swhitneyThanksgiving – a time to give thanks – time to give thanks to everyone and everything in our lives. We should be thankful for the wonderful people in our lives who provide us love and light. We should be thankful for being so fortunate to have food on our tables everyday and for the large feast we are probably able to have on Thanksgiving Day.
Having said that, it seems appropriate and probably obvious that this idea of giving thanks would apply to our families. It may include our close friends as well but, for the most part, family is an integral part of the holiday of Thanksgiving.
Sponsored AdPerhaps you are not able to be with your family on Thanksgiving. Perhaps you have another extended family with whom you are spending the Thanksgiving holiday. In either case, if you would like to send a gift, gift basket or token of appreciation for those family members whom you will not see or spend time with at Thanksgiving. As with many gift baskets, this is a perfect time to use a theme for your gift – a theme of Giving Thanks or Thanksgiving.
Now, if you really want to dig in and make your own gift basket to send to your family for the Thanksgiving holiday, you have many possibilities available to you to make your gift memorable and adorable at the same time.
Add Cheese and Crackers
Perhaps you want to send a gift basket with some fall or autumn themed gourmet foods. You could create a gift basket filled with specialty cheeses, gourmet crackers and bread sticks. This could be the after dinner Thanksgiving snack for your out of town family. Or maybe they will enjoy these cheeses and crackers as an appetizer before dinner. If you add a wooden cheese cutting board and cheese knife, your gift recipients will have everything they need to open the gift and enjoy immediately.
Sponsored AdChoose some Fancy Fruit
Another possibility for adding to the cheese themed Thanksgiving gift basket is to add some apples and pears. As an appetizer or snack, sliced apples and pears will be a great addition to the gourmet cheeses. You can simply go to your local grocery store and select individual varieties of different apples.
You can opt for some more high end or gourmet apple varieties such as Fuji apples or Gala apples. A nice apple varietal such as Golden Delicious goes well with cheeses. Some nice pear varietals include Bosc pears and Comice pears which are available in green and red, and sometimes called Christmas Pears due to their red skins. Both of these pears go very well with cheeses.
When picking the fruit, even if you don’t get specific varieties of pears or apples which may be more gourmet, try to pick a variety of colors for the fruits. Making a gift basket colorful is just one of the tricks to making it look more impressive. On the other hand, you could also opt to make the basket in a monotone color theme – focusing on making the colors all in one color family. For this gift, the color green may be the focus. You can certainly find green apples, green pears and even green bottles of wine.
Add a Bottle of Wine
Now if you want to up the ante even more on this cheese and fruit basket, you could opt to add a bottle or two of wine. Choose a wine which goes well with fruit and cheeses. Either a red or white wine can go well with some gourmet fruit and cheeses.
You may want to consider who your recipients are. If your family members or gift recipients do not drink red wine, then choose a white wine. Some good choices for pairing with cheese and crackers are Chardonnay – especially good with softer cheeses such as Brie and Camembert. If you have included some goat cheese in your basket, a good Sauvignon Blanc will go well with those.
If you know that your gift party’s tastes do not include white wine, then you can certainly include a bottle of red wine. You may be better off choosing a lighter red wine so as not to have the red wine overtake the taste and flavors of the cheese. Some nice red wine choices which tend to have a lighter flavor are Pinot Noir and Beaujolais.
Add Both Red and White Wine
And just to throw it out there, if you know your gift recipients like wine – period – then how about including a bottle of both red wine and white wine – just to be sure you please everyone. Oh heck, if we are on this train of thought, why not include a bottle of rose wine too.
Choose Rose Wine
Just so you know, rose wine is making a comeback and there are many good rose wines available today. Rose wine today is akin to polyester of today. You are asking…how are you relating rose wine with polyester? And I say, the polyester of the 1970’s is nothing like the polyester of today. Today, polyester is actually wearable. Back then, it was questionable even though people loved it for it’s wash and wear properties. (the wash and wear part are just a side note 🙂 Polyester was not the nicest fabric but people wore it anyway.
A while ago, people drank rose wine but it was mostly bubbly and not the best wine out there. Today, there are many wineries who are making rose wines which are much finer (and actually drinkable) than in the past.
Choose a Container
So now that you have chosen your cheeses, fruits and wine or wines, put all of your items into a harvest basket, a wicker basket, a cornucopia made of wicker or other, or how about an apple bushel basket – a perfectly themed Thanksgiving Harvest container for your gift basket. Check out some fun and appropriate Thanksgiving gift basket containers.
And as with most gift baskets, your main items for this gift are the gourmet cheeses, crackers, fruit and wine. However, you may want to add some themed decorative items to add to the allure of the gift basket.
Add some Thanksgiving Themed Embellishments
For example, you could add some fall leaves (real or plastic), a Scarecrow center piece decoration, some acorns, or even a small placard with a Give Thanks or Be Thankful message – something as a keepsake for the memory of the basket. Another little gift basket tip: always include something which will be able to be kept, used and loved as a keepsake of the moment and/or occasion. A pumpkin (even though this is not for Halloween) is also suitable due to it’s significance as part of the fall harvest season.
See Thanksgiving Holiday Decorations
Have fun with making this cheese, fruit and wine gift basket for Thanksgiving! And don’t forget to add a large bow and a personalized gift card.
Sponsored AdToo busy? Buy a Pre-Made Thanksgiving Gift Basket
If you have decided that this is just too much effort or is outside of your comfort level, you can always pick a good gift basket company and have one designed, built and sent directly to your family or friends for Thanksgiving. It is so easy to buy a basket and send it that it almost makes the making part much less attractive.
Here is a full and complete Thanksgiving gift basket option for you:
