UNITED
STATES...
Vicinity of Albany
I'd
like to offer gift suggestions for Upstate New York:
There's
Maple Syrup -- locally produced in lovely glass bottles
from Up For Breakfast
in Manchester Vermont (90 minutes noth of Albany) or Massachusett's
Jericho Valley at Ioka Valley Farms (45min
east of Albany) http://www.taconic.net/IokaValleyFarm/
Anything
Shaker -- Shaker oval boxes make good gifts on their own,
great for small gifts or trinkets. Also dried Shaker herbs
in round cans, bottles of rosewater, cookbooks of Shaker
cuisine. Available at the Shaker
Heritage Society Gift Shop http://www.shakerheritage.org/
in Albany, NY and at Hancock
Shaker Village, Hancock, MA http://www.hancockshakervillage.org/
(1/2 hr drive east of Albany) or the Shaker
Museum and Library in Chatham, NY http://shakermuseumandlibrary.org/
(45 min south of Albany).
Victorian
Architecture Prints and Art -- of the City of Troy, the
"Home of Uncle Sam" and surrounding environs available
at Clement Frame and Art
http://geocities.com/clementart/
on the corner of Broadway & 2nd St. in downtown Troy.
Ask about the note cards depicting Victorian Buildings in
the city of Troy.
The
Best Vanilla Extract in the World -- at Baldwin's
Extracts, West Stockbridge, MA http://www.baldwinextracts.com/index.html
(30 min. east of Albany.) http://www.baldwinextracts.com/index.html
Shop for great gifts from this tiny country store while
Jackie Moffett gets your bottle of vanilla with recipes
ready for you. The store was featured in Martha Stewart
Living magazine.
Debra, Albany, New York
Chicago
The
popcorn in Chicago is amazing! Anybody with a sweet tooth
back home will love it. As you make your way along Michigan
Avenue, you're bound to see a line-up outside Garrett
Popcorn Shop at No. 670. The Caramel Crisp
corn sold here is rated "the best in the world."
Join the cue for an instant snack bag or purchase a pack
to bring back home. This designer popcorn even has its own
website -- http://www.garrettpopcorn.com
Sharon, Chicago
Durham,
North Carolina
There's
Burt's Bee
earth-friendly, people care products (including lip balms,shampoos,
etc.) -- on sale in gift stores, supermarkets, specialty
shops. Website: http://www.burtsbees.com
I
also recommend seven-pepper jelly from Foster's
Market. Website: http://www.fostersmarket.com
Sara Foster, who was director of catering for Martha Stewart,
moved to Durham 16 years ago and opened a food market/restaurant
in a building that previously housed a lawnmower repair
shop.
Rosemarie, Durham, North Carolina
Los
Angeles
I
live in Los Angeles, California. I suggest T-shirts and
sweatshirts from UCLA, the
University of California at Los Angeles.
I have seen fakes all over the world. Why not give someone
the real thing! Also, See's Candies, great chocolate candies
available with a huge variety of fillings, sold by the piece
or the pound, and they will pack to ship. If I visited relatives
without bringing some, they would put me back on the plane.
Website: http://www.seescandies.com
Jerilyn, Los Angeles
New
Orleans
Anything
with a 'fleur de lis' graphic on it represents the city
Post-Katrina.....to decorate self, home, or office. I also
recommend Creole/Cajun cookbooks, Dixeland Jazz or Mardi
Gras music CDs, Cajun spice products, pralines, coffee with
chicory, beignet mix, etc. We still have a lot!
Susan, New Orleans, USA
New
York City
Hello
Everyone at Journeywoman. I LOVE this site and have passed
it on to practically all of my girlfriends! I live in Manhattan
and whenever I go overseas I try to take a gift of coffee
from the Porto Rico Importing
Company. Their Bleecker Street store is
one of the nicest in town with barrels and barrels of whole
beans. My favourite is the French-Italian Espresso blend.
Check them out at http://www.portorico.com.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
Jill , New York City
Street
vendors all around NYC, especially in Manhattan, sell 'I
NY' T-shirts for about $2.00 each. They're great souvenirs
to take to those you left at home and - lets face it - who
doesn't
NY?!!
Suzanne, New York City
Seattle,
Washington
Some
of the best gift-shopping in Seattle (especially for foodies!)
can be found at the Pike Place
Market in downtown Seattle. One of my favorite
things to do is to put together an inexpensive Seattle gift
basket that includes Seattle's quintessential smoked salmon
from Totem Smokehouse,
where you can choose from vacuum-packed filets, canned salmon,
even smoked salmon jerky. I love to add bags of dried cherries
purchased from The Chukkar
Cherry Company -- they are great for baking
and cooking or just snacking straight from the bag. And
beware: their chewy, tart, delicious chocolate-covered cherries
are so addictive, you might not be able to give them away
after all! Finally, I like to add something from Seattle's
beloved DeLaurentis Specialty
Food and Wine Shop, which carries all kinds
of wonderful gourmet foods from all over the globe--cheeses,
olives, flatbreads, gourmet sauces and vinegars, anything
you can think of to tuck into a gift basket.
You
can even give the gift of fresh-caught Northwest seafood
by visiting world-famous Pike
Place Fish, who will cold-pack it for taking
home on the plane or ship it directly for you.
There
are hundreds of other places to visit in the Market, as
well, for our local products--everything from fresh pastries
to locally-grown produce and lavendar-based products. And
in the summer, you can treat yourself to a spectacular bouquet
of locally-grown flowers for $10-$15 -- a great way to brighten
up your hotel room or thank the hostess you are staying
with. Enjoy!
Sue, Seattle, WA
Oregon
Everyone
who visits Oregon should return home with two tasty treats
available at the Made in Oregon
stores (or cheaper at the supermarket)--smoked salmon and
marionberry jam. Both of these really "say Oregon"
to loved ones expecting souvenirs. For the jokesters, there
are canned slugs, billed as Oregon's state animal since
we have so much rain here!
Linda, Tualatin, Oregon
Palm
Springs, California
My
favorite gift from this part of the world is a package of
delicious dates. They taste wonderful and you can mail them
very easy. I just called one of our very oldest date gardens
(Shields Date Garden
in Indio, CA.) and they said they send them to Canada and
Europe all the time. Hope this helps. They really do taste
great!
Carol, Palm Springs, California
Vermont
I recommend Maple syrup, of course!
Debbie, Guilford Vermont
Washington,
DC
Visit
the Decatur House
near the White House at 1610 H Street, NW. Take the tour
and pick up an annual White House Ornament. They also offer
many more uniquely Washington gifts. Decatur House website:
http://www.decaturhouse.org/shop/index.htm
Michelle, Washington, DC.
