The GayWeddingGear.com Blog

August 27, 2010

Top Food Gifts – Best Food Wedding Gifts

So I was thinking the other day when I started prepping for Labor Day in Rehoboth Beach that not enough people are giving out food wedding gifts anymore.  With more and more Foodies getting hooked on cooking and more and more people loving wine and cheese gift baskets, why are people not giving out as many food wedding gift baskets and food gifts for couples getting married.

You have tons of things to choose from from picnic baskets and wine carriers to designer olive oils and balsamic glazes and vinegars and even small independent and unique food gifts like fresh blue crabs fished from the Chesapeak Bay in Maryland.  I love giving and getting food gifts and there is always a perfect food gift for just about everyone.

You can do fruit baskets for people on diets or people who are healthy.  My personal favorites are oils or chocolate gift baskets and some people love designer cookie gifts and gift baskets.  You can order expensive ones from over priced designer stores or you can order from independent companies and smaller farms that produce their own jellies and jams gift baskets.  There are tons of foodie gifts and foodie wedding gift baskets that you can find online so I wanted to share a few of my personal favorite shops and a random foodie wedding gift basket that they carry which everyone will love, whether they are a foodie or not.  Please feel free to visit the site if you want to see a larger selection of foodie wedding gifts and food wedding gift baskets and don’t forget to come back here to leave a comment and tell us how you liked your favorite foodie wedding gift basket.

God, I think I am completely going to have to go on a chocolate binge right now and make a seriously fabulous dinner after making this post.  Maybe I’ll wait until Monday when it is my turn to host dinner here.  I feel like Ina from the Food Network lol.  She is absolutely fabulous and her dinners are pretty good to.  =0).

Ghirardelli Gift Baskets

Ok, if you cannot tell that I am obsessed with chocolate than you have not been reading this blog long enough.  Although Ghirardelli was never on my top ten list of chocolates that I thought of first, I recently got invited to a party at a Blogging and Marketing conference where Ghirardelli sponsored an invite only event and featured everything from their line.  They had chocolate covered strawberries, martinis, these little discs, the famous Ghirardelli squares and even the brand new dark chocolate ones.  After stuffing my face and myself full of chocolate everything for about 3 hours, I became hooked and fell in love with Ghirardelli chocolates so I highly recommend that you all buy a Ghirardelli Chocolate Gift Basket for a wedding present and also buy some for yourself,,,,since you are already on the site.  What’s even better is that since the bride will probably be on a diet, and the grooms to for a gay wedding (except for the bears) since you have to keep your size to fit into your tuxes or dresses, you can easily stop by and say, wow look how nice that is then jump in and have some of theirs.  Ohh ya, I am that tacky that I would try to eat a chocolate gift basket that I bought for someone else.  Chocolate is my favorite addiction which is why when I buy chocolate gifts I always order one for myself too so I leave their chocolate gift basket alone. Click the image to the left to go to the Ghirardelli website where you can find all of their fabulous Ghirardelli Chocolate wedding gifts and gift baskets.

http://www.CookieSurprises.com

Cookie Surprises Cookie Gifts

So what I love about the site Cookie Surprises is that instead of having a traditional cookie bouquet or cookie gift basket, they hand wrap each cookie individually and you can choose separates.  Because you can choose cookie separates, you can easily do a hand wrapped gift box with two grooms cookies or a hand wrapped gift box with two brides cookies.  You can then choose rainbows, stars, frogs or any other type of cookie to go in the box or if you want to keep it simple just the two cookies.  Cookie Surprises offers a ton of varieties since you get to choose which cookies go in which gift baskets and can customize them for any occasion.

Deluxe Appetizer Plate Gift Basket Deluxe Appetizer Plate Gift Basket – $ 76.95
Here is a great assortment to serve in an appetizer platter or as part of a tapas menu.

We begin with Italian Hot Cherry Peppers stuffed with tuna, anchovies, capers and parsley in wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. We include a bottle of Spanish olive mix. Next, we add heirloom Cannellini beans from the province of Lucca (Cannellini di Lucca) which are cooked until tender and then flavored with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and sage. Tuscan White Bean Appetizer is delicious as an instant antipasto or side dish. We can’t think of many things that pair as beautifully with the bean appetizer as a fine grade tuna such as the Tonnino Ventresca brand which we also include. An out of the ordinary gourmet treat can be found in the whole Cipolline Onions is Balsamic. Last, but not least, we include a bag of Castellana Italian Traditional Crostini. Castellana is a family run bakery in Apullia, Italy.

We place everything in a reusable, wooden shaker style hatbox to present as a memorable gift only for the very special.

Microbrewery Kit – $ 99.99
The Coopers Brewery Microbrewery Kit is the world’s best selling beer making kit for good reason. It is designed to give you everything you need to brew 6 gallons of your own high quality, completely natural, great tasting beer every time.
Organic Celebration Fruit Basket – $ 99.95
From springtime blossoms to autumn’s harvest, The Fruit Company’s delectable organic fruit celebrates nature’s abundance.
Gourmet Pasta Sampler Gift Basket – $ 67.95
We believe pasta is one of the most versatile food products available. With all of its shape variations and the myriad of sauce combinations, the possiblilities are practically endless.

Our Gourmet Pasta Sampler offers some familiar and some quite unique pasta cuts to enjoy. We begin with Croxetti, pasta discs in the shape of coins each stamped with a stalk of wheat. They are wonderful with substantial sauces such as pesto or walnut sauce.

Next we offer Troffiette. This thin, tight twist shaped pasta has the appearance of being hand rolled and then “pinched” at each end. It is commonly served with basil pesto or walnut pesto since its twisted shape holds these sauces nicely.

Trofiette is also delicious when served with fresh seasonal vegetables like green beans or spinach served with pancetta or potatoes in a rich meat based broth. Try trofiette with butter and fresh herbs served with a meaty fish or with shellfish.

Gnocchi are similar to potato dumplings. They are elegant served with a butter-sage sauce, and rustic and homey with a tomato based sauce.

Farro is an excellent grain which is a precursor of wheat and much easier to digest. It has a bit of a nutty flavor but works well with most sauce preparations. We offer two cuts of Farro pasta—Rigatini and Pizzichi.

We complete our selection with two small cuts of pasta which work well with soups as well as salads—Orzo, which is very similar to rice, and Fregola Sarda which is a bit like a large grain couscous.

The entire pasta collection is presented in a beribboned gift box and suits any gift- giving occasion.


August 25, 2010

Personalized grill sets – monogrammed grilling gifts


Grill & Golf BBQ Tool Set

Price: 32.00These grill gift sets and golf bag themed bbq tool sets are the perfect marriage of two great hobbies, golf and outdoor or indoor grilling.  These bbq gift sets not only make the perfect groomsmen gifts or even bridemaids gifts for foodie brides, but they also make a great birthday gift or even wedding gift for the happy couple.  You can put one initial on the left, one on the right and their last name initial in the middle.

Personalized Grillmaster Apron

Price: 42.99This lightweight and fabulous personalized grill gift set is a grilling apron that makes the perfect gift for the grill master or grill mistress in your family. Fashioned in two-tone blue and black, this easy care apron includes an adjustable neck strap and back tie. With plenty of spacious pockets, this apron is like a toolbox for the grill. May be personalized with a monogram..

So I am completely not ready for Summer and bbq season to be over.  This is when I wished I lived in Texas so I could be just starting grilling season.  Not only do they get to enjoy a great spicey bbq all winter long in the perfectly warm weather but Texans really take pride in the bbq.

The thing is though that great bbq is not just limited to Texas but you have sweet bbq in Georgia, slightly spicey in Tenesse, thick and molasses in Alabama and a really nice cayanne pepper based one in Louisiana.  In California you get cilantro and lemon and in the West you get chipolte and tex mex styled bbq.  With the exception of Tenesse these states get to enjoy a fabulous winter season of grilling and bbq and the perfect way to kick off the winter grilling season in southern states, as well as the West and Southern California is by buying the chef a monogrammed grilling gift set.

Not only do men and women love grill gift sets for their bbq’s but they will also always use them as they serve a purpose and help to encourage them to do something they love.  Monogrammed grill gift sets are not only practical but there are personalized grill gift sets and tools in all styles, amounts and price ranges.

You can buy grill gift sets that come with aprons and toolbelts, ones that have automatic lighters and funny sayings or you can stick to a smaller and more affordable set that has the tools and a holder like a fork, tongs and a spatula.   No matter which monogrammed grilling gift set you buy the man or woman who you buy it for will love it and will think of you all winter long while they enjoy cooking steaks, burgers and other great bbq foods.

July 13, 2010

Bullet Express As Seen On TV

Filed under: As Seen On TV, Wedding Gift — Tags: , , — rollerbladerdc @ 10:13 pm

If you cannot tell I get completely hooked on all things As Seen On TV.  Because wedding gifts are usually housewares and appliances, when I saw the infomercial running for Bullet Express I instantly thought that it may make the perfect wedding gift since it is not only cool, but it is seriously multifunctional and because the infomercial got me hooked.

Bullet Express Food Processor As Seen On TV

The Bullet Express is the brand new and fabulous food processor you’ve seen on tv. Not only is it created by the same people who brought us another favorite As Seen On TV product, the Magic Bullet, but the Bullet Express food processor is even more versatile and can help you to prepare countless numbers of oven and cooking ready meals in 8 minutes or less. That is why the Bullet Express is also known as the 8 minute meal machine. So what can your Bullet Express do and why would you want one?

Bullet Express slices food.

One thing that I love about the Bullet Express and that I had seen in the infomercial is that it slices just about everything. The Bullet Express slices mushrooms and shreds cheese for pizza. It can slice your vegetables for salads and even slice up chicken for stirfrys. Slicing food not only takes forever when you have to do it with a knife and by hand, but when you have to slice and chop onions, your eyes pay the price as well. Take the work and the smells out of slicing fruits, vegetables and meats and start enjoying oven ready foods like pizza in 8 minutes or less.

Bullet express makes dough.

You can actually use your BulletExpress machine to combine and blend ingredients together to make your favorite doughs. You can use the BulletExpress to combine the ingredients for pizza dough so after you prep the dough you can set it in the fridge to get it ready and while that is prepping you can use your BulletExpress machine to start slicing your favorite topping and shred your favorite pizza cheeses so that you can make almost the entire pizza from scratch with just one machine. You’ll still need the oven to cook it though.

Not only does the BulletExpress make pizza dough, but it also preps bread dough, you can mix together pie dough and basically almost all other types of doughs and I am also guessing pastry doughs so that you can enjoy your day instead of having to spend hours blending and mixing ingredients together.

Desserts.

Did you know that you can also use your Bullet Express Food Processor to make desserts. Ok, well not actually cook them but you can put in apples so that they shoot out right into the apple pie pan. You can also use it to slice up your favorite fruits and food toppings for your ice cream sundays and even slice up fruits for the toppings of tarts and fancy cakes. Almost every pastry or dessert tastes better with fruit so you can use your Bullet Express food processor to prep and slice your fruit for your favorite desserts.

Meatloafs and more.

One thing that most food processors cannot do or at least do well is chop up entire turkey breasts and blend it with seasonings and other ingredients to create family favorites like rosemary turkey meatloaf. Just drop the turkey breasts and seasonings into the Bullet Express food processor and be ready to enjoy an oven ready turkey and rosemary meatloaf in under 8 minutes (according to the Bullet Express infomercial at least). You can also use it to mix together your favorite burgers and flavors for grill outs and grilling or even grinding up chicken breasts to make chicken burgers and other chicken dishes.

There are tons of Bullet Express recipes out there and if you have your own favorite Bullet Express recipe and want to share it, you can leave the Bullet Express recipe here in the comments section.

Where can you Buy Bullet Express?

You can Buy Bullet Express around the world now. Bullet Express has recently become available in the UK, Australia, Canada and even Scandinavia.  My preference is to always shop through Amazon for these things because you can usually find a great price regardless if you are looking for products like the Bullet Express UK or USA or Austrailia.

Although I don’t own my own Bullet Express yet, I cannot wait to Buy one for myself, I just have to wait for my current food processor to break. I think after seeing the infomercial one more time it might accidentally fall off the kitchen counter and I may end up having to buy Bullet Express for myself.

June 29, 2010

Fushigi Ball Fushigi Magic Ball As Seen On TV

Filed under: As Seen On TV, Wedding Gift — Tags: , , — rollerbladerdc @ 6:23 pm


Ok, I was watching tv today and I saw a brand new infomercial come on.  It was for the magic Fushigi Ball.  When watching the commercial for Fushigi Ball I wasn’t really sure what to think of it but it did look cool.  The show didn’t really say what the Magic Gravity Defying Fushigi Ball actually does, but it did go over the tricks you can do with it and that is what got me thinking that the Fushigi Magic Ball may be a great and cheap wedding gift that you could buy for the couple who already has everything.

What is the Magic Fushigi Ball?

Fushigi Magic balls, as seen on tv, are sort of like crystal juggling balls.  They can be used to create fluid looking illusions.  People have been using Fushigi balls in magic acts, both professionally and for fun for many years.  You can make the Fushigi Magic Ball look like its floating.  You can make it look like it is following your hands and under your control.  You can make it use your hands and arms as a track that it follows and flows along sort of like it has a mind of its own and other people like to use the Fushigi Ball for meditation and relaxation.

Where can you Buy Fushigi Ball As Seen On TV?

Although I don’t know exactly where you can buy fushigi ball (I didn’t pay attention to the infomercial or write down the url), you can find similar products like crystal juggling balls and balls labeled similar to Fushigi Balls on Amazon by clicking on the links above in the amazon box in this post.  Although I didn’t buy a fushigi ball, I do think it makes an awesome gift for a bachelor party or for a wedding.  It is perfect in that the fushigi magic ball is unique and something that you can use when your stressed, bored or just to show off to your friends.

You can use the fushigi ball to get through boring conference calls at work instead of tangling your phone cords.  You can use fushigi balls for showing off to your friends at a party at your house when you leave it out and people ask what it is.  Fushigi balls can definitely be a cool conversation piece and they also look perfect in an office with other tchatchkies and trinkets that business people leave on their shelves.

Fushigi Balls are seriously cool and after seeing the infomercial for the Magic Gravity Defying Fushigi Ball on tv, I definitely wanted to recommend it for a cheap wedding gift for you all to buy if you have to buy a wedding present for someone who has everything and you are on a budget.  You can buy fushigi balls or at least similar products to the fushigi magic ball by clicking on any of the links in the amazon block on the top or bottom of this post.

June 12, 2010

The Top Unique and Gag Wedding Gifts

Filed under: Wedding Gift, wedding favor, wedding vendors — Tags: , , — rollerbladerdc @ 2:46 pm

So I recently was reading a post about people complaining that they couldn’t find funny or unique wedding gifts, any gag wedding gifts or any fun giveaways for their wedding guests.  I was really stumped by this because I know a ton of them, then again I’ve been writing this wedding site and blog for a few years now so in order to help people find cool and unique gag wedding gifts and really cool wedding gift giveaways, I wanted to share a few of my most recent top favorite cool and gag wedding gifts and wedding guest giveaways.

Click any of the links or images below and you’ll be take to the websites where you can buy gag wedding gifts and really cool and unique wedding gifts and giveaways.

Here are the gift shops I am recommending gifts from.

Stupid.com – Stupid.com is one of the most well known and loved gag gift shops.  I love Stupid.com and love recommending Stupid.com to other people.  Many of the gag wedding gifts below are from Stupid.com.

Vat19.com – The issue I have with Vat19.com is that their shipping is insanely high, however Vat19.com has probably the largest and coolest collection of unique gift ideas and cool wedding gift giveaways.  Order high and get as much as you can to make the Vat19.com shipping more tolerable.  I personally love Vat19.com but think they could be more reasonable with their shipping.  Visit Vat19.com here.

FlirtAprons.com – Flirtyaprons.com has the coolest and most unique aprons for all occasions.  Visit FlirtyAprons.com.

Here are my top favorite cool wedding giveaways and wedding gag gifts.

The EX Knife Set in White – $ 69.99
This is one of my very favorite gag wedding gifts and wedding gift giveaways.  It is the ex knife set where you place the knives through the figure of a man.  Not only is this the perfect gag wedding gift for the bride or the grooms, but the figure of a man kitchen knife holder will get everyone to give a good laugh and secretly ever wive or gay husband at the wedding will want to know where you found and got to buy the figure of a man kitchen knife holder set.  This is a must for any newly wed couple for a gag wedding gift that is also practical.
Inside Out Champagne Glasses – $ 59.95

The inside out champagne flutes are one of my very favorite cool and unique wedding gift giveaways for guests.  Not only are they seriously a cool concept but they are also practical.

The inside out champagne flutes look like normal water drinking glasses but as you pour in your favorite champagne you’ll see that the inside is actually a champagne glass.

One of the things I hate most about normal champagne flutes is that they get warm and heat up your champagne if you hold the top instead of the stem.  Lets face it, holding champagne flute stems is a pain and everyone holds the cup.  When you hold the cup your champagne heats up and no one likes warm champagne.  Because there is extra space between your hand and the champagne these glasses are also supposed to help keep your champagne cooler longer.  I haven’t tried these on my own yet so I cannot put my name on that but it definitely makes sense to me.  I love these inside out champagne flutes for a unique and cool wedding giveaway.


Women’s Sassy Black – $ 29.95
FlirtyAprons.com makes some of the funniest and sassiest aprons on earth.  Ok FlirtyAprons.com doesn’t actually make the aprons but they definitely sell the coolest aprons on earth.  They have everything from Mens aprons with jokes on them to these designer styled fashion aprons for women, and some men or drag queens.  Not only do I love these aprons but they are the perfect wedding giveaways for the bridesmaids or wedding gifts for the bride or groom and you can even tie in the joke about them having to become domestic now.  These aprons from flirtyaprons.com are awesome and I love the entire line of aprons from flirtyaprons.com.  They are definitely cool and unique wedding gifts.
Flying Pig Hat – $ 12.99
Because no one ever thought you would ever actually get married, this flying pig or pig with wings hat is the perfect gag wedding gift to give to the groom or happy couple.  Not only does this pig hat have wings, but you can also get the wings to flap.  Everyone will love and laugh at the when pigs fly pig with wings hat when they see it and because no one would ever believe that you were actually going to get married, the when pigs fly pig hat with wings is the perfect wedding giveaway.
World’s Largest Gummy Bear – $ 29.95
This is probably my very favorite wedding gift giveaway.  Not only is this one of the largest gummy bears in the world, but this giant gummy bear is the size of 1,400 regular sized gummy bears and has over 12,600 calories (but you don’t need to tell the bride or guests that).  This giant gummy bear is not only huge but it also tastes amazing.

You can buy these giant gummy bears in many flavors including blue raspberry, red cherry, green apple, orange, pineapple and astro. What I love most about these giant gummy bears is that they are made in the USA.

Ok, it’s pride in dc right now so I have to go get showered and finish this post.  You’ll absolutely love shopping at the above stores for unique and cool gag wedding gifts and wedding giveaways.  Happy pride everyone!

June 10, 2010

Personalized Party Coolers – personalized drink coolers

personalized party coolers Personalized Party Cooler – $ 39.95
“Your party will have a unique chill with this personalized party tub cooler. Pack it with a six packs and your shin-dig will be stylinÆ. Makes a great groomsmen gift, holiday gift or housewarming present. Personalize it with a three-letter monogram.”

One thing that never goes out of style and always comes in useful is a personalized party cooler or a personalized drink cooler. Not only do personalized drink coolers and personalized party coolers make excellent wedding gifts, when you have the bride or grooms initials embroidered into them, but they come in perfect when the couple or the person is having a picnic in their backyard, a party, a bbq, if they are tailgaiting and anything else outdoors.

The thing I love most about the personalized party cooler above is that it is so easy to fold up and store and pack in your car or to carry with you to and after the party.  It is fashionable, has handles and looks great.  Also, since it is personalized with a monogram it’ll be easy to remember whose it is when the party is over or if someone packs it into someone else’s car by accident.

Personalized party coolers like the one above are perfect for wedding gifts, the ideal gift for a housewarming present, it is great for a surprise gift if you are going to a bbq and even better for a thinking of you or an off to college gift for your grad.  If you only want to buy one for the couple, because it only has three spaces for the person’s initials, you can do the last name initial in the middle and the first initial of each person on each side of it.  If you are buying it for one person then you can do that person’s initials or two of them (one for the bride and one for the groom) you can have their initials on their own one so that they each get their own personalized party cooler.

Money clips and wallets will never go out of style for a classic groomsmen gift, but if you want to give something that is even more fun and one that will possibly be used more to your groomsmen for a groomsmen gift for your wedding, personalized party coolers are the perfect groomsmen gift and your groomsmen will thank you for their personalized party coolers when summer comes and they want to tailgate or have a party.

I love personalized party coolers for gifts and you can buy personalized party coolers and personalized drink coolers by clicking this link and going to my favorite wedding and gift shop Beau-coup.com.

May 22, 2010

Relaxation Candle Gifts and Gift Candles

Filed under: Wedding Gift, bride — Tags: , , — rollerbladerdc @ 3:37 am

Big Savings – 5% Off at Yummicandles.com- Enter code at checkout: candle7

So I had a really rough week this week and was really depressed.  Not only did I do something stupid by letting things get to me but I almost let them get the best of me which is never a good thing to do.  There are always going to be bad weeks but if you let them get to you then your life is going to be miserable and there is absolutely no reason at all to ever have to feel horrible.  I ended up talking to a friend of mine who really helped to cheer me up.

He invited me out to the clubs with his friends and even though I am not going to go, it still really made me feel great to know that I still have friends and friends that care about me.  I think that for me tonight that although clubbing and being around friends would be very fun and relaxing, sometimes you need something else besides vodka and people.  Sometimes you just need some junk food, a comfortable robe or pajamas and some candles and wine.  I would like to remind everyone that wine and candles don’t mix well since candles use fire and wine causes drunkeness and can burn down your apartment or house, but with supervision and moderation it can be extremely relaxing and calming.

One thing that no matter what can make an amazing gift for someone are candles.  Scented candles aren’t always the best thing to give unless you know exactly what scents the person likes but regular candles, designer candles and floating candle bowls as long as you buy the bowl and a larger gift set to me aren’t always the best gift to get when you first get them, but on days like tonight when you are down and just want to relax you really appreciate the candle gifts and are thankful that you have them so that you can light them, enjoy a glass of wine and just completely put the week behind you.

Candles and Candle Gifts are always a perfect gift in my opinion for people that already have everything else they need and I highly encourage you to shop for candles online if you need to buy a gift for someone.  Not only will they thank you when they finally find the right night to use them, whether they need to relax or want to set a romantic mood for their partner, but they will also love them when they finally use your candle gift.  Not to mention that if anyone needs candles to help them relax it is the bride and the bridemaids who have to deal with her so if you are a bride and reading this post I highly recommend you buy some sort of random relaxation candles or candle gifts for your bridesmaids.  Trust me, if you’re a bridezilla they’ll need it.

You can order candle gifts from tons of stores online and retail stores, but I came across this random site that has candle gifts and candle coupons available so I wanted to share it with you.  Click here to buy candle gifts and use the coupon from the top of the post to save on candle gifts.

Big Savings – 5% Off at Yummicandles.com- Enter code at checkout: candle7

May 8, 2010

BBQ Wedding Gifts BBQ Gifts

Filed under: Wedding Gift, food — Tags: , , , , , — rollerbladerdc @ 1:53 am

Cooked Perfect Complete Color Changing Meat Thermometer

Price: 9.95Say goodbye to overcooked steak, undercooked chicken, and dry fish!

The Cooked Perfect Complete Color Changing Thermometer takes the guesswork out of grilling, frying, roasting, broiling, microwaving and more! This revolutionary new thermometer gives you an instant “doneness” readout with a highly visible color change. The Cooked Perfect Meat Thermometer indicates “rare”, “medium” and “well” for beef; and “ready” for fish and poultry.

Simply insert the Cooked Perfect Complete Thermometer into beef, fish, or poultry; wait 3 seconds and remove. You’ll know for sure when meat is fully cooked and safe for serving.

Cooked Perfect is made of sturdy metal with an easy grip handle that needs no batteries so it lasts forever. Simply hand wash your thermometer after use and store for next use.

Each Cooked Perfect Complete Color Changing Thermometer indicates “doneness” for beef, fish and poultry.


Ruby’s Garlic Spice BBQ Rub by Way Out West

Price: 4.90Seal in the succulent flavor of meats and poultry with this versatile garlic spice dry BBQ rub and seasoning salt.

Rub Ruby’s Garlic Spice BBQ Rub on roasts and tri-tips, sprinkle on chicken or chops, or garnish veggies. Garlic Spice Rub can also be used to add cowgirl flavor to soups, stews, and salads.

Each canister contains 3.5 ounces net weight of Garlic Spice BBQ Rub by Way Out West.


Elizabeth Karmel Grill Friends Angled Silicone BBQ Basting Brush

Price: 9.95The first ever angled silicone basting brush by Elizabeth Karmel’s Grill Friends Collection will help you to baste, sauce and mop with ease – indoors and out!

This silicone BBQ brush will become your secret weapon to perfectly sauced food whether you cook indoors or outside on a grill. The long-handled angled design makes it safe and easy to use, keeping your hands clear of open fire and heat. This super basting brush makes wrist contortions a thing of the past as you expertly brush sauce on your grilling food.

The silicone brush bristles are heat resistant up to 500 F and will not melt and fall off into the sauce. It’s easy to clean up with a removable brush head that can be run through the dishwasher.

Each Heat Resistant Angled Silicone BBQ Basting Brush is 15” long and is dishwasher safe.


Instant Marinater For Meat, Fish & Poultry By VacuVin

Price: 49.95The Instant Marinater is a unique dish that marinates and tenderizes all types of meat, fish, poultry and vegetables in just minutes. Simply add your marinade to the food in the dish and then pump out the air to create a vacuum. The vacuum opens up the pores and fibres of the food allowing the marinade to penetrate in minutes rather than hours “locking in” flavor. It also tenderizes the food and keeps it juicy. The vacuum dish can also be used to store your food under vacuum to preserve flavor and freshness.

Our Instant Marinator was designed by the company that invented the original Vacuum Wine Saver which has rescued millions of partial bottles of wine for avid wine drinkers.

The Instant Marinater is a life saver for impressing unexpected guests or for quick after work dinner preparations.

It is dishwasher safe and suitable for freezer and refrigerator storage.


Burn Cream MD™

Price: 29.95Burn Cream MD was created by a dermatologist specializing in wound healing and scar minimalization. It acts fast to provide burn relief with the active ingredient Lidocaine and speeds up healing with all natural ingredients such as Arnica Montana, Chamomile flower extract and Aloe.

Recommended by chefs such a Mario Batali, Burn Cream MD by Healing Skin is the perfect tool to keep on hand for minor burns. It delivers immediate relief from pain and speeds healing with less scarring. This is an essential product for any active kitchen.

Each pump bottle of Burn Cream MD contains 2.5oz.


“Glow in the Dark” Instant-Read Thermometer by Grill Friends

Price: 5.95″Glow in the Dark” Instant-Read Thermometer by Grill Friends was created by Elizabeth Karmel to solve many of the challenges that home cooks have. The 2-inch face and the glow-in-the-dark background make it easy to read once the sun has gone down.

But, most importantly, Ms. Karmel has simplified what you need to know about testing for doneness in 5 easy end- temperatures–giving you a reference point for the most commonly cooked meat and poultry.

We even include a free end-temperature magnet for your fridge or grill for easy reference.

The Instant-Read Termometer has a large 2-inch face and a premium grade stainless steel stem.


Martini Tote

Price: 64.75Portable cocktail case with adjustable shoulder strap and cocktail service for two. The Martini Tote is an elegant piece to store or transport your favorite spirits. With the fully insulated bottle holder, your spirits will maintain the perfect temperature. Whether you feature this item in your home or on an outing, this item will become a focal point. The Martini Tote resounds with quality and sophistication. The ideal gift for yourself or others!

Each Martini Tote contains:

  • 1 Cocktail Shaker
  • 1 Strainer
  • 1 Stirrer
  • 1 Tongs
  • 2 Acrylic Martini Glasses
  • 1 Jigger
  • 1 Corkscrew
  • Our Martini Tote is offered in Mahogany.

    So one thing that I love about Summer is that it is definitely peak BBQ season.  Not only do I love BBQing with my friends and family, but I am always making something BBQ each week for myself at home.  All winter long I crave BB but there is something special about a Summer BBQ, its like the flavors of BBQ just wait until the sun is shining and the weather seems to really bring out all of the flavors in the sauces, the meats, the sides and salads and the overall flavor of whatever you are BBQing.  With my love for BBQ and all things wedding, except the drama, that’s just fun and entertaining, if your friends are getting married and it is spring or summer, the perfect gift for them, even if they don’t like in Texas, is a BBQ set.

    Not everyone can afford to give an expensive $500 steak of the month club membership for a BBQ wedding gift, but one thing that almost everyone can afford and that the bride and groom, bride and bride or groom and groom is almost guaranteed to love is a gourmet BBQ wedding gift set or spice or sauce gift.  Not only are they flavorful and unique, but they also last beyond the wedding and depending on if you live near the happy couple you may get to enjoy the gift as well if they use it during a cookout or have you over for dinner.

    A few years ago I met someone that worked with a company called Cyber Cucina.  He turned me onto their oils and vinegars (I love a good gourmet basalmic vinegar, they do not taste or look like the ones you see in the store or at a restaurant) and ever since I tasted some of their amazing products I have been hooked.  When I saw that Cyber Cucina also has a series of gourmet and fabulous bbq wedding gifts and foods I had to recommend them to you.

    Not only do they choose some of the best tasting and most flavorful products, but their price points are pretty much perfect as well.  I absolutely love the products from Cyber Cucina and if I didn’t live right by a specialty grocery store that carries these styled foodie gifts, oils and BBQ wedding gifts, then I would probably be spending all my money shopping for their food products.  I highly recommend Cyber Cucina as they really know how to find some amazing products and gourmet wedding food gifts.

    April 24, 2010

    Fruit Gift Baskets, what you can do with them

    Filed under: Wedding Gift, food — Tags: , , , , , , — rollerbladerdc @ 12:22 am
    Northwest Gourmet Fruit Basket Northwest Gourmet Fruit Basket – $ 159.95
    A deluxe smorgasbord of premium fruit and gourmet delights, our NorthwestGourmet is a succulent, swanky gift indeed.

    - Royal Comice Pears
    - Italian Golden Bosc Pears
    - Columbia D’Anjou Pears
    - Seckel Pears
    - Ruby Red Apples
    - Royal Fuji Apples
    - Navel Oranges
    - Pacific Northwest
    Smoked Salmon
    - Garlic Cheddar Cheese
    - Honey Wheat Crackers
    - Dried Fruit Assortment
    - Marionberry Preserves
    - Chocolate Covered
    Bing Cherries
    - Chocolate Toffee Almonds
    - Seattle Chocolate Truffle Mints
    Fruit selections may vary by season.

    net wt: 21 lbs 13 oz

    So I’m on my diet and going crazy about not being able to eat things that I like, but then again no one said getting ready for beach season was an easy thing.  I’m also going to a couple parties where my ex’s will be there and I am certainly not going to let them up show me with being in shape while I am most certainly not.

    Anyways, I went to the store and bought a ton of fruit to snack on and what I also learned is that even though you have fruit it doesn’t mean you are actually going to eat it.  Yup, the minute you start drinking the fruit goes out the door and the pizza and real food starts to come back in.  The problem though is that you don’t actually end up using the fruit so it ends up going bad and in honor of earth day the other day and not wasting food or fruit, I wanted to share a couple ideas of what you can do with your fruit, with fruit gift baskets and fruit gifts, especially from Harry and David or my new favorite fruit gift company, The Fruit Company.

    So the first thing you can do with a fruit gift is the obvious, throw it out and change it in for chocolate…j/k.  But what you can do is go to the store and buy chocolate chips, or milk and dark chocolate chips as well as white chocolate chips and then get a double boiler to melt them down in.

    One you have the chocolate melting in your double boiler or even two pots, you can look for how to make a double boiler on other sites and then what you do is slice the fruit into circles, slices, wedges or however you can eat it best and start dipping it in the chocolate.  Lay the chocolate dipped fruit on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and then drizzle the lighter colors or darker colors of chocolate over the fruit slices and now you have chocolate dipped fruit to eat which in my opinion is a lot more fabulous than plain fruit after this diet.

    Fruit Martinis.

    Ok, so the issue with cocktails and then binge eating when you get drunk is a big one for many of us.  What I do instead of having to binge eat not, and to use up the fruit gift basket is to incorporate the fruit into my drinks.

    I don’t do the ghetto pour vodka in a watermelon or over fruit salad thing but what I do do is make large circular slices of pears and mix it with absolute pear vodka and soda water for a lower calorie cocktail with a delicious fruit slice.  Not only does it help to keep me feeling full, but it also tastes amazing.  I also include pear slices in my lemon drop martinis and love apples in my chocolate martinis.  Bananas go great with Irish cream martinis and drinks and especially well with Kahlua based drinks.  Fruit and cocktails go hand in hand and for me help to keep me full so I don’t end up over eating when I am done drinking.

    Fruit gift baskets are amazing gifts, but the fruit can also become a pain in the ass, especially if you don’t want to eat it all or waste it.  You can use these ideas to make your fruit more fun to eat, but also incorporate it into fun things like martinis so that you not only use it so you don’t have to waste it and feel guilty, but also help to keep yourself from over eating at night helping you to save calories as well.  If you have more fruit ideas for fruit gift baskets, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

    If you want to order or send someone a fruit gift basket, then click this link and visit the fruit company for amazing deals on fabulous fruit gift baskets.

    April 20, 2010

    Cherry Wood Humidor – Gifts for Father of the Bride or Groom

    Personalized Cherry Wood Humidor – $ 50.99
    “Every sophisticated man will want this personalized cherry wood humidor. Makes an elegant groomsmen gift or unforgettable present for a special man in your life. Holds up to 12 cigars and measures 8 1/2″” x 5 1/2″” x 2 1/2″”.”

    When I was looking through my product catalogs for gifts for my Dad, I was remembering when I was younger and one of my favorite memories was lighting or cutting my Dad’s Cigars.  Although he would never let me actually smoke one, he would sometimes give me an unlit one to hold and pretend to smoke so I could feel grown up like him and also because it was a bonding thing for us.  Cigar smoking is a bonding activity and cigars are something many people use to celebrate.

    People buy cigars to celebrate a baby being born, a wedding announcement, a bachelor party, an anniversary, a guys night out, a Vegas trip and pretty much anything that is fun and festive.  People don’t always associate cigars with cancer or smelling horrible, especially the cheap ones, but they associate it with class, fun and bonding with one another.  Cigars are an amazing way to not only create long lasting memories and bond with a heterosexual male, or a lesbian, and if you want to take cigar smoking or have a cigar aficionado or someone who just enjoys one every once in a while, you can go above and beyond giving them a zippo or pack of cigars and give them a humidor and if you really want to go above and beyond what you need to, fill the humidor up with high end or a mixed assortment of cigars and a cutter.  When I was looking for a gift for my Dad, although he actually quit smoking cigars and doesn’t keep any in his house, I saw the cherrywood cigar humidor pictured above and immediately thought of him.

    One of my favorite memories of being a kid was hanging out with him and talking while he smoked a cigar.  I remember the smell, the way it puffed and how cool and mature he looked smoking.  Although I know it is bad for you and can kill you, back then it was one of the coolest things on earth and since we were never close or had bonding time, I always remember these evenings and still hold on to those memories today.

    Although I am opposed to smoking now a days, I used to be a smoker, I do have to admit, on a special occasion I will probably have a cigar.  One of those occasions will be if I get married.

    Not only will I probably have to get stuck with a Waspy or Firey Latino Father in Law, but I’ll have to do something important to impress him, especially if he is anti gay or ends up being one of those, no one is good enough for my kid Father in Laws.  You all know the kind I am talking about.  The nightmare kind you always see in wedding movies where they are never satisfied and make the Groom’s life hell.  Chances are that I will probably get stuck with one of these types of Father in Laws and one of the ways I am going to try and break him in is by bringing over a nice wooden humidor, even maybe one that isn’t overpriced but still looks classy like the cherrywood humidor above, fill it with a large assortment of nice cigars (the assortment is so I can almost ensure there will be one he likes) and also pair it with a bottle of scotch or brandy, depending on what my Partner would say his Dad prefers.

    I love Cherrywood and Mahogony and a Cherrywood or Mahogony Humidor to me screams class and even if you don’t smoke or your Father in Law doesn’t smoke, Humidors still make great gifts for the Father of the Bride or gifts for the Father of the Groom.  Humidors can be used for storage, to hide things from his Wife, to store pictures or pretty much anything else that you wouldn’t want people to find.

    I love the idea of giving a humidor for a gift and think that it makes a perfect gift for the Father of the Bride or the Father of the Groom to not only bond with him but show him you can be thoughtful and you made an effort to win him over.  Again, I am opposed to smoking, but I think that a cigar to bond with your future Father in Law is a perfect gift and way to build a relationship with him as well as show him you have some class and made an effort.  You may want to do a quick check with your Partner first though just to double check and make sure he was never addict as that could actually be a bad thing and you may want to rethink giving him a humidor for a gift to bond with him.  Anyways, order your cherrywood humidor here.

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