Chicago-themed Wedding Gift Basket

A blushing bride I know is looking to put together fun chicago-based food baskets for some of her wedding guests. (No Gary, it's not Kerensa) I've been brainstorming ideas for her and thought I'd turn to the experts for further options. The idea is food made in chicago, that requires no refrigeration, and can be eaten without heating it up, or taken home and enjoyed. Here's what I've come up with so far:

• Garrett's Popcorn
• Nuts from Nuts on Clark
• Giardinera from Bari
• Smoked sausage from Bobak's
• Mortons Salt
• Lawry's steak seasoning
• Filbert's root beer
• Jay's Potato Chips
• Blommer's Chocolate
• Frango (even though it's not made here)
• Fannie May candies (i know, i know)
• Tootsie Rolls
• Ferrara Pan candies

Any other ideas to add to the pot?

More ideas...

- Brach's Candies
- Wrigley's Gum

Seth,

What a great idea! I may steal this for Xmas gifts this year. Anyhow, here are a few off-the-top ideas (more may come with further thought):

* Giancana tomato sauce (avaliable at Alpine on North Avenue in Forest Park)
* Local beer? (Goose Island, Mill Rose, lots of options here; ReneG would have suggestions, I'm sure)
* Frontera salsa (I think Costco bulk paks these) -- and I'm sure there's a local source for tortilla chips (though I don't have names off-hand)
* Breadsticks or packaged cookies from Ferrara bakery


Hammond

Maurice Lenell Cookies.

What about the Chicago Neighborhood Blends from The Spice House?

My favorite Chicago-based non-refrigerated product:

Vienna Hard Salami

Seth Zurer wrote:More ideas...

- Brach's Candies
- Wrigley's Gum

Hate to say it, but Brach's not from Chicago anymore either.

Here's a few more ideas:

- Twinkies
- Vosage Chocolates
- Pate de Fruit from Vanille
- Affy Tapple
- House made sausage from Freddy's
- Kraft Cheese (say canned cheese whiz)
- Superior Coffee

Cracker Jack (invented here, though not made exclusively here any longer)
Toast'em toaster pastries
Vosges Haut chocolates
Bay's English Muffins
Rubschlager cocktail bread
Intelligentsia coffee (or Superior or Stewart's Private Blend or Aroma)
Hinckley & Schmitt water
Vitner's potato chips
Ketchapeno
HotSauces from Heaven (on Seven)
Local barbecue sauce (Robinson's, Sweet Baby Ray's, Uncle Mel's, etc.)
Wine from the Lynfred, Valentino or Glunz Family wineries
Charlie Trotter's sauces

Terrific replies! I'll forward this along to the bride. Thank you all!

Next week I am going out to San Francisco to visit my oldest friend (since 6th grade). It occurred to me that a gift basket of Chicago foodstuffs would make a nice hostess gift. My friend and her mother moved out to SF 18 years ago. Alas, a Malnati's pizza packed in dry ice might be a bit complicated to negotiate on the plane. Then I saw this in a thread about barbecue:

so many major selling sauces originate here (Sweet Baby Ray’s comes in second in national sales

So of course, a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce has to go in the gift basket. A box of what used to be Marshall Fields' mints (dang! I can hardly remember the name now ... ah! Frango Mints!) should go in too.

Can anyone give me some more ideas? Shelf-stable stuff, that I can carry on the plane or pack in my luggage.

There are a couple of interesting threads about this topic here and here. I'd add Vosges to that list as well.

A gift basket of Chicago would be naked without a jar of Bari Giardenara

I'm frantically trying to gather inexpensive favors for a bridal shower this weekend and remembered this thread. I picked up a bunch of small boxes of DAS Caramels (classic) and also City Caramels (Pilsen & Lincoln Square) at the Downtown Farmstand yesterday. I think they'll go over well.

Wine from Cooper's Hawk (they do a lot of really nice ones, including their Malbec and their icewine)

There are indeed numerous microbreweries and brewpubs; the one I'd suggest, in addition to Goose Island, is Half Acre.

Remember, if you are bringing liquids on airline flights, they need to go inside your checked luggage.

Man, LTH has a thread for EVERYTHING....

I am dealin with this exact same questions, or rather my mother is, who volunteered to handle the gift baskets.

Tons of great ideas here, but I have two questions:

1. Any idea of somewhere local to the city where I can buy Gale's Root Beer? I know it is on Amazon, but surely there is somewhere local I can purchase it? I'm fine buying it by the single bottle, but larger quantities would be better, since I need 20 bottles.

2. In terms of local Chicago potato chips, when I think Chicago I think Jay's. But do you agree? What is the most distinctly Chicago brand of potato chip? Or more importantly, what is the best tasting brand of Chicago potato chip (no offense to Jay's...).

Lawry's seasoning salt is a great idea I would have never thought of...adding it to the list!

I find it unfortunate that, in the potato chip realm, Chicago is known for Jays. It would be better if we were not known for any potato chip.

Giving someone bad potato chips, just because they are produced in Chicago, means that you are giving them bad potato chips.

Skip the chips and add some Garrett’s popcorn (Garrett’s Mix) to your gift bag. As far as Gayle’s goes, I’m not 100% sure, but I think I’ve seen it at GNR Fresh Farms on Touhy and/or Mariano’s.

DClose wrote:1. Any idea of somewhere local to the city where I can buy Gale's Root Beer? I know it is on Amazon, but surely there is somewhere local I can purchase it? I'm fine buying it by the single bottle, but larger quantities would be better, since I need 20 bottles

Not sure if you're set on Gale's, but you can walk straight into the Filbert's factory on S. Ashland and buy root beer (or any of their other drinks) by the case- they'll let you mix and match, too.

stevez wrote:Garrett’s Mix

I bet you call it the Willis Tower, don't you?

lougord99 wrote:Giving someone bad potato chips, just because they are produced in Chicago, means that you are giving them bad potato chips.

Jay's is owned by Snyder's-Lance, and closed its Chicago planet Dec. 5, 2007. (That's the current production home for Burnt City Brewing). Vitner's, in Freeport, IL may be the closest to a Chicago-area potato chip maker.

seebee wrote:

stevez wrote:Garrett’s Mix

I bet you call it the Willis Tower, don't you?

Lol. Actually, I think that might be the first time I've ever called it that.

seebee wrote:I bet you call it the Willis Tower, don't you?

Garrett Popcorn sued over Chicago Mix

DClose wrote:Man, LTH has a thread for EVERYTHING....

I am dealin with this exact same questions, or rather my mother is, who volunteered to handle the gift baskets.

Tons of great ideas here, but I have two questions:

1. Any idea of somewhere local to the city where I can buy Gale's Root Beer? I know it is on Amazon, but surely there is somewhere local I can purchase it? I'm fine buying it by the single bottle, but larger quantities would be better, since I need 20 bottles.

2. In terms of local Chicago potato chips, when I think Chicago I think Jay's. But do you agree? What is the most distinctly Chicago brand of potato chip? Or more importantly, what is the best tasting brand of Chicago potato chip (no offense to Jay's...).

Lawry's seasoning salt is a great idea I would have never thought of...adding it to the list!

I used to work for Gale Gand and I'm FB friends with her. She recently posted that she found it at the Caputo's in Lake Forest, so you might try whichever is closest to you. Gale's Root Beer has it's own FB page, so I imagine they would respond pretty quickly.

DClose wrote:Lawry's seasoning salt is a great idea I would have never thought of...adding it to the list!

How is Lawry's seasoned salt part of Chicago (I get that there's a Lawry's here, but that's pretty tenuous)?

nr706 wrote:

lougord99 wrote:Giving someone bad potato chips, just because they are produced in Chicago, means that you are giving them bad potato chips.

Jay's is owned by Snyder's-Lance, and closed its Chicago planet Dec. 5, 2007. (That's the current production home for Burnt City Brewing). Vitner's, in Freeport, IL may be the closest to a Chicago-area potato chip maker.

I do like Jay’s Kettle-Cooked Chips and their Hot Chips.

Vitner’s I like their hot varieties of cheddar & sour cream and salt and vinegar.

Can you pop in gift certificates to favorites like Portillo’s, Scooters, or someone’s stuffed pizza?

How about something from Half Acre (says the teetotaler still mad that Goose Island is no longer local) or some other local and respected brewer.

Or Intelligentsia’s black cat chocolate espresso beans (also acquired by Peet’s and no longer local) or some other coffee from a respected local roaster.

Unnaturally green relish?

HI,

If you do the green relish, then you must include the sport peppers. Apparently, those peppers are easy to find here but not necessarily elsewhere.

I would consider a box of Salerno butter cookies. It's about as local as Jay's now, but once it was very local.

Regards,
Cathy2

spinynorman99 wrote:Unnaturally green relish?

LMAO - worst wedding gift EVER!

=R=

I thought about relish as well, but then thought it might cause issues if anyone wanted to carry on their bags (you never know with the CTA these days...)

I settled on Gale's Root Beer, a TBD seasoning blend from The Spice House, some butter cookies, and Intelligentsia coffee as a starting point, along with some more run of the mill things like sparkling water, tylenol (for the next morning), that sort of thing.

I found Gale's Root Beer at Libertyville Sunset Foods and bought them out of it. More will be delivered tomorrow...which is a good thing...since I need more than they had!

DClose wrote:I thought about relish as well, but then thought it might cause issues if anyone wanted to carry on their bags (you never know with the CTA these days...)

Relish would cause issues but bottles of root beer would not? Not following the reasoning.