One of the reasons I love gourmet gift baskets is because I'm a foodie myself. So naturally, tasting and testing all kinds of gourmet food items for our gift baskets is a big perk of the job. Choosing specialty cheeses, snacks, cookies, and chocolates is no small task, but in our quest to offer high quality gift baskets, we have to be picky about what foods we include.

Variety is equally important to quality, and for us that means a nice mix of great tasting cookies and snacks, the finest handcrafted chocolates, and handmade dip and soup mixes that are easy to make and great tasting.

To accomplish this selection of high quality and variety, we turn to Specialty Foods magazine and various trade shows to taste and test. Twice a year we go through our selection process to make sure we stay on top of new products and add fresh new items to our designs.

Below are 10 of our current favorite foodies:

Davis and Davis – makers of cocktail mixes, dipping mixes, oils, and more. Our favorites are the super tasty dip mixes and the summer Cosmo cocktail mix.The latter can be found in our Summer Fun Gift Basket.

Arbor Hill – Along with making great wines, Arbor Hill serves up some of the best wine sauces and syrups around.

Abdallah Candies – Three generation family owned Abdallah of Minnesota makes some of the most decadent chocolates we’ve ever tasted.

Country Home Creations – Made in Michigan, these food mixes are purely delicious! We’ve used everything from dip mixes to soups to marinades, and these flavor mixes always delight.

Too Good Gourmet – Delicious tasting cookies in beautiful packaging! What more could a gift basket want? We are soon to add their pet treats, which are equally adorable in packaging!

Annie B's – makers of delicious multi-flavored popcorn and caramels. We love them for their taste and affordability!

The Sweet Boutique – Our favorite custom cookie baker and designer! I discovered the Sweet Boutique while working on a custom gift basket design, and I needed the cutest pig cookie I could find. Sweet Boutique delivered!

Vosges – The most gourmet and delicious chocolates ever. Period. Made in my hometown of Chicago. Need I say more?

Jo Snow Syrups – Another Chicago food artisan, these all natural beverage syrups are a unique gift basket addition with a wide variety of flavors for spicing up literally any beverage.

Northwoods cheese – The tastiest cheeses from one of my favorite locales, the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin!