My Favorite Present to Give Is Truly Good Food

Fighting my way through a crowded store with my arms full of packages is not my cup of tea. My mother loves to shop, but I did not inherit those genes. The part that I detest the most, however, is trying to guess what presents everyone would actually enjoy and appreciate. I used to have this inescapable fear that all of my gift shopping efforts usually resulted in a rushed trip back to the store or, worse, out to the garbage can. I could never develop any sort of confidence about what to get my Grandma or dear Uncle Arthur. Now, I can appreciate the cute shops and the department stores, especially during the holidays, because I can walk through empty handed, unhurried, with all of my shopping finished. I do all my shopping online, now. Well almost all of it.

Online shopping didn’t save my life all by itself. Just because I started using the Web before any of my friends, I still had to make the decisions. And then, around five years ago, or so, I discovered food.

Of course, I actually discovered food when I was still an infant, but it didn’t occur to me as a great gift until I had suffered through many rounds of birthdays, baby showers, and countless other events that seem to always pop up. I received a gift basket of little sausages, spreadable cheeses and plain crackers. It was terrible! At the same time, though, I thought what a great gift this could have been. All they had to change in the gift was the quality of the contents!

Since then, I have been busy conducting research (that’s just my word for “sampling”). I have found online vendors who offer genuine quality for about the same price that you can get that synthetic stuff at the mall. (You know the one I mean, but I’m not about to open myself to a libel or slander charge by naming the brand.) Just like the mall kiosks, the online shops handle all the shipping, gift cards, everything. I know that my gifts will be exceptionally pleasant surprises for all of my gift recipients.

These Internet shops offer everything from gourmet fruit baskets to live lobster dinners (well, they won’t be alive when they are actually eaten), from wine gift baskets to cookie bouquets. The array of gift foods is really quite amazing.

I do keep gift foods around the house, beautifully or cleverly arranged, for my guests who come to my house or for those whom I visit in person during those gift giving times. The Internet provides assistance to me even in these cases, because it is packed full of great ideas for arranging and wrapping gift food.

So join me in thanking the web for teaching me how to walk through an aisle of a store, empty handed, with a huge smile. I can do that, now, just to soak up the spirit of the season, whatever season it happens to be. I’m a tourist when I’m there instead of a frantic shopper.