Food is always a welcome gift, but perhaps especially so this year, as we’re cooking, baking, and seeking out little comforts and joys more than ever before.
As you’re shopping for gifts this season, consider giving small American businesses your support. From California olive oil to Vermont cheddar, here are some of our best edible and drinkable ideas.
The Gift of Chocolate
Fruition Chocolate handcrafts award-winning bean-to-bar chocolate in New York’s Catskill Mountains. A gift box best showcases their mastery of the craft, from standout single-origin bars to chocolate-covered brown butter bourbon caramels. $74.95 for a medium gift box, $149.95 for large at FruitionChocolateWorks.com
California Olive Oil to Brighten the Pantry
Brightland’s extra virgin olive oils are beautifully fragrant, alive with bright, grassy flavor. Born from disillusionment with subpar supermarket offerings—often rancid or adulterated—the California company makes its direct-to-consumer olive oils from early-harvest, organic heirloom olives from a family farm, and packages them in sleek glass bottles coated with a UV-protectant coating and labeled with the harvest year (currently November 2019). $37 for a 12.7-ounce bottle at Brightland.co
All-American Cheese
A two-year aged Vermont cheddar, a classic California blue, and Tuscan-style, New York-made finocchiona are among the current offerings in the All-American Collection from Murray’s Cheese—a snackable celebration of the country’s homegrown artisanal cheese and charcuterie makers. $85 at MurraysCheese.com
From a Master Marmalade Maker
Blake Hill Preserves in Windsor, Vermont, makes award-winning jams—sweet, savory, and spicy. Perhaps due to their English heritage, the marmalades are a clear stand-out—most notably the Meyer Lemon With Cardamom ($7.99 for a 10-ounce jar). So are the Botanical Jams, inspired by local wild edible flowers, such as the Wild Rose-Infused Strawberry ($8.99). BlakeHillPreserves.com
A Baker’s Bouquet
For the enthusiastic baker in your life, how about a bouquet of fresh flours? Maine Grains in Skowhegan, Maine, produces freshly stone-milled flours and rolled oats from locally grown, organic and heritage grains, packed with nutrients and flavor you won’t find in any supermarket bag. From $5.95 for a 2.4-pound bag at MaineGrains.com
Makings of a Perfect Breakfast
In New York’s Hudson Valley, family-owned Finding Home Farms makes richly sweet, 100 percent pure and organic maple syrup, a dream over buttermilk pancakes. Conveniently, they offer a highly giftable boxed set of maple syrup and pancake mix ($30). Their award-winning Rye Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup, a collaboration with nearby Orange County Distillery, is another great option ($20 for an 8-ounce bottle). FindingHomeFarms.com
A Different Kind of Tea
Camellia sinensis, who? Meet yaupon, North America’s only native caffeinated plant, consumed by indigenous people for millennia before two sisters in Cat Spring, Texas, began wild-harvesting its leaves to make uniquely local teas. CatSpring Yaupon offers a grassy, clean-tasting green yaupon, an earthier medium roast, and a black tea-esque dark roast. They’re all naturally sweet and refreshing, rich in antioxidants, and never bitter: yaupon is tannin-free, so it’s difficult to over-steep. From $7.95 for 16-count box at CatSpringTea.com
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