‘Tis the Season of Local Gift Giving! Choose Local, Idaho Products.

Looking for that special gift idea? Consider locally grown and produced Idaho Preferred® gifts that are not only unique, but also support local agriculture and the economy.

Idaho Gift Baskets

It’s easy to find local gifts in Idaho! Specialty food baskets are the perfect present because they can be personalized for each person on your shopping list. Create a unique basket with Idaho specialty foods including jams, jellies, syrups, honey, soup and baking mixes. Get creative and include a cookbook, meats, cheeses, wine, beer or a fine aged whiskey. The possibilities are endless!

Breakfast in a Basket: The most important meal of the day is a great local gift! Include Cowboy Tom’s Flapjack mix, homemade jam or fruit syrups from D’arcy’s, The Berry Ranch, Legacy Farms or Baker Ranch. Add some huckleberry cocoa mix from Homemade by Dorothy and healthy, all-natural Backcountry Bars to the ensemble. This gift will be sure to please the “morning person” on your list.  

Savory Foods Basket: Build a gift with more savory flavors with Idaho Preferred Wagner Mustard or Mom’s Mustard and local cheese. Include Casa Valdez tortillas, Treasure Valley Salsa, a unique blackberry pepper jelly or spice mix from Rivers Bend Candles and Crafts, hearty Barley Soup mix from Kauffman Farms, a tasty variety of hummus dips from Zacca Hummus and zesty pickled veggies from Dilly’s. Don’t forget, local honey makes a great gift and ships well to friends and family from out of state to give them a sweet taste of local! Find a list of Idaho Preferred honey producers here.

For Beer Lovers: Why not get a little crafty and put together a holiday gift basket that includes a six-pack of their favorite micro-brew from Sockeye, Edge, Payette or Powderhaus Brewing along with some local meats and cheese? Each brewery features a unique variety of craft beers including seasonal flavors. They also offer the option of filling a growler of beer currently on tap – make a growler basket your friends and family will enjoy refilling all year long!

The Wine & Spirit Enthusiast: Another great gift idea is an all-Idaho wine basket. It is easy to create a collection to please even the most discerning palate – from award-winning Riesling to rich and complex Tempranillo. For a list of Idaho Preferred wineries click here or go to www.idahowines.org.

If your adult friends and family are not wine and beer drinkers, consider Idaho spirits like potato and huckleberry vodkas from 44 North Vodka or an Idaho whiskey from 8 Feathers Distillery –  perfect for holiday celebrations.

Cheese: Nothing quite completes a holiday gift basket like delicious Idaho cheese. Pair a block of cheese with any Idaho food and beverage basket, or give an all-cheese basket like one of these special gift selections from Ballard Family Dairy and Cheese. For something unique, try the Idaho Golden Greek Grilling cheese. This delicious Halloumi-style cheese will brown in a skillet without melting and goes great on local bread drizzled with Idaho honey or a dollop of Baker Ranch raspberry jam. Try making this Grillin Cheese Appetizer for your own holiday party or include it on a homemade recipe card in your gift basket! Ballard’s also offers a wide range of other cheeses such as Idaho White Cheddar, Truffle Salt Cheddar, Pepper Cheddar, Swiss, Gouda, Feta and several flavors of fresh cheese curds (squeaky cheese) that can be found at retailers throughout the state. You can find a complete list of their cheese here.

Love a good goat cheese? So do we! And we have some top-notch Idaho goat cheese producers. Try Indie Goat Che’vre, Wood n’ Goat Garden or Eden Creamery cheeses. Delicious as an appetizer or smeared on local bread or fruit and exceptional paired with an Idaho wine. You can find Idaho cheeses at local retailers including Walmart, Albertsons, Winco, the Boise Co-op and Whole Foods Market.

Bread: Let’s face it, we all love carbs. Breads and pastries also make excellent gifts during the holidays. Add some carbolicous local goodies to your basket with some delicious freshly baked bread from Zeppole Baking Company, Alpicella Bakery or Great Harvest Bread Co.!

Cookies: During the holidays, time is always hard to find, so save some of it and get your holiday cookies from Sweet Valley Cookie Co. Soft, chewy and absolutely delightful, these cookies are the perfect gift. Make sure to get some for yourself too!

Chocolate: How could we forget chocolate?! Find decadent chocolate toffee from the Toffee Cottage in Emmett or amazing specialty chocolates made with Idaho ingredients from Weiser Classic Candy or Idaho Candy Co.!

For the Iron Chef: Do you have someone that loves to cook or bake on your list? Start with the Idaho Preferred cookbook that features over 100 recipes that use Idaho ingredients all grouped by season. Add some ingredients to their basket like Idaho flour from Idaho Grain and Flour Mills or Harvest Ridge Organics, local eggs from Vogel Farms, local honey, Idaho sugar, local apples, fingerling potatoes from Southwind Farms and dairy products from Cloverleaf Creamery,  Darigold, High Desert Milk or Boise Milk.

Add a touch of fancy and consider including Idaho sturgeon caviar, American style Kobe beef from M&N Cattle or 100% grass-fed and finished beef from Desert Mountain, lamb from Lava Lake Lamb or Gutierrez Family Farms.

And BACON. Want the best bacon in all the land? Check-out Sneadaker’s Fine Swine. Visit their Facebook page and give them a call to order specialty pork products, or pick up some Falls Brand bacon at your local grocery.

For Your Buff, Carb-Conscious Companion: Staying healthy during the holidays is tough, but some people are dedicated to their diets and workout regimen no matter what time of the year. Have someone on your list like this? Then give them the gift of Killer Whey!, a new healthy ice cream made with Idaho dairy whey protein and sweetened with Xylitol (a natural sweetener found in many fruits and vegetables). Read more about Killer Whey! ice cream here.

Or give them a gift card to stores like Whole Foods Market or the Boise Co-op where they can load up on all of their favorite local health-nut foods.

Last Minute Local Gifts: No time to build a basket and need a gift in a pinch? Let Vogel Farms Country Market or Dorothy’s do it for you! Check out Vogel Farms’ fantastic selection of  all-Idaho gift baskets here or create your own special basket online with Homemade by Dorothy products. Not really a gift-baskety giver? Who doesn’t love a good gift card?! Run out (or even call, some restaurants take payment by phone) and grab a gift certificate to a locally owned restaurant that features seasonal, Idaho ingredients on their menu. Restaurants all over the state are supporting Idaho farmers and ranchers by serving local foods on their menus. Visit our list of local restaurants that serve an abundance of Idaho-grown foods. Do you know of a restaurant in Idaho that does an amazing job of sourcing local foods that you don’t see on our list? Please let us know by contacting Idaho Preferred Christmas Elf.

This year, give thoughtful gifts made from the highest quality foods and beverages, produced locally by Idaho farmers, ranchers, winemakers, brewers and specialty food producers.

Order the Idaho Preferred Cookbook