie didn't even need warmed up to be moist and delicious (and I almost always warm up cookies). Little Red Kitchen Bake Shop ships nationwide when you order from their website but they also can be found at certain markets and stores in the NY area and they have recently started being sold on Amazon! Tons of options to give the gift of sweet.
Jeni's has my all time favorite ice cream. They originated in Columbus, Ohio (my home state) but have now expanded to various locations nationwide. Their ice creams are made with super high quality, whole ingredients are are fair trade/direct trade. Essentially it's artisan ice cream that meets really high standards and the company is awesome and the ice cream is crazy delicious. Salty Caramel is my absolute favorite but they have so many really cool and unique flavors, including consistent innovation with new seasonal and limited edition flavors rotated frequently. Jeni's is sold in lots of stores, there are scoop shops around the country, but you can also order online (including Jeni's cookbooks!) and-the ultimate gift for the ice cream fan in your life-they have a pint club:
"Every month, recipients receive a curated selection of four flavors (often before they’re on sale) delivered directly to their doorstep. Plus, to kick the subscription off right, the first shipment includes four of our signature flavors, a welcome letter with the ice cream delivery dates, and a set of our favorite ice cream spades. Giving Pint Club as a gift? We’ll help you keep it a surprise! Pint Club recipients will be notified of their membership with their first shipment."
When someone asks for recommendations on what to eat in NYC one of my first recommendations is Wafels and Dinges. They're also probably the #1 most missed food item for Michael and I. They're a bunch of food trucks (and they have a cafe now!) that serve Belgian liege waffles (extra sweet dessert waffles that are chewy and crisp and filled with pockets of caramelized sugar) with a bunch of different toppings-aka dinges-and they're heaven on earth. I have chronicled my missing them on social media and their brilliant social media team has sympathized and dangled the fact that they ship nationwide at me like a bright shiny dream. You can buy just waffles or a box that includes some of their popular toppings as well. Dear Santa, I've been super super good this year....
I started using Imperfect Foods (if you use this link and decide to sign up you get $10/off your first box and I get $10 off mine as well!) a few months ago and I'm honestly just extremely impressed by them as a company and concept. Essentially they take food that would otherwise be wasted (for a variety of reasons such as cosmetic, discontinued labels, incorrect barcodes, surplus, etc. etc.) and sell it to us at a discounted rate. The people these foods come from aren't out the money, food isn't wasted, and we get really good stuff for less-it's honestly a win all around. There's no forced subscription (I always opt out of all future delivery dates then go back and opt in when I want a box) and you can choose what you get in your box. And they're offering holiday gift boxes this year that you can send to anyone in the US! Lots of tasty treats for only $24.99 (plus tax and shipping).
Levain cookies are famous and there is a good reason. This NYC bakery makes massive cookies that are perfectly underbaked and gooey on the inside but nice and sturdy (and almost biscuit like!) on the inside. They're incomparable and another one of my most missed NYC items. Which is why it's pretty fabulous that you can just order some online to give to someone you adore.
ButcherBox is another subscription service that I actually tried out a few years back-I absolutely loved it, although I sadly haven't ordered in awhile! Their boxes feature 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef; heritage-breed pork; free-range, organic chicken; and wild Alaskan salmon. You can get a mix or only a particular kind of meat and I can attest the quality is top notch and the prices are insanely reasonable. If you're the gift giver to a carnivore with high standards, I highly recommend giving a gift subscription!
Who doesn't love cookie dough?? DŌ is awesome (and another NYC based company!) because they have made edible cookie dough fun, chic, and so so delicious. And there's a ton of different gift options on their website so we really have no reason to not all be eating their cookie dough all holiday season.
Another NYC based company (I found so many tasty things when I was there!)-Dana is a self professed mom-trepreneur and makes super creative and delicious macarons in a wide range of fun flavors (and she's introduced the Mookie-a macaron stuffed into a cookie. WHAAAAT?!) And there are so many fun things you can order for anyone else fun and cool that you may know. (Like me! Kidding...sorta lol.)
Disclaimer-I was not compensated in any way for including anything on this list. I did receive a free sample from Little Red Kitchen but was under no obligation to give a positive review. All opinions are, as always, my own.
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