OT– Online Food Shopping

Hello,
I'm in the process of buying gifts on–line and I have a quick question.
Over the years, I've bought food items from Hickory Farms, Figis and
Swiss Colony.
I've bought them for friends but never for myself. So, I have no idea
which of
the three companies make the tastiest treats.
And I have yet to buy anything from Harry & David though I get their
catalog from time to time.
Which company do you guys think make the best tasting food items?
Oh, btw. I looooove on–line shopping!
Visited JC Penny, Nordstrom, Bluefly, Amazon, Target and I am having a
field day.
I am also not the only one. Everyone at work has been on–line shopping
and what a stress buster it is. And yes. I'm fortunate enough to work
for a company that lets us do stuff like this. Heck, even our
president goes
on–line shopping. :)

I'm not at all impressed with any of the food gift companies. The items
are generally of mediocre quality and the sizes are very small for the
price. I have a coworker who gives that crap every year and I
immediately regift it without even opening the packing box.

of the three you are mentioning, the Hickory Farms Sausages and beef
sticks are what they are known for.
you might want to think of these options too
sees candy
williams sonoma
dean and delucca
ethel M
omaha steaks
yes they are candy and gourmet stores–– but they have a great quality
and presentation
Stevie

In article <1133401625.876151.223...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"scorpio00g...@cs.com" <scorpio00g...@cs.com> wrote:
Which company do you guys think make the best tasting food items?
I agree, although I think my description would be less generous than
yours :) Hickory Farms, Swiss Colony and Figis all sell really lousy
food (if you could call it food. Hickory Farms "summer sausage",
anyone?! BLECH! If I'm going to eat anything that fatty then it has to
taste a LOT better than that.) I wouldn't even be willing to regift this
type of stuff. It's the sort of food I just leave in a common area at
work with a note: "Please feel free to take anything you want from this
pile. Anything not taken by the end of the day will be thrown out before
I leave."
OTOH, I do think that there are companies with excellent quality foods
that are suitable for gift–giving. I tend to assemble my own gourmet
food baskets with individually selected items I pick out by browsing the
aisles. I really enjoy tailoring a food basket to the tastes of the
person I'll be giving it to. For example, if someone likes teas, I find
fine teas, some novel ones (e.g. I forget the brand but there's a
company that makes gorgeous tea "bags" in the shape of a fairly rigid
but sheer white silk pyramid. Some of the teas may include flowers so
the effect is very pretty). For sure, I always include a few items from
Stonewall Kitchen in Maine (stonewallkitchen.com) They make amazing
jams, dessert toppings and fruit butters and I tend to pick which ones I
want in the basket based on what I know about the giftee's food likes
and dislikes. These products tend to get major raves from giftees and
I'm often asked where they can be purchased once they've finished them
off.
Personally, I'm partial to the following items:
Pink Grapefruit Marmalade (this is on my "to die for" condiments list.
The pink grapefruit smell and flavor are very pronounced)
White Nectarine Jam
Peach Amaretto Jam
Wild Maine Blueberry Jam
Caramel Apple Butter
Maple Vanilla Pear Butter
Maple Pumpkin Butter
Coffee Caramel Sauce
Black Cherry Cognac Sauce (excellent on chocolate–based desserts)
White Chocolate Orange Sauce
Stacy

Rhee wrote:
Harry & David does have good fruit and dried fruit things, and I LOVE
their Moose Munch – it's dangerous.

For several years I've bought tea from two places in San Francisco
www.imperialtea.com and www.tenren.com The Imperial Tea Court has
many unusual teas and lovely accessories.
I live in the land of fruit and nuts but my favorite place for purchases
is www.bouquetoffruit.com
I'll admit to buying gifts from Figis and Hickory Farms. The relatives
always appreciated them as they are not foodies and really didn't expect
anything different.
This year I ordered the Hediard fruit candies from Dean and De Luca as a
gift for my son's bosses. I purchased items from the Popcorn Factory
and I always order Collins Street bakery fruitcakes for relatives in
North Dakota and Canada.
Audrey

Stacy Ferguson wrote:
I think this may be the tea company you're thinking of? www.teaforte.com
I've been thinking about ordering a set for myself and one as a gift. If
you say they go over well as gifts, I might be ordering!
– Z

In article <l3yjf.28960$tV6.22...@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net>,
Zahra <violetwili...@goaway.gmail.com> wrote:
Yes! That's it, thanks! They do go over well. They're esthetically
pleasing, indulgent and I think they're pretty gifts for tea drinkers.
Stacy

The items from Stonewall Kitchens are great – gave dh the mustard
lover's collection last yr. and he's still eating his way thru it.
Nice reusable jars too – removable lables, that is. Sent the blueberry
jam to a friend – she loved it.

"Rhee" <rhianno...@att.net> wrote in message
news:1133400062.501236.322...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
I've had some excellent food from Harry & David. Also great citrus from
Harvey's Groves in Florida (killer ruby red grapefruit and honeybell
tangelos). Of course, if your giftee is already living in Florida, you
might want to send something from the north country. New Hope Mills, a
small, old–fashioned water–powered mill, produces a variety of pancake mixes
and syrups. I think it's organic. They have gift packages that are
simple; everyone I've sent them to has said I could repeat the gift anytime.
www.newhopemills.com . (No affiliation.)
I had to shop Walmart and BJ's today, largely to outfit one of my kids who
has just moved into his first apartment. Walmart was mobbed. If you forget
something on one side of the store, it's like a marathon to get back to it;
I leave without half the stuff on my list.
humbugfarb

x–no–archive: yes
Stacy Ferguson wrote:
oooh, I wish I worked where you do. I love Hickory Farms summer
sausage.
and while these sound delicious, there's not one thing on that list
someone in my position (two diabetics in the house) would be able to
eat. Things like this around the house are just a temptation and get
re–gifted before they ever come home.
If you think of the name of that tea place, please post it...that would
be the perfect gift for someone on my list!!
CV
P.S. Kudos to you on that cartful of toys for Toys for Tots. People
like you make the holidays brighter for many children, and while they
don't get to say it in person, I know that come Dec.25 their parents
will be sending you a heartfelt thank you.

In article <438E8BC7.6FC5F...@att.net>,
Celestia Vianello <CelestiaViane...@att.net> wrote:
That's definitely true and I usually don't give food gifts at all to
either diabetics or people who are trying to lose weight (my mother had
juvenile diabetes but drank tea several times a day; she was Japanese so
that was a given. That's probably why the teas especially appeal to me.
Japanese people are seriously into how food is presented and she loved
flowers, so these teas would have been absolutely perfect for her).
Another poster did find the teas I was talking about, fortunately, and
posted the teaforte.com site.
Stacy

In article <l3yjf.28960$tV6.22...@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net>,
Zahra <violetwili...@goaway.gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks again for finding the site for me. The last time I purchased them
was while I lived in Dallas and I don't know where to find them in the
DC area. I just realized that while it's still not cheap by any stretch
of the imagination, the price of the sets directly from teaforte.com are
lower than I've paid for them in the past through retail stores! Not
only that, but one of the sets is $15, my Secret Santee at work is a tea
drinker and I don't know all that much about her otherwise. The limit
for gifts is $10–15 and I can hit the $15 on the nose this way! I'm
fairly certain I've paid $20–25 for that set in the past.
Stacy

"val189" <gwehr...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:1133442394.702489.145...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I'm glad I kept that catalogue. The mustard lover's collection is
something my husband would like.

Thank you all for the honest feedback and suggestions.
I assumed that Hickory Farms, Figis, etc. were at least of decent
quality since they do not come cheap. I admit, I'm now somewhat
embarrassed that I gave them out as gifts to friends!
I can't help thinking that I hope I didn't offend them...
I'm not a food afectionado (food tastes all the same to me) but I know
some people have more discriminating tastes than me so I'm glad for the
input.
And I must say I'm having fun checking out the various websites others
have mentioned.
Especially the tea website. I love tea... Perhaps I'll give that out
as gifts this year as something different. Although, there's one
friend of mine who loves Hickory Farms sausages so I think I'll
continue that tradition.

cofarb wrote:
Oh, that's nice to know. I've wanted to purchase various things form
them
but wasn't sure how tasty their items were.
Don't you hate that! I do. I can be quite military, hostile and very
Type A over things like that. That' why I love on–line shopping (until
my computer crashes) but it beats the hassle of running to and fro,
waiting, getting all hot and bothered because because it's 20 degrees
outside but 80 degrees inside. Uggh!
After this, I'm heading out to Macy's with my friend and I am so not
looking forward to it. She even warned me by saying that she's going
to take some time (she's going to buy bras), it may be a long wait,
things may not get done in a timely fashion...basically she's saying
not to get all hostile on her. I promised her that I won't, she looked
skeptical, so I finally said I'll go upstairs to the food court to
stuff my face if I find myself getting all annoyed. :)

The Royal Riviera pears are excellent.


"Rhee" <rhianno...@att.net> wrote in message
news:1133454856.492614.17...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

"cofarb" <do...@cofarb.com> wrote in message
news:_92dnZLeD4bg8xPeRVn–...@adelphia.com...
H&D has the world's best customer service.
This summer I received a box that was sent via USPS and just dumped on my
front porch (in 120 degrees!). Needless to say, the fruit was baked and the
cheese melted.
I sent them an email asking if I should report the problem to them of the
USPS, and received a reply the next morning – in the form of a brand new
shipment send overnight!

In my own opinion, my wife has bought Figi's & Swiss Colony for us at
the Holidays, they are both good. We received a gift box of
HickoryFarms from her sister, without being rude we thanked her & sent
her a SwissColony catalog. The stuff that came from HickoryFarms was
down right nasty. The meat was fatty, the cheese was way high in sodium
& made me think of generic VelVeeta. The mustards were good, and the
box was pretty. We wondered why the "food" inside didn't need
refridgeration. Sorry, if you like HickoryFarms, we ended up giving it
away to a staff members teenage boy & his friends.
"Over 200 Gourmet Flavored Syrups to choose from, most available in
SugarFree. Think outside the cup, Flavored Syrups are for more than
just great coffee.. Free Recipes. www.MorningFlavors.Com "

I forgot to add, I've had apples from here and they're very good:
http://www.applelovers.com/
Nadya