Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Holiday eats from the catalogs
Larry Bly
Larry Bly runs an ad agency and does freelance writing in the Roanoke area.
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I must get something like 300 catalogs a year.
It started with a single catalog purchase many moons ago and now they've sold me down the pike to hundreds of others. Most of them I toss pretty quickly.
This year I've had three catalogs of note come across my desk. And this being the most wonderful time of the year, I thought I would share them primarily because they are food-related and also because at least two of them feature Virginia-made products of note.
Virginia Born and Bred, Inc.
This one has been coming around for a few years and I use it for gifts for people from out of town who want a taste of Virginia. It features the usual cooked Virginia hams, cookies, pecans and candies, but it's been expanded mightily to include gift baskets, handcrafted jewelry, pottery and glass (from Williamsburg), Shenandoah Valley botanical prints -- and even handmade ornaments.
For those who want to ignore or escape the annual leaden fruit cake, but who still require that experience, you may order up a Wilson Family "Ultimate Fruit Cake." I'm not sure who this Wilson Family is, but any family willing to put its name on a fruitcake must be respectable -- or, at least, confident. It does look quite yummy. But it had better be at $124 plus shipping.
There's a Christmas stollen (a bread-like cake) in the shape of Virginia, once you cut it -- if Virginia had a moundy look to it, that is. Made by Virginia meister baker Bernd Kuetscher, it's hopefully more easily eaten than it is to pronounce his name. Order honey from Berryville's best bees or wines and chocolates from Prince Michel. Heck, you can even send the gift of ham biscuits and jelly directly to any big city home, just because you can. There are lots of crafts, naturally, and plenty of homemade furniture from around the state. Enjoy peanuts and other nutty delights from Virginia's famous Virginia Diner and seafood delights (canned she-crab soup, crab dips, crab Norfolks and clam chowder) from the Chesapeake Bay. It's a little pricey, but I give the catalog high marks for its continued efforts toward marketing our local products around the world.
Foods Across America
I had never received this one before. Or at least I couldn't remember this one out of the hundreds that I pitch annually. From New York, real cheesecake the way it was always meant to be and corned beef brisket from Carnegie Deli. There's Key West key lime pie from Florida, coffee and beignet mix from New Orlean's French Quarter, and fruit and fancy pies from all over.
Enjoy the gift of jumbo lump crab cakes from Angelina's of Maryland or lobster tails, bisque and chowder from Maine.
Lest we Southerners feel left out, there's more hams from Virginia and plenty of ribs, steaks, and barbeque galore from North Carolina, Kansas and Nebraska.
You'll even find gooey butter cake, a St. Louis specialty. Or Danish kringles from Racine, Wisc.
One can enjoy or give a good taste of America from this catalog. And as bad as it is -- the shipping costs are still less expensive than driving to each state for all of this, so look at that way.
Cooking Enthusiast
This catalog claims to be "The Passionate Cook's Resource" and it delivers with exotic offerings from around the world: rum-soaked fruit cake, Russian-inspired chocolate lace, hand-crafted chocolate dessert shells, traditional holiday brunch items, smoked Atlantic salmon and even a "retro gingham fashion" apron for that Aunt Bea kitchen flashback.
I particularly like this catalog because it has some nifty recipes to go along with the products they're trying to sell. The one for beef and wild mushrooms puffs is great. There's also a seafood rack for grilling 30 oysters, clams or mussels at one time. Not that I've ever need that.
But catalogs are NEVER about need.
For those who just can't live without unique kitchen devices or an unusual hand-carved Shan Mu Platter, this catalog fits the bill. And you can never get enough shan mu, buddy.
Catalogs are my friends for my best friends who live out of town. It's a nice way to present something very special without having to visit them.
Bly for now.
