Also on Saturday  mid-morning, we’ll acknowledge the big Valentine’s Day holiday with a demo of Kusmi Tea’s Sweet Love.  This Paris-based tea is luxurious and warmly spicy, and the hot pink packaging is perfect for any sweet loves!

Sunday, Feb 12th from 1-5pm, taste a new discovery from the recent New York Chocolate Show: Comptoir du Cacao and their unusual “flaky pralines.” Trust us, you’ve never had anything like this before!

And on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday 2/14, Tea Forte will demo their Dolce Vita, “Sweet Life,” dessert tea collection during lunchtime, from 12:30 to 2:30pm.

It is a sweet life at CMB: as a special offering for Valentine’s Day, we have special Bequet Caramel Boxes in for a non-chocolate treat, and the Prestat Heart-box Truffle Collection will be available through the evening of the 14th!

This could happen over a fork fight for the last peach in the jar, or playing rock paper scissors for whose turn it is to do dishes.  It can happen, and will happen over and over again if you let it. That is the essence of this book.” And so begins the newest addition to our Chelsea Market Baskets library, The Newlywed Cookbook by Sarah Copeland (click here for a quick visual into Sarah’s life as a newlywed in The Newlywed Cookbook video).

Through anecdotes and recipes of her marriage, Sarah’s inspiring writing makes The Newlywed Cookbook indispensable to newlyweds, oldlyweds, and almost-weds!  After working for the Food Network, Sarah has the know-how to keep your pantry stocked for any occasion- whether you’re hosting a party, brunching at home on a lazy weekend, or making a quick weeknight dinner, and also offers advice on getting the most from your local market in any season. 130 recipes and pages of gorgeous photography make this a wonderful book to peruse or cook through cover-to-cover!

CMB is fortunate to have known Sarah when she was working in the building, and we are thrilled to be hosting a book signing and recipe tasting party in the store this Thursday, Feb 9^th from 6:30 to 8:30pm.  We will have plenty of copies of The Newlywed Cookbook on hand for you to have personalized- this is the easiest wedding or shower gift you have ever given!

It’s February, and you know what that means: time for sweethearts, red roses, and chocolate! Yes, February is Chocolate Month at Chelsea Market Baskets, and we are excited to showcase delicious classics and introduce new favorites.  We’re always looking for local vendors as well as the best products from all over the world, and our chocolate selection is no exception.  Whether your looking for milk or dark chocolate, unusually filled truffles or solid bars, we have got the perfect sweet for you (and your sweetie)!

Brand new to the store are the nostalgic creations from H.S. Chocolate Co, each confection is hand-crafted in small batches in Brooklyn, and the flavors are reminiscent of childhood’s favorite sweets, but dressed up a bit for grown-up tastebuds.  Take the Fluffernutter: whipped marshmallow cream, peanut butter and roasted peanuts enrobed in chocolate- there is no kidding around with those sweet flavors! Or the Bourbon Brown Sugar Pecan dipped in milk chocolate that evokes a decadent, intoxicating pecan pie! In a surprising savory foray, CMB would encourage you to try a candy bar close to our cheese-loving hearts: the Figgy Blue is comprised of layers of fig ganache, soft nougat with toasted walnuts, and Bayley Hazen Blue cheese from Jasper Hill Farms (where we source our best-selling aged cheddar). The candy bars (Figgy Blue, Raspberry Ragtime, and Troop 652) are each $5.95, and the filled chocolates (Fluffernutter, Peanut Butter Pretzel, and Bourbon Brown Sugar Pecan) are each $3.25. Look forward to an H.S. Chocolate Co Demo- and meet the chocophile behind the brand, MaryAnne Hoekstra-Shekar- at CMB on February 11 from 12-4pm.

If you read David’s recent blog post, you saw that he’s headed to Paris, the home of our recent Chocolate Show discovery:  Comptoir du Cacao and the palate pleasing flaky praline.  It’s the heart of the brand and you haven’t tried anything like it!  Toasted flakes add crunch to a soft chocolate base with a hint of classic raspberry, hazelnut, hazelnut-salted butter caramel, or hazelnut-pistachio pieces, then a single layer of chocolate seals in the flakes and is cut into bite-sized squares. At the recent Paris Chocolate show, the hazelnut and butter-salted caramel flavors won 1^st and 2^ndplace respectively.  A box of each flavor at Chelsea Market Baskets is $21.95, but if you really want to make a grand gesture this Valentine’s Day, you can get the large assortment of flavors for $42.95.  We also are carrying the Comptoir du Cacao truffle assortment ($34.95) and solid flavored chocolate bars ($8.95). There is a rusticity in the wooden packaging that belies the sophisticated flavors, but the sealed top that allows you to see the chocolates inside takes any guess work out of gift giving!It’s a great time to be a chocoholic- you could pick-up a piece of chocolate every day and still not have tasted your way through our whole selection!  CMB is pleased that our customers have come to depend on us as a destination for great chocolate no matter what their mood or tastes are dictating.  Whether it’s Leonidas, Akesson’s, Mast Brothers, Fran’s, Askinosie, or Tumbador, we’ve got what you’re looking for so stop in and celebrate chocolate month with CMB! Also, keep checking in with us on Facebook and now on Twitter (@cmbstore) for updates regarding chocolate tastings and demos throughout the month.

• On the first day of Christmas – Cucina “Risotto Bag” gift pack, available in three fragrances and less than $20!

• On the second day of Christmas – Aromatherapy Candles the can inspire, stimulate and relax with completely natural fragrances.

• On the third day of Christmas – A New York City dish towels that includes some hand stitching and highlights New York Cities greatest attractions!

• On the forth day of Christmas – Take time for tea with Tea Forte’s Dolce Vita sweet pyramid tea bags, beautifully packaged and creating a true tea experience.

• On the fifth day of Christmas – our friends from Seattle created caramels with a touch of smoked or fleur de sel, salt, now everybody is doing it but they did first and better! Fran’s Chocolates is an original!

• On the Sixth day of Christmas – our friend from Southhampton, New York – Kathleen with her legendary crispy cookie recipe now available with dark chocolate, walnuts, wholewheat floor and glutton free – all from Tate’s Bake Shop.

• On the seventh day of Christmas – Anne Taintor, whose graphics and phrases have humored us for a decade now has a brand new recipe book to be even happier, a cocktail happy hour book.

• On the eighth day of Christmas – from war time England in the early forties comes the phrase, Keep Calm and Carry On, which has many, many applications in our times, and is the perfect complement to a good cup of tea.

• On the ninth day of Christmas – make time for a beer and although you will need a little time to brew it but it sure tastes good home-made – kits from Brooklyn Brew Shop!

• On the tenth day of Christmas – While you are waiting for the beer to brew, our favorite NYC snack from the East Village Red Head Restaurant is Bacon Peanut Brittle, spicy, slightly sweet and smokey – you can not stop.

On the eleventh day of Christmas - Imported from the Aisle of anglesey in northern Wales,  Halon Mon Salt, in original, smoked and with celery, with its clear sea flavor and delicate texture, it is the perfect finishing salt.

• On the twelfth day of Christmas – Butter, sugar and floor with some tweaking, makes for the perfect bit of crunchy sweetness – Shortbread House of Edinburgh is why Scotland is famous for shortbread!

Now it is time to rest and think about next year!

We all at CMB wish you and your family a happy, healthy and of course tasty holiday and New Year.

I thought I would share a little of the behind the scenes process of creating the catalog.

Creating our yearly catalog helps us define and grow our business. We are always on the look out for new and different products – from down the street, to the other side of the world. Creating the catalog forces us to make many decisions about our assortment-what new items to buy and what items to discontinue.

We look to evolve our gifts over time, slight modifications to selected baskets are made each year. This allows us to share our most recent findings with our current customers as well as new customers.   We also have fun developing a new crop of gift each year, this year we have many gifts that feature foods from different geographic regions- such as Brooklyn, New England and California.

Once we decide on the assortment and components in the gifts, we photograph the items. Taking a photo of a gift that includes many components is not always easy – it takes both art and science to get a shot that best represent the item.

The same team has worked together for many years now adding their piece of the puzzle: David the owner traveling to different parts of the world to find food, Mickey Mathis the photographer, and Amy Ashford our graphic designer and myself as the “stage director” making sure all the pieces come together.

Once the photographs are taken, the images are carefully cleaned-up and we go to work on the layout of the catalog, once all the proofs and edits are made the final product is sent to the printing house.

In the below picture, David (owner) and I are setting up the Chelsea Market Bounty basket during one of our photo-shoots.

Some new items we are excited about this are year:

NYC Hot Chocolate- All the best NYC hot chocolate mixes and drinks in one basket.

Brooklyn Boys- Handmade foods all made in the trendy borough of Brooklyn.

Edible New England- Sweet and Savory products all made in New England and boxed in our “new” New England boxes.

California Dreamin- A gift that highlights California and their diverse food culture.

British Tea and Biscuits- From across the Atlantic we have selected the best biscuits, aka cookies for this gift, all boxed up in our modern British box.

Here is a link to our full catalog:
CMB Holiday Catalog 2011 (pdf)

In NYC the weather has changed and harvest is here. CMB celebrates the new season with bold autumn tastes.

One of the items that we are excited about is Süss – Sweets that make you smile.

Homemade in New Hampshire, these caramels came about because friends and family encouraged Tammy Fahey to take her caramels to a local farmers market. After her debut at the farmers market she knew she has something special (We think so too!).

The Süss (Means sweet in German) caramels are made with all natural ingredients; each batch is made by hand, including the pouring, cutting and wrapping. The ¼ lb rolls can be sliced to share or easily kept for your own enjoyment.

They are soft & chewy, but not sticky, so your teeth will be fine… The favors include, pumpkin caramel with sea salt, vanilla & pecan, and cinnamon apple. $8.95 

Doin’ the Pickleña is another hot and cool company from Westport, CT!!!

Coke Anne and Jarvis Wilcox started their pickle company because they would receive delicious jalapeno pickles from a friend every year but always thought there was something missing! They finally realized they weren’t Texan enough.  As a result, they gave their restaurant chef a challenge, to make a Jalapeno Pickle that screamed Texas, and they finally figured it out!

Doin’ the Pickleña is their vision of  perfect pickles, robust combination of sliced pickled Kirby cucumbers with jalapeno, red peppers, and onions.  At CMB we carry both the hot and cool versions; either of these can be used to liven up things, like tuna salad, egg salad, hamburger or a cheese platter.  $9.00 a jar

“Keep Calm and Carry On” -perfect for teachers, its fun, witty and will remind them to just do that on the tough days…

Tea  makes an ideal gift, it promotes health and relaxation, Kusmi tea has unique blends that are packaged beautifully.

Send some happiness to that special teacher…

Perfect gift for that teacher, who’s a foodie too!

Know of a graduate that loves food?  Express how proud you are of their accomplishments by sending one of our delicious and filling gifts.



All gifts can be picked up in store or ordered online at www.chelseamarketbaskets.com

Here are some of our favorite items:

• Iveta Scone Mix -  This easy-to-make mix is sure to please, and we have a gluten-free option for special diets!
• Kitchen Garden Jams – Made by hand in the Cotswolds, these jams and preserves are fit for a queen!
• Bay Tree Very Lemon Curd – As the name says, this lemon curd is extra tart and perfectly tangy, with no preservatives!
• Clotted Cream – Traditionally served with scones, luxurious clotted cream from Devon is also delicious with pancakes!
• Ahmad Tea – An exclusive selection of twelve favorites -it’s a tea of the month club in one box!
• Harney & Sons Mother’s Bouquet – 3 Sachets of Floral Tea in a beautiful small gift box
• Kusmi Tea -  Fanciful and healthful, the benefit and beauty of Kusmi Tea make it a perfect gift!
• Shortbread House of Edinburgh – Buttery sweetness is the taste of leisure – you cannot go wrong with this classic biscuit!
• Keep Calm and Carry On Enamel Mug – A great morning coffee mug with the timeless words of wisdom from the Queen that date back to WWII.

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Easter is the perfect season for us to bring out our finest chocolates, spring treats, decorations and not to mention a whole new range of Easter Baskets.

We have a large selection of chocolate eggs and rabbits, some are filled, some solid and other hallow. Our customers’ favorites this year are quail eggs, that are caramel in a dark chocolate covering and then covered in a colorful hard candy shell, praline filled eggs and Leonidas Belgian rabbits.  In addition to chocolate we have a selection of American’s traditional Easter Candy, which includes Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Peeps, Malt Balls and Reese’s.

If you are looking for Easter decorations – look no more. We have a multitude of Easter baskets, nests, decorative eggs, hanging egg lanterns, chocolate place tags, shred and ribbon – in every imaginable color.
To have a look at what we have in store browse the photos below.

Until Easter, we are offering FREE Gift Packing (including a decorative pick, ribbon and shrink wrap or cellophane) for in store purchases of $20 or more. (Normally we charge $10 or more for packing a gift.)

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Come to “Epicurean Paradise” and Support Kids Eating Better!

We are hosting a tasting event in our store with the premier NYC caterer, Great Performances, to celebrate the introduction of our Sylvia Center Mother’s Day Baskets that taste great AND give back in supporting educating kids about what is good to eat.

Join us for generous wine and food tastings, passed hors d’oeuvres, demonstrations and private back-of-the-house tours. Sparking Wines will be provided by Chelsea Wine Vault

When and Where: Wednesday, April 13, 6:30 – 8:30pm in our Store in Chelsea Market

Tickets – $30/person

Tickets are available at: www.greatperformances.com/store or by calling 212-727 2424

Tickets can also be purchased on our store.