Happy Salemversary to me!
One year ago yesterday, my husband and I headed out of Idaho Falls, racing along 84 and down I-5 to make it to Salem at 3:43 p.m. on the afternoon of December 1.
We celebrated in true Salem fashion — we worked late, cooked at home, and watched Jon Stewart before collapsing in our bed.
I’ve been frantically putting together gift baskets based on Salem-area edibles for the past two days while trying to finish up the semester at the University of Oregon, finish some work projects, decorate the house, and not succumb to the nesting instinct that is taking over my mind more every day.
I wrote about these baskets, and the idea of exporting Salem, in my column this month, which lists a few of the area treasures I’ve scoured up over the past months, but it struck me that there aren’t any embedded links on my December column at Salem Monthly, so here’s the good stuff with links to the producers.
- A bag of Gnome Hazelnut Factory hazelnuts – with the hope that they might entice people to come walk with me among our area’s gorgeous hazelnut groves in the new year.
- A 3/4 pound bag of Hairbender coffee from Salem’s Latte, the only place in town that carries Stumptown coffee.
- Oregon White Truffle Oil for the foodies in the family, the only real American truffle oil in existence, hand-infused by Jack Czarnecki of the Joel Palmer House, who actually unearths all of those truffles himself.
- E.Z. Orchards Marionberry syrup, with a gift card carrying my favorite of Chris Rock’s jokes about former D.C. mayor Marion Berry.
- One resin wine stopper (pic above), designed to look like a 19th century Victorian doorbell, by AmericanAntiqueHardware.com, a preservation site run by my neighbor.
- Silver Falls Creamery Goat cheese, a chevre so mind-bogglingly good my husband and I have a song we sing about it.
- A bottle of Eola Hills 2008 pinot noir to tie it all together.
- To clean up afterward, one bar of S.L.A.B. soap with a holiday-friendly Douglas Fir or Frankincense Myrrh scent profile.
That’s just my list. What do you put in your local gift baskets? What is Salem’s most exportable good?
You are really missing something good in there! Clear Hills Honey lipbalms and creams. The honey, beeswax, and whatnot are all produced by a small family beekeeping business in Eugene and transformed into the most delectable treats by work from home mom Carmela here in Salem. She has amazing flavors for her lipbalms everything from Lemon Meringue (which tastes like a slice of pie!) to Oregon blueberry and Oregon hazelnut to the not-so-plain Jane Vanilla Honey. Her double Rose infused hand creme is incredible and healing especially during the Winter months of chapped skin. And for knitters she’s developed a special Knitters’ Balm that is good for your hands and yarn too!
You can find her on the WAHM website http://hyenacart.com/clearhillshoney/
or directly at http://clearhillshoney.com/
Awesome gift bags, Emily! I don’t have anything to add… I always make homemade chocolate truffles and caramels for gifts. However, Witness Tree wines are definitely going to be making their way under my tree this year for several people. Yummm.
I made chocolate truffles once… great gift. I’m feeling a little run down for making stuff right now, though. Will have to check out Witness Tree.
Ooh, I love this idea. I’ve tried to do it but always got stuck. Can’t see the forest for the trees, maybe.
I have a suggestion for your gift baskets, if it’s not too late. http://www.Truffle Zone.com They sell hand-picked Oregon White Truffles (mushrooms, not chocolates) and other local/seasonal wild mushrooms. I’m not sure if they still have a booth at the year-round Salem Public Market on SE 12th and Rural, but they’re based in Salem. They also have easy recipes for each mushroom variety.
Oops. Broken link.
http://www.trufflezome.com
Sorry!
*sigh*
I think I’m gonna go get some coffee. Let me try one more time.
(I’m really sorry…)
http://www.trufflezone.com
Third times a charm, as they say. I love a truffles but am a bigger fan of the spring black variety. yummmmm. Thanks for the tip!