Art of Appreciation Gift Baskets Savory Sophisticated Gourmet Food with Caviar

I've been buying the Art of Appreciation gift baskets for years for my family members. The recipients were always grateful and seemed to have enjoyed the varieties. This year, I got curious and ordered myself a basket after sending several of the same out to my family and friends. Upon receipt, I was shocked at the content and the presentation of the basket especially for the price paid. I could probably come up with a much better mix with less than $30 in fact I will do so from now on. I feel embarrassed that this is the type of baskets I've been sending out year after year to my loved ones. Don't be fooled that you'd impress anyone with the included caviar it tastes like salty but unsweet flying fish eggs. As a person used to the Caspian caviars and even some cheaper American Paddlefish alternatives, I find it insulting and again very embarrassed to have sent the product as gifts. I should've known better... I called my sister (yearly happy recipient) and asked her if this is how it had been for years, and she giggled sheepishly and that's all I needed to know.

Received contents:

4 pieces (1.2 oz) of Belgian Truffles

3.5 oz Dill Salmon Spread (Alaska Smokehouse)

3.75 oz Pasteurized Cheddar Cheese (Northwood Cheese Co)

0.95 Oz Mochaccino mix enough for ONE 6oz cup

2 oz Smoked Almonds (Los Olivos)

2 oz Wine & Cheese Biscuits (Los Olivos)

1.8 oz Chocolate Dipped (Truffle?) cookies

4 oz Tuscan Crackers (Focaccia Crisps)

2 oz Water Crackers (Three Pepper Blend)

4.4 oz Wafer rolls (Tiramisu flavor)

5 oz Pretzels (typical salted dried)

4.4 oz Angelina's Sweet Butter Cookies

2 oz green olives, pimento stuffed (Mille Lacs Foods)

2 oz Black Capelin caviar (Season brand)

Missing Items:

2 Pakages Cafe Comfrorts White Chocolate Cocoa Mix

Sesame Crackers

Merlot Wine Cheese or is this for the pasteurized cheddar flavored dip?

Stone Ground Mustard

Ms. Pinables Caramel Confections

I was so surprised to see how tiny this basket is!! I think it may be 12in height and 12in in length. It looks a $15 gift basket and I don't even think the exact items or basket is used! I can see in this picture that the basket is "taller." I was very disappointed and I am so embarrassed to give this as a gift. I can't believe I paid $40 for it. I'll probably go to Costco/ Sams for a better quality basket.

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I ordered two of these baskets to give as a thank you. To my surprise the contents of the baskets differ from one another. Some items were not in it as well.

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this is the first thing i have every bought at amazon that i was not only disappointed but embarrassed. it was a gift for my childrens' anniversary. the package was not at all like the photo. the items were flat down in the basket. most boxes contained one or two items. it was uninteresting. the convenience of buying at amazon was a mistake this time. i saw much more beautiful and less expensive baskets at other stores like costco. anyway many other items i've purchased from amazon have been totally satisfactory.

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I was concerned ordering a gift basket on-line due to some less than favorable feedback on other baskets and vendors. This one was very nicely done, and well worth the price.

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Etorki (8 ounce) by igourmet

I bought this cheese hoping that it would please my aunt and it did.This cheese has a mild yet pleasing taste that is creamy and satisfying.This is now a favorite of ours.

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Good Seasons Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix, Italian, 0.7 oz., 4-Count Packets (Pack of 4)

I don't like bottled dressing at all, so with these packets I use balsalmic vinegar and it turns out as good as you'd get served in a restaurant.

I use garlic wine vinegar and half vegetable oil and olive oil, which makes it delicious! You can also put this into hamburger patties when you make your own, adding great flavor to that as well.

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I make it with canola oil and regular white vinegar and it gets applause from my family and guests every time!.......Let it sit in the frig for 24 hours and its better yet!

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IT'S THE ONLY SALAD DRESSING WE USE... TOTALLY AWESOME MADE WITH STRAWBERRY VINEGAR... MMMMM...

STARTED USING ONE PACKET WITH SOUR CREAM FOR VEGGIE DIP. GREAT!

TRIED THE PARMESEAN CHICKEN RECIPE ON THE BOX... TOTALLY DELICIOUS!

DEFINATELY WILL BE PURCHASING MORE VIA AMAZON. PRICING IS EXCEPTIONAL.

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This is one of the great classics. My dinner guests often ask me what my salad dressing is (when I serve Italian dressing) & are surprised @ my reply, especially those who've never tried it. I like to make it with balsamic vinegar for an even better taste. It's also great when added to meatloaf and/or burger recipes or tossed on lightly oil-coated veggies for the grill. NOTE: you must decide how much you like to use for these suggestions. Sometimes we even halve an avacado and fill the cavity with this dressing (so as to eat with a spoon like one would a melon) and use that as our "salad". So worth it. Give it a try!

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VAMPIRES TEASE, Cabernet and Cherry Infused Sea Salt

5/16/13 UPDATE: I just got my replacement box and the first word that comes to mind is "WOW!!!!!!!!" Not only is Kimarie (owner and proprietor of Saltopiasalts.com) 100% committed to quality, she is also 100% committed to customer satisfaction. Today I received my replacement of Vampire's Tease, and it was just as advertised, beautiful and TASTY!!! She asked me to select additional salts to make up for the trouble (Ginger's Crush, Up Close & Peachy) AND surprised me with three additional jars (Great Outdoors, Scarborough Fair and Krossed Keys) AND some cute wooden salt spoons & beautiful recipe cards. I sampled each flavor and WOW! THIS is the real deal! I am really impressed with every single flavor and I can not WAIT to try them out in a variety of dishes. These will surely be the highlight of our next tasting party. Just be sure you buy directly from saltopiasalts.com, NOT from some shady reseller! This woman has a true gift and passion for her craft, and once you taste you will be back for more! Thanks, Kimarie! I can't wait to share your lovely salts with family and friends!

UPDATE: Since I couldn't find the seller's information on Amazon, I checked out the product label and reached out via their website. I was so impressed with the result! The owner contacted me immediately, apologized and offered to go above and beyond to replace my product with a quality one as well as two more as gifts to make up for my bad experience! She also let me know that her product came from a reseller, and it seems the reseller didn't store the product properly. She speaks with real passion for her product and I am excited that she's going to make it right. I will be sure to update my star rating once I try the products... I have a feeling they are going to be really good!

ORIGINAL POST: I am really disappointed with this product. It doesn't look anything like the picture; the salt is a muddy brown color and there is gray "stuff" all over the inside of the container. After I tasted it (it tastes like plain old table salt), I realized the gray stuff is probably mold. GROSS!

There is no option to return this item, and I'm unable to track down the seller to ask them to send me a quality replacement that IS as advertised. I bought this along with over half a dozen other salts because this looked truly unique. Instead, $15.95 for moldy brown salt I won't use.

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OliveNation Whole White Peppercorns

I was told years ago by many of the chefs at whose restaurants I dined in France and Italy that the quality of the spices in Europe is much higher because of the demand for the higher quality; as a result, we apparently do not receive the grade A spices in the US. I was impressed by the quality of the spices at Hediard, Fauchon, etc...until recently.

Many of those same chefs use either a large amount of, or exclusively, white pepper in their cooking, which was very surprising, as I had tried many sources, usually finding a fetid/fecal aroma in the background (sometimes the foreground!) of much of the product that I had purchased. I commented on this to the previous head of Spice Hunter, who said that the problem is in production. The least expensive method is the soak the peppercorns in ponds to remove the outer covering; the ponds become stagnant and the stagnant (read: fetid) aroma becomes part of the peppercorns. The more expensive method is to soak the peppercorns in running water, which overcomes that problem.

There is no comment about the production of this product, but I would be amazed if it were not the latter. The aroma is so very exciting, with floral and spicy tones, and not a hint in the least of the off-putting aromas of other sources, even such well-known sources as Penzeys. My wife and I are very delighted with this product.

These peppercorns were visibly of much better quality than we'd gotten other places before, and the aroma was tantalizing before we even opened the package! They arrived fresher than I've ever tasted peppercorns in my life, and the seller is very professional and quick with shipment. Highly recommended!

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I was unfamiliar on how much peppercorns I would get with a 1lbs bag. Holy cow, I have enough to last the rest of my life.

The white peppercorns I got were exactly what I was expecting. I bought a white salt grinder for the white peppercorns. Now I have three grinders, salt, black, and white peppercorns.

White pepper isn't as spicy as black pepper. Also if you bite into a white pepper crackle it wont burn like black pepper does.

I love it on eggs. Also white peppered shrimp is amazing.

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Living in a very isolated area gives me few options as to where I purchase items such as these peppercorns. Of the several I have tried, the quality and freshness of these are by far the best. I use white pepper in many of the dishes I make and having good quality peppercorns is a must. I was extremely satisfied with these. As to the cost, I have found that you pretty much get what you pay for. Yes, the shipping is outrageous but it is outrageous for everything these days. You can by a used .01 cent paper back book, and still end up paying almost four dollars. The cost here is well worth the price.

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I thought that the white pepercorn was such a deal. The only place in town that carried white peppercorn is Whole Food with costs 6.99 for 1.7 oz. For the price of 8.99 plus 3.99 postage you get 16 oz. It came to the house in about 3 days and works great in my peppermill. If you you a lot of white peppercorn or mix with black peppercorn it's a great deal!

Pam

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