There are numerous industries which interact with clients that would be better off giving a real gift of appreciation at the close of a deal, or business sale, than gifting some cheap logo scribed trinket. For an executive gift or corporate gift you may consider a fine gourmet gift of class and distinction, Alaska smoked salmon.

Real estate, mortgage, and corporate executives are constantly looking for the closing gift that will appear genuinely thoughtful, and be sincerely appreciated and remembered by their customer or client. An executive gift, like a glass golf ball on the desk plaque, just doesn’t work for most people. You may say, ‘but it is cheap, and you can purchase them by the case, and even have them engraved.’ Sure you can, and you can certainly go with that, but your corporate image will reflect those same under laying tones. What does the recipient perceive? A cheap gift. You know, about as useful as the chiropractor’s bent pen. 

One mortgage company came up with a great solution to this need. At the close of every deal, their clients receive a gourmet gift box of smoked Alaskan salmon. Inside the box is 8 ounces of smoked sockeye salmon from Alaska. A recipe is included for a smoked salmon appetizer. Smoked salmon hors d’oeuvres make the perfect addition to a party with smoked salmon appetizers and dips.

At Christmas, one University sent every member of their board, an executive gift of a smoked salmon Wood Gift Box. This beautifully crafted wood gift box enclosed an 8 ounce fillet of Copper River Sockeye Salmon. In gourmet circles, Copper River Sockeye salmon is recognized as the premiere red salmon of the world, for flavor and taste. Smoked sockeye salmon has the bright red appearance and succulent flavor that gourmet chefs from around the world, integrate into their entrees and salmon recipes.

A corporate gift or an executive gift would be far more appealing if it were something unique and something really good to eat. Smoked salmon is an ideal choice. Today smoked salmon is packaged in foil retort packages and is COMPLETELY SHELF STABLE, which is easily mailed across the country. Smoked salmon gifts fits any gift giving occasion or designation. Companies can purchase wholesale cases of smoked salmon gift boxes for very affordable prices.

For corporate and business gifts, smoked salmon makes a great gift if a party is to be attended, you would be amazed at the reception. Imagine business associates asking, where did the smoked salmon come from? Who brought it? Does the glass golf ball on the desk get that kind of referral?

Do your business a favor, and make the investment of giving a gift that actually has ROI.
Remarkably, smoked salmon from Alaska is healthy and a good source for important nutrients and Omega 3. Can the glass golf ball do that?

There is nothing more comforting than the smell of Christmas cookies fresh out of the oven. As a little girl, I remember eagerly watching my mom, as she would carefully remove the hot cookie sheets from the oven. I couldn’t wait to help decorate with the homemade frosting, the cinnamon candies and the multi-colored sprinkles that would make each cookie design come to life.

Those were different times then. Mom didn’t work outside the home and family lives weren’t as hectic as they are today. Today, it seems like there is a mad rush from Halloween to Christmas Day and little time to simply enjoy the moments shared.

You can enjoy the fun times of homemade holiday baking by planning ahead of time. Christmas cookies make delicious, thoughtful gifts and are a great way to involve children in the festivities.

First, let’s look at the calendar and start planning with enough time. The first thing is to decide if you are going to bake holiday cookies for home, for entertaining or if you are going to be giving them as gifts and how many. Allow yourself plenty of time to start getting things together. Late October isn’t too early.

Next, let’s decide how many varieties of cookies to bake. A variety is nice, but too many can be overwhelming. I like to bake three to four different types of cookies. This way, I can make larger dough batches ahead of time, and still have a nice display.

Once you’ve decided how many different kinds you are going to bake, the next thing to do is pick your recipes. Whether you use your own Christmas cookie book or find recipes on the web, make a copy of each so that you can keep them all together. This makes it simpler than flipping around from the various cookbooks and will also help to make sure your cookbooks don’t get soiled, either.

Now it’s time to gather your ingredient list. Determine how many cookies you want to make of each recipe and then adjust your ingredients accordingly. Make one list of all ingredients, so that shopping can be done in one trip without forgetting important items.

Let’s review the recipes to see if there is any dough that can be made and frozen ahead of time. This will be a huge time-saver as later on, you will simply be able to defrost the dough, bake and decorate. Since you have all already shopped for the ingredients, set aside an hour or so to mix the dough recipes.

Let’s get out that calendar again and pick a time to set aside for the actual baking. Since we’ve already prepared the dough, all we need to do is organize our decorations. It’s best to just do one type of cookie at a time, this way you won’t have to go back and forth between cookies.

Whether it’s during the week or on the weekend, clear off everything else from that day except for your baking. This way, you’re not rushed and can simply enjoy the day. If you will be involving children, this is a great time to just enjoy very special moments together.

These special times come once a year and sometimes once in a lifetime. Christmas baking is a memorable tradition that you can start with your family.

Copyright 2005 – Patty Gale

About The Author
Patty Gale is a successful entrepreneur who specializes in personalization and customer care for all of her clients. She exchanged her suits, hose and heels to work from home in her “jammies” and is on a mission to empower others to do the same.
She can be reached at: http://www.Gingerbread-Goodies.com

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With the popularity of Halloween parties growing with every year, here are a few tips that might assist with the planning and executing of a successful party.

Tip number one- play a recording of spooky sounds or spooky music near the party entrance; it sets the mood as soon as the guests arrive.

Tip number two- create an atmosphere with colored light bulbs or black lights.

Tip number three- pick a theme for the party and coordinate decorations. If the theme is ghosts, make paper ghosts to hang around the house. If the theme is pumpkins, carve pumpkins and place them nearby. You can have a spooky theme for older guests with accompanying decorations. At www.halloween-party-fun.com you can find all of the decorations you’ll need.

Tip number four- create party games or crafts for a kids’ Halloween party. Make sure that the games are age appropriate. Kids will enjoy making crafts and placing them around the room as decorations.

Tip number five- have a best costume contest. Several categories can be chosen for the contest such as scariest costume, sexiest or funniest. At a child’s party, find a reason for everyone to win a prize.

Tip number six- make all foods and snacks related to a Halloween theme. Search the web, magazines or ask friends in search for the cutest recipes.

Tip number seven- make memorable decorations. Pick up a how to book on making your own Halloween decorations.

Tip number eight- put together a scary story with props for teens or pre-teens. Make up a story about a car accident where they had to go around the side of the road looking for body parts. Pass around in the dark a bag of wet spaghetti for a brain, two peeled grapes for eyeballs and water frozen in a latex glove for a hand.

Tip number nine- invite kids to go trick-or-treating together first then back to your house for the party.

Tip number ten- have a safe holiday. Don’t allow children to go trick-or-treating by themselves and check all candy before it is eaten.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Free Party Games to help complete your event.

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Most people would love to get a package every month with new and different varieties of their favorite consumable for them to enjoy. For example, a cheese of the month club would be a great gift selection for anyone who loves cheese.

Of course, there are things that need to be considered before giving a monthly gift club. Will it be for just one person, or will the whole family be enjoying the cheese of the month club? Usually these monthly samplings are just right for one person, but for gifts like cheese, you want to make sure that the monthly quantity can be used because it can’t be frozen for long term storage.

If you are considering a cheese of the month club but aren’t quite sure which one to pick, go online for a good selection of web based gift retailers that will surely have just the right thing.

There are many varieties of cheese, more than most of us know even existed. Here in the United States, most of us think of the state of Wisconsin as the home of cheese production. This is just one place that creates select varieties offered through cheese of the month clubs. If you’re interested check out www.wisconsinmade.com for more information on cheese varieties, gift baskets, and other great selections.

If you are looking for a fine selection of rare gourmet cheeses from all over the world go to www.cheesemonthclub.com. This gourmet cheese of the month club also features recipes and wine pairings for the different varieties offered each month.

There are lots of different gift options available, including monthly clubs for popular items, such as cheese, wine, chocolate, fruit, beer, etc. If you want to give someone a gift that keeps on giving, any one of these would be a great choice.

Whatever the purpose of considering a cheese of the month club, it makes a great gift or indulgence for yourself and/or your family. Everyone deserves a special treat every now and then, and cheese is a tasty complement to most anything, in appetizers, entrée’s, side dishes, or all by itself with a fragrant glass of wine.

If you are connoisseur of wine and cheese, check out sites that feature monthly clubs for both, or even beer and cheese of the month clubs. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding just what you want, in fact, you’ll probably find yourself in a quandary as to which one you should try first! 

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Are you too busy to cook and get stuck in a rut when it comes to meal planning? A very practical solution to this dilemma is once a month cooking or OAMC.

Take one or two days and just cook up a storm, and fill your freezer with all the meals you’ll need for the next month. Clean up will be minimal too, and the time you save cooking and cleaning can be better spent with your family or doing something else you enjoy.

Once a month cooking works well for singles, couples, and small or large families. Food items needed to prepare the meals can be purchased in bulk or when they are on sale, which will greatly reduce the monthly grocery bill too. No one could complain about that! I don’t know about you, but I am somewhat disturbed when I walk out of the grocery store with one small bag of groceries that cost $25 or more!

To get started you will want to sit down and pick out meals that you or your family won’t get tired of during the next month.

Make the shopping list based on enough ingredients for at least twenty-four meals, depending on how often you eat out, and don’t forget extra freezer bags, aluminum foil pans, or other storage containers. Being organized will help you out tremendously!

Online once a month cooking sites recommend that once you have chosen the meals you want to prepare, look at all the ingredients needed and add up what you’ll need. You want to make sure your shopping list is accurate, because you don’t want to spend time running to the grocery store when you should be cooking!

For recipes that can’t be completely assembled ahead of time, like Sloppy Joes, make sure buns are on the list and frozen separately with the meat mixture so that everything is on hand when you need it.

If you’re interested in simplifying your life and once a month cooking, visit any number of online sites for recipe ideas, storage tips, and more. Busy people don’t want to spend time in the kitchen cooking when they could be doing something else.

Once a month cooking is the answer; it saves time, money, and your sanity. Meal planning can become monotonous and a chore, which is why it is so much easier with once a month cooking. Take two or three days to simplify your life and the lives of your family members, and enjoy the rest of the month!

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