Make Your Own Christmas Gourmet Gift Basket

For this holiday season, gourmet Christmas gift baskets are an excellent choice. They are usually available already put together around the holidays. However, when looking at the gourmet Christmas gift baskets it would be understandable to think that maybe you are paying more than you should for the contents of the basket. Also, there are always items in the gourmet Christmas gift baskets that look really good and some items that are not as appetizing. By putting together your own gourmet holiday gift baskets you can make something that is a lot of fun, personal, and you can make something that will really reflect your own gourmet taste.

In order to put your gourmet Christmas gift baskets together you will need obviously a basket. If you are looking for a budget option I would suggest looking in local dollar stores or close out stores. You really don't want to spend the bulk of your money on the wrapping. If you wish, you can also use some cellophane to wrap around the basket and some pretty ribbon to tie at the top. If you have chosen a deep basket and you wish to give the basket the appearance of overflowing then you may want to put some tissue material in the bottom to make the basket seem more full. Then it is on to the contents of your gift basket.

Gourmet Wine & Cheese Basket

A wine and cheese basket is a classic Christmas gourmet food basket choice. When you are choosing the items to go into this basket think of the items you would want to have together to make a nice snack along with your wine and maybe some cute wine accessory that they can keep after the contents of the basket are gone.

To find a wine for your Christmas gourmet gift basket I would really suggest going to a wine specialty store. Since they only sell wine they will do a better job of letting you know what a good wine is for the price range you are using. They often will also give you a discount if your buying a larger quantity which is desirable if you are making a lot of gift baskets. Honestly, you can find some really nice wines for about $10.00. I would probably use a Woodbridge wine myself because they are generally pleasing to the pallet without being too expensive. You can put either one or two bottles of wine in the basket.

Next you will need to choose a cheese that will go well with your wine selection. If you would like to make the cheese selection on your own take a look at the wine and cheese pairing selection I found on 2BASnob.com. I find that this is generally a good guide to what cheese flavor I should look for with my wines. If you go to a specialty food store they will allow you to taste the cheeses and give you recommendations. Don't feel odd about requesting a small amount of a cheese that is expensive. In the gift basket you really just want to give a small tasting of items.

Then, you may want to add some additional items to enjoy. A summer sausage is a great meat to go into a basket like this and the saltiness of the meat is really excellent with a lot of wines. You will also want to select a crackers. Something similar to Carr's will do very nicely.

Finally you might want to round out your gift with a wine accessory. If you are crafty you can make some of your own wine charms. I found this article that shows you how to make your own. You can also purchase some like the ones I found here. Or, you can purchase a pretty wine cork like one of these or some cute cheese cutting knifes.

Gourmet Chocolate Basket

For those who love chocolate a gourmet gift basket filled with chocolates is the perfect gift. First you will definitely need to have some truffles for this gift baskets. Some of the more popular ones come from Godiva and Lindt. Lindt has a very cute holiday ornament filled with truffles that they offer around Christmas time. Some other widely recognized gourmet chocolates are Gheradeli. I would recommend either a package of the Geradeli squares or some of their cocoa for a nice warm hot cocoa. If you go to a specialty food store like Fresh Market they will have a nice selection of gourmet chocolate candy bars and some bulk candies. When choosing chocolate bars try to find ones with varying cocoa content and ones that have things in them such as nuts. I would recommend including some chocolate covered pretzels and some additional items from a bulk section of a gourmet food sore. This way you can pick a small amount of a variety of different items to make an excellent chocolate sampler. If you aren't sure if the person you are buying for likes milk chocolate or dark chocolate just make sure to include some of both.

*To dress up a whimsical basket like this I would recommend including a holiday ornament, like the Lindt truffle filled ornament, or something else to give the gift some nice holiday cheer.

Gourmet Breakfast Basket

For the early riser a holiday gift basket of gourmet breakfast goodies would be perfect. A gourmet breakfast gift basket should include something for making breakfast along with some nice beverages.

As gourmet breakfast items I would recommend a gourmet pancake or waffle mix and some high quality maple syrup. Another good breakfast mix would be a nice muffin mix or biscuit mix. A gourmet food store would be a good place to find either of these items. Another good place to look for this would also be the Cracker Barrel restaurant.

For those who really enjoy toast a little selection of gourmet jams can be a nice treat. For a jam selection I would not necessarily recommend a brand. Instead I would recommend that you find something that is different from the selection you normally see and something that has a nice package and comes in a pleasing flavor. Some additional sweetness can be added to this gourmet gift basket by adding some local honey.

Finally, a nice breakfast drink is important. For coffee you can either go with a chain coffee blend such as Starbucks or you can investigate the different seasonal blends that your gourmet food store is carrying. For teas Twinings is available in most grocery stores and comes in sample packs.

To dress up your breakfast basket you may want to use a cute mixing bowl in place of a basket and tie a mixing spoon on top. You could also pack this item along with some holiday mugs.