My Favorite Things: Edibles From Etsy (Preserves, Hand-made Candies, etc.)

Inspired by Oprah's "Favorite Things" and the holiday season, I thought I'd do a series of posts with some of my favorite food and cooking-related gift items.  Of course, I can't hand out free items like Oprah can, but hopefully I can inspire a few gifts for the foodies and entertainers in your life.  Enjoy!

Do you often give gourmet food gifts made by some corporation?  Instead of throwing money at Harry and David or Dancing Deer this holiday season, support the homemade movement and true "small businesses" (the smallest kind) by purchasing gifts from an Etsy seller.

Etsy is a wonderful collection of artisans and their Plants and Edibles category now has sub-categories like Jam, Marmalade, Candy, Coffee, and others so you can quickly find the type of gift you're looking for.  As a former Etsy seller, I can testify to the amazing quality of most of the items for sale and the sincere and excellent care given by the sellers.

Even if you can't make homemade gifts yourself, you can still give homemade gifts this holiday season.

Incidentally, the image above was "borrowed" from Orange MammaMade. I haven't personally purchased from this seller but they have some really interesting flavors.