The wrapping paper and ribbons have made their way back into the holiday storage bins, the purple and gold polka dotted neck tie found its way back to the department store. While Christmas is geared toward filling the stockings with care and the joy of giving to others, adults are eagerly looking ahead to celebrating the night that puts the focus on renewal and the promises of a New Year.
New Years Day is when I do my official ring-a-ding-ling-ing of the New Year. In my opinion there’s really no reason for the party to end. But after celebrating the night away the eve before, having the party goods delivered to my door is what New Years day really calls for.
This year I wanted to start New Years a little early so I happily put my Harry & David gift basket to work.
I’ve been receiving the Harry & David fruit of the month gift boxes for the past few months now, so when I strolled through the array of Harry & David gift baskets, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the Gourmet Sausage and Cheese Gift Basket to pair with my pears (a little fruit humor for your enjoyment—I’m here all year, folks.
Not only do I have a fondess in my heart for sausage—thanks to my dear old German dad—but the Gourmet Sausage & Cheese basket makes my Utah-bred heart burst with pride since it features two Utah artisan food companies paired with the venerable Harry & David brand.
With a long family history of salami making, Christiano Creminelli brought his knowledge of sausage making from the Italian Alps to America in 2007, choosing Utah—and the basement of Caputos, a local gourmet food shop—to start the U.S. version of his salami empire. Since then, Creminelli sausage has garnered a number of awards and is now distributed in cheeseshops, markets and through companies like Harry & David nationwide.
The other Utah company featured in the basket, Beehive Cheese, was started in my hometown by a family friend and a former high school classmate of mine, brothers-in-laws Pat Ford and Tim Welsh. Beehive Cheese has not only become a local favorite, but has received national attention thanks to its inventive flavors, being lauded for multiple awards, and creative names—their white cheddar rubbed with coffee grounds humorously bears the name Barely Buzzed—of its cheeses tied to local history.
So when my basket featuring these two Utah companies arrived at my door, I was a bit like a proud mama bear. And I was ready to dig in and create a simple spread for a few friends to share.
The cheeses made their way out first, because, well, I’m a cheese girl. Winning 1st place at the 2011 American Cheese Society, the Promontory Cheddar is made with milk from local Jersey cows and is both buttery and snappy. The Seavhive, another award winner, is hand-rubbed with local honey and local Redmond RealSalt and I found to be the creamier of the two. Paired with salty pork Creminelli sausages, well, you’ll find me in heaven.
The sausages include a classic Sopreseta, originated in the Veneto region of Italy made with red wine, garlic, sea salt and black pepper. It’s full flavored and great for bold cheese like the flavored Beehive.
But the sausage that I can’t get out of my head is the Tartufo, an uncured salami tinged with black summer truffles. The balance of pork to garlic, to salt, to the ever so nuanced mushroom-ed truffle-ey heaven is sincerely crave worthy. I will be back for more, guaranteed.
So with this blooming love affair for sausage and cheese, why not save all of this goodness just for myself? Believe me, I was tempted, but this is just too much goodness not to share. With a few salami slices of the knife, some crumbles of the two flavors of cheese and a selection of Royal Riviera pears added to my pantry stash of crackers, pepper jelly and champagne, toasts to the new year are officially ready to be rung for a healthy and happy 2013.
Now where did I put my noise makers?
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Harry & David. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.
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