Take friends with a house in the Hamptons,
add a long weekend invitation, mix with an elegantly packaged
treat you can eat, (remove the price tag; no one needs to know
that you paid under $25) and you have the recipe for a successful
visit to the beach house.
For those without a Hamptons connection, bestowing edible gifts
works effectively on friends with cottages on the Jersey shore,
lakefront property in Maine or hosts with nothing more than an
entertaining spirit and a picnic blanket in Prospect Park.
Just desserts
Luscious would best describe Cranberry Fool ($10.95), a compote
made of cranberries, cherries, currants and golden raisins. No
thickeners or sugar are added so the mixture tastes light and
not too sweet. A touch of vanilla intensifies the pure flavors
of the fruit. As delicious on an English muffin as it is teamed
with meat (think turkey sandwiches on the beach), Cranberry Fool
is a gift that almost guarantees a second invitation. (Blame
the wet towel you left on the bed if there’s no sequel to your
weekend.)
After a long day of frying on the beach no one wants to think
about shopping for dinner, never mind dessert. Your gift bag
of Chukar Cherries ($6.95) to the rescue. Drop a few of these
plump, bittersweet chocolate covered dried cherries over a bowl
of vanilla ice cream and you have a simply delicious dessert
in two-minutes flat.
Mincarelli’s lemon flavored amaretti cookies ($14.95) are the
Tiffany of gourmet gifts. A stout yellow-lidded cardboard box,
sporting a sunny lemon on its label, gets tied up with a big
fluffy yellow bow. Inside, the cookies are moist and tart and
each is twisted like taffy in yellow tissue paper. So chic!
All of the above are available at Garden of Eden [180 Montague
St., between Court and Clinton streets (718) 222-1515].
Giving nature
Your city friends may subsist on a diet of takeout Chinese and
pizza on weeknights, but for weekends away it’s only natural
to want organic. Kris & Pete’s organic strawberry jam ($7.99),
comes in a pretty glass jar with a hand-written label. Twist
off the top and breath in the aroma of sunshine and wild strawberries.
The jam is slightly sweetened and chunky with whole strawberries.
Bring a jar or two with some freshly baked scones (no, they don’t
have to come from your oven) and you’ll have a memorable light
breakfast, snack or late night treat.
Pre-cooked, just add hot water, organic grains are a Mary Jane’s
Farm specialty ($4.15). Each pouch serves one for lunch or two
as a side dish. Try the spicy couscous and lentil curry combination.
The 1940s looking housewives, who appear aproned and smiling
on the bags’ labels, have a Norman Rockwell charm.
Brooklynites who crave a taste of the neighborhood will love
Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie ($3.99, $12.99 and $16.99), which
comes in individual and two multi-serving sizes. The pie looks
deceptively humble, but don’t be fooled. Inside that crisp, crumbly,
graham cracker crust is a filling so understated, so delicately
lime-infused that it makes other lurid green, aftershavish, key
lime pies seem, well, a little tarty.
Fresh greens from a farmer’s market call for a light, herby salad
dressing. Patti and Ralph of Cheshire Garden’s grow herbs for
their "gardens in a bottle" wine vinegars (small $5.29,
large $8.99). Flavors like chili pepper, sweet basil, savory,
oregano and garlic, or my favorite, herbs de Provence with rosemary,
basil, savory, lavender and thyme, will lend a deep, herbal note
to the simplest of salads. The slender bottles, adorned with
a black and white Cheshire cat illustration, look charming in
country kitchens.
Leave no dog unfed. Puppy Patch Bakery makes organic dog treats
in cute white bags with red bows ($4.25). Flavors include carrot
cake crisps, oatmeal crunchies and carob chip cookies. Feed your
host’s pooch a couple of these natural "cookies," and
he’ll beg to wear a bandana and walk along the beach.
All of the above are available at Pumpkins Organic Market
[1302 Eighth Ave. between 13th and 14th streets in Park Slope,
(718) 499-8539]. Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie is also available
at Key Food on Montague Street between Hicks and Henry streets
in Brooklyn Heights.
How sweet
Need a little pick-me-up after a long drive on the L.I.E.? Sweet
Melissa Patisserie makes it’s own granola ($7.95). Sold in little
cellophane bags tied with a bright ribbon, the mix of toasted
oats, almonds, currants, pumpkin seeds and dried cherries, drizzled
with honey and spiced with cinnamon, will boost your energy.
Not a granola fan? This heavenly scented concoction could double
as potpourri.
Ocean breezes and tea on the porch make for an idyllic weekend
afternoon. Bring a box of Sweet Melissa’s petit fours: a dense
chocolate fudge square gets a dusting of gold leaf or try the
delicate nut cake covered with fragile pale pink icing. Each
pink cake is crowned with a tiny violet. What could be sweeter?
(Petit fours are three for $6.75 or five for $11.25.)
Martha would approve of Sweet Melissa’s biscotti. The cranberry
almond biscotti are moister and chewier than most. Offer six
of these crisp treats in a simple white box tied with a red ribbon
($4.50), and your reputation as a gift-giver with taste will
be ensured.
Available at Sweet Melissa Patisserie [276 Court St. between
Butler and Douglass streets in Cobble Hill, (718) 855-3410].
