Friday, November 25, 2022

#HolidayGiftGuide - Texans Will Rejoice with a Gift Basket from TexasFood.com!

 *DISCLOSURE* Thank you to TexasFood.com for providing product samples in order to facilitate this post.  All thoughts are strictly my own. 

Anyone who has visited or lived in Texas knows about the great food.  Since 2008, TexasFood.com has shipped thousands of Texas made foods to customers all over the country, and worldwide. You can buy individual products, premade gift baskets or create your own gift basket full of fantastic Texas made goodies!


Here is a sampling of made in Texas products from TexasFood.com:


Millican Pecan Co Fresh Pecan Halves Burlap Bag

These nuts are fresh from Milican Pecan's orchards. Milican's fresh pecan halves are just the right mix of quality and value. Hand selected to be the best, these raw pecan halves have a crisp texture and leave a pleasant aftertaste. 

Mikey V's Zing Mild Sauce

Zing, is Mikey V's mildest sauce, but is sure a crowd favorite! Using a mild red pepper and fresh garlic, mixed with sugar and vinegar, this versatile sauce can be used as a glaze or dipping sauce. Pairings: serve over cream cheese as an appetizer; all oriental food, chicken, pork, ribs, pizza etc!

Hobi's Bites Spicy Crackers

These delicious crackers are made in Houston and are a great snack. They can be paired with cheese and salad or served with soups and gumbos. Or just simply to snack on with an ice cold beer.  Sales of Hobi's Bites directly help support The Center Houston which promotes the pursuit of choice, growth, and personal independence for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Colorful Popcorn

A festive way to celebrate the holiday!

Brazos River Provisions Company

The freshest ingredients a little cranberry juice, peppers and a lot of cinnamon make this a wonderful Christmas surprise!

Bearded Brothers Old Fashioned Apple Cinnamon Craft Bar

Old-Fashioned Apple Cinnamon is a perfect fall delight, with sweet, crisp apples and warm cinnamon. It's apple pie on the go! 

Lone Star Snack Mix

It's hard to beat this Texas Snack! The bag is the perfect size to satisfy that late afternoon snack attack! 

Cornucopia Holiday Blend Popcorn

Peppermint-infused premium Milk Chocolate drizzled over sweet popcorn for a holiday experience like no other!

All items featured on TexasFood.com are manufactured, cooked, assembled, or otherwise produced in Texas.  It's a fantastic marketplace for Texas food lovers and Texas food manufacturers to come together. You can browse through hundreds of authentic Texas made foods, delivered directly to your door. They have a fantastic variety of Texas gifts, sauces, jellies, seasonings, and mixes. You are sure to find the perfect gift for those who love all things Texas this holiday season!




Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Thursday, November 24, 2022

#HolidayGiftGuide - Warm Up With Delicious Coffee and Tea from Chamberlain Coffee!

 *DISCLOSURE* Thank you to Chamberlain Coffee for providing product samples in order to facilitate this post.  All thoughts are strictly my own. 

Coffee and tea lovers will rejoice with Chamberlain Coffee gifts this holiday season!


Take a look at a few of our favorites:

Chamberlain Coffee Variety Pack

This fun pack includes five varieties and makes a fantastic sampler gift! Included are:

Social Dog
Time for a treat! The kind of brew that’s made for sharing. Full bodied, complex & smooth with notes of milk chocolate, roasted peanuts, brown sugar, and a graham cracker finish. FOMO in a cup. Goes well with gossip.  Can be used for cold brew and for hot coffee.

Early Bird 
This one’s for the early risers. For the get-up and goers. For the ones who get shit done. This light roast is crisp, bright, and complex with a subtle tartness of green apple & citrus, sweet caramel syrup body and a creamy milk chocolate finish. Scientifically proven to make you more productive, or whatever. Cheers!  Can be used for cold brew and for hot coffee.


Night Owl
All-nighters encouraged. Woke and wise, this is the essential midnight oil rose. Rich and velvety, toasty and creamy with notes of dark chocolate, honey sweetness, and toasted walnuts. With this blend, the night is always young.  Can be used for cold brew and for hot coffee.

Family Blend 
The original and first blend that we all know and love. 
The ultimate coffee crowd pleaser. This is the blend where it all began. A rich and vibrant medium roast with a juicy complexity similar to biting into a chocolate covered cherry. Drink it. Share it. Ruin your favorite sweater with it. Just don't forget to enjoy! Can be used for cold brew and for hot coffee.

Careless Cat 
 Calling all introverts. This one is for those who just can’t rn. A more relaxed, half-caffeinated blend for when you just want to chill. A smooth, sweet, and balanced roast with warm notes of toasted almonds, semi-sweet chocolate, butterscotch candy, and raisin. Can be used for cold brew and for hot coffee.

Sneaky Bat Pumpkin Spice Blend

Take flight with the perfect cup, day or night. This pumpkin-flavored blend is the ultimate seasonal favorite, featuring creamy notes of cinnamon and cocoa.

Gentle Hummingbird Chai

Be whisked away with the delicate aromas and exciting flavors of a carefully brewed cup of tea. Our chai is a vegan blend made with oat milk, natural vanilla, and cinnamon, giving you the very best quality! 

We really love everything we've tried from Chamberlain Coffee and they are a really great company! They work with Food4Farmers to ensure long-term food security for families within coffee-farming communities. They focus on making the best possible coffee, by meeting the best possible standards and labor practices. Freshly roasted in California, all of their coffee are certified USDA Organic, using only the best ingredients.  With the future in mind, they try to include as many environmentally friendly materials as possible without degrading the coffee.  Whew!  All that and great coffee and tea?  Treat yourself and the coffee and tea lovers on your gift list with something from Chamberlain Coffee this holiday season!



Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

#HolidayGiftGuide - Get the Whole Family Active with Nintendo Switch Sports! + Nintendo Holiday Deals

  *DISCLOSURE* Thank you to Nintendo for providing product samples in order to facilitate this post.  All thoughts are strictly my own. 

Video games are always a hot gift idea and this year you can give the whole family the gift of active entertainment with Nintendo Switch Sports!


Not only super fun for family game night but playing is a great way to get everyone active – from kicking and spiking to swinging and beyond – with a choice between soccer, volleyball, bowling, tennis, badminton and chambara!


Bring the thrill of your favorite sports to life, in your living room or online globally, in the continuation of the Wii Sports™ series!


Take the competition online, rise through the ranks, and earn in-game rewards. Strive to reach the Pro League in every sport!


Your Sportsmate is your avatar in Spocco Square, a sprawling complex where all the sports matches are held. Customize your Sportsmate’s appearance and add wild accessories to capture your unique style. You can even use your Mii™ character! Earn more items by playing online in random matchmaking to change your look over time.


Get moving* with Soccer, Volleyball, Bowling, Tennis, Badminton, and Chambara (Swordplay) using Joy-Con™ controllers! Controls are intuitive, so you can hit the court (or lanes, or field, or arena) and get started. With controlled motions you can curve your bowling ball, add spin to a tennis shot, or even use a Joy-Con with the Leg Strap accessory to kick the ball in a Soccer Shootout. 


Every family can benefit from a little more time being active together.  Gift your family with Nintendo Switch Sports and be their hero this holiday season!

Read on to find out more about great Holiday Deals from Nintendo!

 As the holiday season draws closer, Nintendo is spicing up the festivities with Black Friday offers that let families explore fun ways to spend time together during this special time of year and beyond. Starting Nov. 20, select retailers and the My Nintendo Store will offer the Nintendo Switch w/ Neon Blue & Neon Red Joy-Con + Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Full Game Download) + 3 Month Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership* bundle at a suggested retail price of just $299.99 (a $70 value**).

The Nintendo Switch bundle is just one of many Black Friday offerings that entertain and engage the whole family. Other offers include a $20 discount on Mario Party SuperstarsThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s AwakeningFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and BRAVELY DEFAULT II at select retailers, bringing their suggested retail price to only $39.99 each during the Black Friday promotion. Also included is 33% off the WarioWare: Get it Together! and Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain games, as well as a $40 savings on Mario Kart Live: Home Circuitwhich brings the thrill of the Mario Kart series to the real world at a suggested retail price of only $59.99.***

A variety of digital deals will also be available for Black Friday in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch. Details about promotion timing and featured games will be announced at a later date.

“This holiday season, we want to give even more families the opportunity to get together and experience everything the Nintendo Switch system has to offer,” said Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser. “Our Black Friday Nintendo Switch bundle and deals on games make this the perfect season for families looking to connect and spend quality time together.”

Families can also discover even more gameplay options with the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. This paid membership offers the same great features as the Nintendo Switch Online membership, including online play, save data cloud and a library of NES and Super NES games, with the addition of classic Nintendo 64 and SEGA Genesis games and access to select downloadable content, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course PassSplatoon 2: Octo Expansion and Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise, at no additional cost.

Outside of this year’s Black Friday specials, Nintendo has plenty of other gift ideas for holiday shoppers to consider. This includes the Nintendo Switch – OLED Model system, which has a similar overall size to the Nintendo Switch system, but with a larger, vibrant 7-inch OLED screen, a wide adjustable stand for tabletop mode, a dock with a wired LAN port (LAN cable sold separately), 64GB of internal storage, and enhanced audio for handheld and tabletop play (suggested retail price $349.99). Just like Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch – OLED Model allows players to play on the TV and share the detachable Joy-Con controllers for right-out-of-the-box multiplayer fun. Plus, the system can be taken on the go to enjoy its play-anywhere versatility. For gamers on the go, there’s also Nintendo Switch Lite, a compact and lightweight handheld system with built-in controllers for those who prefer to take their adventures with them (suggested retail price $199.99).

Recently launched games like Splatoon 3Nintendo Switch Sports and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope are also currently available, with upcoming games Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet launching exclusively for Nintendo Switch on Nov. 18.

Visit the Nintendo Holiday Gift Guide to learn more about what Nintendo has to offer this holiday season at https://www.nintendo.com/store/holiday-gifts/. You can also visit Nintendo.com to find these Black Friday offerings and participating retailers, as well as ongoing and upcoming deals on digital titles at https://www.nintendo.com/holiday/deals/.



Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

#HolidayGiftGuide - Get That Fresh Pine Smell with an Oil Diffuser Tree Decoration from Ulta-Lit!

 *DISCLOSURE* Thank you to Ulta-Lit Tree Company for providing product samples in order to facilitate this post.  All thoughts are strictly my own. 

Just in time for holiday decorating, the scent of Christmas is back. Ulta-Lit Tree Company, the world's foremost leader and innovator of Christmas light set repair technology, has a new holiday fragrance home diffuser–the ScenTree.


Artificial trees are booming in popularity - especially given the anticipated natural Christmas tree shortage and high costs in multiple regions across the U.S. due to droughts and wildfires. Yet, while an artificial tree may look like the real thing… it can't smell like one. Until now.

Ulta-Lit has spent the last 10 years creating, testing and perfecting the unique delivery method. They use a proprietary blend of aromatic oils that combines the scent of a Christmas tree with the festive and nostalgic scents of cooking, cocktails and more.


The leading holiday fragrance product disburses only four grams of oil in 30 days. However, the tree-shaped ScenTree disburses over 10 grams of oil in that same timeframe. It utilizes a unique diffuser that hangs from the tree and brings a genuine and immersive Christmas experience to any room in the home.


The ScenTree can either hang on a tree or be used freestanding with its table top base. Once the aromatic oil is absorbed into the ScenTree, its fragrance will last at least 30 days, and it can spread its scent through a room that's up to 12 x 12 x 8 feet. By comparison, the market-leading solution fragrances a much smaller area. The ScenTree and its tabletop base are made from biodegradable sugar cane, and the oil is made in the United States.

Get in the spirit and get decorating with ScenTree!



Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

#HolidayGiftGuide - Give the Gift of Healthy Fresh Produce with Farmer Jones Farm!

  *DISCLOSURE* Thank you to Farmer Jones Farm at The Chef's Garden for providing product samples in order to facilitate this post.  All thoughts are strictly my own. 

In my opinion, food always makes a great gift, especially fresh from the garden produce.  If you don't have a garden of your own, Farmer Jones Farm has got you covered!  

Whether you want to give the gift of beautiful, healthy produce or you are looking for a source of delicious, fresh produce for your own table, they are sure to have something that will make your taste buds happy this holiday season!


Farmer Jones Farm offers so many great fresh, seasonal items as well as handmade gifts that are sure to be a hit this holiday season and beyond!  


You can buy items a la carte or get a seasonal box of goodies shipped straight to your door.  With the box, you will receive a selection of seasonal, nutrient-dense, flavor-rich food that will revolutionize the kitchen. 


As soon as Farmer Jones Farm receives your order, they head to the field, harvest your produce, and get it on its way to you. It’s like having your own garden, but without the work. 


 Think of them as your own personal farmer!

You can sign up for a recurring order to be delivered to your door as often as you'd like. Customize your delivery frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) and you can change, pause, or cancel at any time.


You can choose the box size that works best for your family:

Small - Best for 1-2 people for approximately one week.

Medium - Best for 3-4 people for approximately one week.  


They also have plenty of one-time boxes that make perfect gifts.  


Depending upon the season, the farmer’s market delivery box may contain a mix of fresh lettuce and greens, a mix of root crop, potatoes, cruciferous, sweet potatoes, and the best microgreens and herbs.   


Everything featured in this post was part of The Farm Experience Box and it is the ultimate holiday gift!


This box is full of the most beautiful produce, some really stunning goodies that might be hard to find anywhere else this time of year.


These treats would take any menu up a notch and encourage creativity and healthy eating!


Who wouldn't love a box full of gorgeous produce?


The gourmet Farm Experience also includes:


Cut Honeycomb

Waxy comb with silky smooth honey!


Marmalade

One of The Chef’s Garden's newest collaborations is with Prospect Jam Company, an artisan jam and marmalade company located in Ohio.  They offer a great line of jams using the freshest produce.  We love these!  We've tried all of the flavors and they go great on toast or biscuits for a breakfast bursting with garden fresh flavor!

Flowerhouse Soap

The same beautiful flowers and herbs used in chef’s recipes are now available as part of the Blossom Bar Soap: viola, tuberose, mica clay. Hand made in Amish country, it uses the violas that are grown with love.

Oryza Green Tea


Market Tote


Perfect for shopping, picnics, or grocery trips. Lightweight, yet sturdy enough to keep contents safe and secure. This tote features The Chef's Garden philosophy on growing vegetables slowly and gently in full accord with nature.

Another great gift idea for those home chef's on your gift list is this lovely cookbook, which also comes with the Farm Experience Box:

The Chef's Garden: A Modern Guide to Common and Unusual Vegetables


About the book:
Near the shores of Lake Erie is a family-owned farm with a humble origin story that has become the most renowned specialty vegetable grower in America. After losing their farm in the early 1980s, a chance encounter with a French-trained chef at their farmers' market stand led the Jones family to remake their business and learn to grow unique ingredients that were considered exotic at the time, like microgreens and squash blossoms. 


They soon discovered chefs across the country were hungry for these prized ingredients, from Thomas Keller in Napa Valley to Daniel Boulud in New York City. Today, they provide exquisite vegetables for restaurants and home cooks across the country.


The Chef's Garden grows and harvests with the notion that every part of the plant offers something unique for the plate. From a perfect-tasting carrot, to a tiny red royal turnip, to a pencil lead-thin cucumber still attached to its blossom, The Chef's Garden is constantly innovating to grow vegetables sustainably and with maximum flavor. It's a Willy Wonka factory for vegetables.


In this guide and cookbook, The Chef's Garden, led by Farmer Lee Jones, shares with readers the wealth of knowledge they've amassed on how to select, prepare, and cook vegetables. Featuring more than 500 entries, from herbs, to edible flowers, to varieties of commonly known and not-so-common produce, this book will be a new bible for farmers' market shoppers and home cooks. With 100 recipes created by the head chef at The Chef's Garden Culinary Vegetable Institute, readers will learn innovative techniques to transform vegetables in their kitchens with dishes such as Ramp Top Pasta, Seared Rack of Brussels Sprouts, and Cornbread-Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms, and even sweet concoctions like Onion Caramel and Beet Marshmallows.


The future of cuisine is vegetables, and Jones and The Chef's Garden are on the forefront of this revolution.


My thoughts:
This cookbook is gorgeous!  It is full of really great information on amazing produce and, of course, tons of superb recipes to help elevate your menu plan with the help of those lovely ingredients!  It is a true treasure trove for anyone who enjoys cooking.


What a fantastic assortment of gift ideas that can be purchased separately or together in the Farm Experience Box!  We are super impressed with the freshness and variety of all of the veggies! By eating wholesome foods, Mother Nature will provide you and your family with vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.  Plus, as a result of Farmer Jones Farm's regenerative farming practices, they have found that their products can contain up to 200 to 500% more mineral content than the USDA average!  You'd be hard-pressed to beat that!

Give the gift of beautiful and nutritious home grown garden-fresh produce and goodies from Farmer Jones Farm at The Chef's Garden this holiday season!



Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.