The gift that keeps on eating

November 30, 2014 10:44 AM

I'm trying to get my brother and sister-in-law (who are in their mid 30s) a good food gift for Christmas. They live in Nashville and are foodies. Last year we got them a cheese calendar (every month, they were mailed a delicious local cheese. This was in West Virginia). They liked it and I hope to do something like that again - a little gift each month that just automatically shows up. Any ideas?

Preferences would be ordering it online (we live in a different country, so compiling something here and mailing it is impractical), small-ish store, actual food (as opposed to a magazine,) meat-free. I only want to order it once and to have it continue to show up (there is no way i can remember to do this every month!)

Any suggestions? Thanks!

posted by andreapandrea to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

What's your general budget?
posted by Lyn Never at 10:53 AM on November 30, 2014

Zingerman's Deli has some monthly food clubs. I think most of them go for 3-6 months, not year-round, but I'm not familiar with all of them so perhaps there's some year-round ones in there.
posted by axiom at 11:05 AM on November 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

Wine or beer of the month both work. You could do fruit from Harry & David too.
posted by Toddles at 11:06 AM on November 30, 2014

Best answer: There are a lot of food-based subscription boxes....Here is a pretty comprehensive list to browse through.. A lot of them are snacks, but there are quite a few gourmet ones too.
posted by Fig at 11:25 AM on November 30, 2014

Mouth does subscriptions, including cookies, pickles, and chocolate. I've been really happy with their stuff but if the veg requirement is strict make sure the cookies and chocolate won't include bacon (I wouldn't be surprised).
posted by telegraph at 11:26 AM on November 30, 2014

If you want to go big, buy them a meal at The Catbird Seat.
posted by brookeb at 11:43 AM on November 30, 2014

My friend's bakery does a monthly cookie club in three or six-month increments. Every cookie they send has been insanely delicious.
posted by ThatSomething at 12:32 PM on November 30, 2014

I did Rogers Chocolates tasting club for my father last year. He was a very happy man, if slightly heavier at the end of the year :)
posted by Cuke at 1:21 PM on November 30, 2014

Response by poster: thanks, these are all great suggestions! i meant to put that our budget is around $100 but flexible if there's something cool that they absolutely must try.
posted by andreapandrea at 1:24 PM on November 30, 2014

Seconding The Catbird Seat. I haven't been there myself yet, but I hear it's amazing.
posted by dean_deen at 1:29 PM on November 30, 2014

The Cravory offers tasty cookie subscriptions.
posted by shivohum at 2:11 PM on November 30, 2014

The National Mustard Museum actually puts together really nice gift boxes, and they have a Mustard of the Month Club. They also have terrific customer service, so if you wanted to put together a mustard gift pack that suited to the recipient's tastes, you could call and they would be seriously delighted to make suggestions.
posted by juliapangolin at 2:38 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

My dad has given us Harry & David fruit of the month several times and it's awesome. The first box which arrives in December has extra stuff in it, like caramel popcorn and truffles. Not sure if there are different sizes, but the ones we receives usually have ~6 of each fruit (except things like pineapple or cherries, obviously) which is perfect for two people.
posted by jshort at 2:44 PM on November 30, 2014

Check out Batch Nashville, a fairly new service sending one-time or monthly gifts of locally produced foodstuffs, often with a "thing" included, like a tea towel. They now have a storefront at the Farmers Matket too. It's a great way to get to know small artisanal vendors in the area (there are also Batch Memphis, B Austin, and B Charleston).
posted by mmiddle at 3:23 PM on November 30, 2014

I would probably like to just keep getting new cheese. I may have a slight cheese addiction though so ymmv.
posted by fshgrl at 5:01 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

I gave my husband a bacon-of-the-month club subscription from The Pig Next Door. It's more expensive than you're looking for, and it's only 6 months. Apparently shipping bacon is expensive. But it was delicious!
posted by pompelmo at 4:16 PM on December 3, 2014