Cast aside the “thought that counts” adage, replace it with: “the way to a loved-one’s heart is through their stomach,” and map out a strategy to showcase your creative and culinary skills in the form of food-themed gift baskets. Whether entirely homemade or combined with some store-bought accessories, even an inexpensive food basket can rival the most costly designer item in terms of sentiment, thoughtful planning and appeal to the senses.
Whether your aim is to mass-produce baskets for all of your friends and family during the holiday season; to create a gift tailor-made to an individual recipient; or to theme gifts around a special occasion/event, here are some tips to encourage your personal creativity and flair, as well as some technical advice on how to best present and preserve your delectables.
Develop a Food Theme
Creativity is about generating new concepts or ideas, and most creative projects begin with brainstorming. To this end, consider the purpose of the gift(s) you are giving and develop a theme. During the holidays and on special occasions, themes readily present themselves, so focus instead on unique ways of presenting and/or accessorizing your food baskets, particularly if you are mass-producing. If, however, you have a particular individual in mind, make a list of his or her favourite food-related passions or hobbies and extrapolate basket themes from there. You may have an insatiable coffee, tea, chocolate, wine, pasta, or cheese lover in your life; your partner may have expressed an interest in Italian cooking; a best friend may have mentioned they’d like to learn how to make sushi; and your favourite newlyweds might have more sensuous things in mind. All of these examples are perfect jumping-off points toward creating extraordinary food baskets.
Preparing Basket Contents
Once you’ve established your food basket theme, the fun begins with creating and collecting contents in order to unify your presentation. As an example, if you’re set on a basket for the newlyweds in your life, source out all the possibilities for sensuous foods and romantic dinner accessories. Bake some decadent cookies or squares and label them as aphrodisiacs or magic love potions. Include candles, romantic music, tantalizing recipes…the key being creative thinking. No matter what your theme, when sourcing out accessories, venture into bulk food shops, dollar stores and party suppliers where you can find inexpensive but fun items to bring it all together.
Packaging
The very nature of a food gift basket should be luscious abundance–a basket should appear to be burgeoning with delectable treats. For this reason it’s important to keep in mind the size(s) of containers/packaging as well as their aesthetic appeal. There exists a profusion of craft shops and wholesale companies catering to gift packaging, which are absolutely worth investigating when ready to package your goods. Sometimes a unique, attractive container can be the jumping-off point for your entire theme.
Of prime importance when assembling a food basket is ensuring the contents are properly contained/sealed whilst maintaining a tantalizing visual appeal. Look to sturdy, reusable containers like attractive metal tins, jars and mugs, which can be filled with a variety of goodies. Ensure cakes and moist foods are well sealed before packaging. And if you are planning to travel with or ship your gift, ensure all items are padded/packed to avoid jarring or spillage. When preparing homemade preserves, look for decorative and colourful jars and bottles that can be properly sealed. In the case of the old Mason jar, cut out some attractive or whimsical fabric to cover the lid and tie on with ribbon or raffia. Gift bags, labels, wrapping and packing materials should all embody complementary visual elements like colour, shape and texture in order to create a unified, tantalizing look.
Shipping
When considering sharing your wares with distant loved-ones, ensure you check with your local post-office for national and international shipping guidelines. Or check out Canada Post for a country listing detailing import restrictions and prohibited items when shipping overseas. Ensure all items are properly sealed and airtight, use sturdy packing materials and avoid shipping highly perishable foods like meats and some cheeses.
When gifting with food and a bit of creativity, possibilities are endless, personal, from the heart and are sure to please each and every recipient.