How to Build a Stash of Emergency Gifts

With the holidays rapidly approaching, I’ve always had a difficult time finding small gifts for co-workers, employees, or friends that wish to do a gift exchange.  With a well-stocked treasure chest, you’ll never panic for a last-minute hostess gift or a welcome token for a new neighbor. If you make careful choices and add to the stash throughout the year, it could be your source for hassle-free Christmas shopping.

1. Designate a closet or cupboard to hold your gift stash, or buy an attractive trunk or cabinet.

2.  Buy a small notebook and jot down the names of people to whom you routinely give gifts, whether on birthdays, Christmas or other holidays. Include details such as sizes, favorite colors, hobbies and special interests. (Even if you forget to carry the book with you, having committed the information to writing should spark your memory.)

3.  Keep your eyes open in your travels, on routine shopping trips or when you’re surfing the Net. When you see a book on steam locomotives that would be just the ticket for Uncle John’s birthday, or a handwoven coverlet your mother would love, buy it and add it to your treasure chest.

4.  Add a range of high-quality generic gifts. Homemade preserves and mustards, bottles of wine, hand-dipped candles, reference books and attractive picture frames are all good choices.

5.  Don’t return unneeded gifts to the store when someone gives you a book or CD you love but already own, or a beautiful scarf that clashes with your eyes. Instead, add it to your gift stash; if you like it, chances are it will please someone else you know.

6.  Keep a few toys and children’s books on hand, even if you don’t have children.

7.  Include an assortment of gift bags, wrapping paper, tape, ribbon, gift tags and greeting cards.

8.  Prewrap a few items to serve as truly last-minute gifts, and tuck a note into the ribbon identifying the contents.

• WARNING:  If your stash includes presents you’ve received, attach a note to each one saying who gave it to you; you’ll avoid the embarrassment of giving it back to the giver.

New chocolate bar healthy for your heart, claims manufacturer

21/09/2007 - In a bid to take advantage of the boom in demand for fortified chocolates, a manufacturer claims to have developed a product that benefits those with Type-2 diabetes or high cholesterol.Developed by Innovative Life Sciences, the Heart Chocolate contains an ingredient called CM-X, a combination of cinnamon and bitter melon, which the company claims can lower blood sugar and lower cholesterol.Food manufacturers are continually looking to build on the demand for low fat and low calorie foods, a market that is currently showing strong growth worldwide following obesity concerns.“Heart Chocolate with CM-X is a great-tasting, low-calorie, chocolate bar, and is the only chocolate bar equipped with CM-X, an ingredient scientifically and clinically proven to lower blood sugar and high cholesterol, act as an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant,” claimed Innovative.

The company said the product is particularly beneficial for people with Type-2 diabetes, as it contains no sugar, as well as for those with high cholesterol.  Innovative claims the cinnamon and bitter melon combination make it suitable for those with Type-2 diabetes and is the only sugar-free or low-calorie snack that offers this combination.“We have also funded our own clinical trial at the University of Guelph to confirm, substantiate and broaden the beneficial properties of cinnamon and bitter melon in the treatment of diabetes, high cholesterol and other related cardiovascular conditions,” the company added. “Our study will have results in 2007 and we look forward to communicating our findings in 2008.”Innovative said the health benefits of this chocolate with CM-X has been approved by Health Canada.

The chocolate bar is divided into thirds of 60 calories each, designed to offer three times daily satisfaction for chocolate cravings. “Heart Chocolate with CM-X is designed to help one moderate their chocolate cravings by eliminating the difficulty of maintaining proper portion control,” the company added.The Heart Chocolate with CM-X was launched this week during the Toronto Film Festival in Canada.Sales of health and premium products are driving growth in the US chocolate market, offsetting poorer sales in other chocolate segments according to a report last month.

“We expect that the trend towards high-end products, especially those touting wellness benefits, will be the life force in this market for the next several years,” said Tatjana Meerman, publisher of the report ‘The US Market for Chocolate’.Overall chocolate sales are predicted to reach $18bn (€13.2bn) by 2011, up from $16bn (€11.7bn) in 2006, she said, helped by the market share for premium chocolate escalating from 13 per cent of the total market in 2002 to nearly 17 per cent in 2006.By 2011, premium chocolate will account for 25 per cent of the market, generating $4.5bn (€3.3bn) in sales, she added.The report concluded that the reason for this growth is the reported health benefits of dark chocolate, as well as a shift in consumer interest towards ‘luxury’ products, including organic and fair trade products.

Mars hits out at US chocolate redefinition proposal

US moves to redefine chocolate have come under further criticism by some of the leading players in the industry.Mars said yesterday that it would continue to produce all its chocolate with cocoa butter, rejecting proposed changes that would allow the name to be included on products made using cheaper vegetable oil.

The reaction by one of the world’s leading confectioners could encourage others to pressure the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to scrap the plans, preventing processors from possibly cutting supply costs for their chocolate.Mars claims that revising current standards on chocolate to allow vegetable oil in place of cocoa butter would fundamentally change the product by compromising one of its key tastes.

According to the company, coca-butter is vital to ensuring chocolates creaminess and texture.Mars Snackfoods US president Todd Lachman said that the company would not therefore consider substituting its ingredients.

“Changing the definition of what chocolate is would be a mistake,” he stated.  “The bottom line is that we’re not going to change our chocolate.” While Lachman added that the stance was likely to increase costs for the group, he claimed that maintaining quality was paramount for the company.

The proposal to change the formulation was announced earlier this year by the FDA following petitioning from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) along with other industry bodies. Industry leaders are calling for more flexibility in the current regulations to reflect changing consumer attitudes and advances in manufacturing technology and ingredient supplies.Amendments to the current standard of identity could lead to chocolate containing vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter and milk substitutes in place of milk hitting the market and providing a greater array of alternatives to standard tastes and textures.

Intimidating candy: Hershey bars to feature Earnhardt

If you’re a Dale Earnhardt fan and you like chocolate, you’ll likely love the new “collector edition” Hershey bars that will hit the market in January.

Hershey Co. unveiled four bars featuring different images of Earnhardt, two Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar designs, one Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds bar design and one Kit Kat wafer bar design.

The images span the career of the seven-time NASCAR champion, including an image of the No. 3 Chevrolet with which Earnhardt won the 1998 Daytona 500. Also, the candy bars will feature a design that include Earnhardt’s signature and the stylized No. 3. Hershey will invite consumers to make a donation to the Dale Earnhardt Foundation through an online charity event.  The bars will be available in January at retail outlets nationwide, Hershey said. The promotion will run through May 2008.

Become a Whiz at Giving Gifts

“Darling, I LOVE IT! It”s just what I wanted!”

How often do we actually hear those words when we give a gift? Not often enough? The same goes when you receive a gift. How often do you say those words? You really want to love the nightgown that you have just unwrapped on your birthday morning, but it’s hardly going to make you gush and swoon with excitement is it? So what is the perfect gift?

Naturally there is no such thing as the perfect gift. Getting it right depends on numerous factors. We all want to be experts at giving gifts. At the very least, we want to hit the mark once in a while!

The easiest place to start is to understand the differences in the way men and women gift shop for each other. Here is a selection of interesting facts that you may not know:

1. Women give Christmas gifts to more people than do men. The average difference is 12.5 versus 8.

2. Women devote more time to selecting the appropriate gift, 2.4 hours per recipient versus 2.1 hours for male gift shoppers.

3. Women are more successful in finding desired gifts. 10 per cent of women’s gifts are returned to the shop, as opposed to 16 per cent for gifts given by men.

4. Speed – men move faster down the aisle and spend less time looking.

5. Lists – in supermarkets men rely on them less and make more impulse purchases.

6. Decisions – when a man has something he wants he buys it. If a man takes an item of clothing into a changing room he is more than twice as likely to purchase it as a woman.

7. Price – most people check price tags, but men are less likely to do so than women.

8. Men also seem to take it as a point of pride that price does not worry them and they are much more likely to be persuaded to take a more expensive item.

9. When a man and a woman shop together the man almost always insists on paying.

10. According to observations in a home wares chain store – when a woman shops with another woman – average time in store eight minutes – when she shops with children – seven minutes – when she shops alone – five minutes- when she shops with a man – 4.5 minutes. Yet women insist on asking men to go out shopping with them.

Well, we really are from different planets aren’t we? Shopping for a gift should not be treated as a chore. It can be an enjoyable experience if you plan in advance. Here are a few points to consider before you hit the stores:

* Has the recipient of the gift mentioned anything in the last few weeks or months about what they want?  It could be anything, not necessarily meant as a hint. You could be walking past a store with a friend when she stops and mentions how gorgeous those pair of shoes are and she wishes she could afford them. Bingo! If she still hasn’t invested in them by the time her birthday comes along, then there is your perfect gift. (Only if you can afford it of course)

* What are the recipients’ interests? If he is a sports fan, then a couple of tickets to the next big game wouldn’t go amiss. If he is a fan of a particular music band, then why not get him a personalized t-shirt with the band on it?

* Women love gifts that show commitment to a relationship. That does not mean go out and buy her a vacuum cleaner. If you are not quite ready to propose, then a nice piece of jewelry will guarantee to make her putty in your hands.

* Men like practical gifts. Women have a habit of buying for a partner what they would like to receive themselves. Little keepsakes, snow globes, teddies etc are for giving to your girlfriend on her birthday. Men will appreciate receiving a teddy bear with ‘I love you’ on its little t-shirt but they really do not know what to do with it after the occasion is over. It’s quite likely that poor little teddy will be relegated to the bunch of stuff gathering dust in his garage. Now if you bought him some power tools, they are certainly less romantic, but they have a use and to a man, that is more important.

* People enjoy receiving gifts that are more expensive than the giver can afford. It’s strange but true. When we receive a gift from a loved one that seems or is really expensive, it makes us feel cherished. An expensive gift is on the same level as a well though out cheaper gift. So if you are unable to invest time in finding a perfect gift, then be prepared to break out the plastic.

Finding a perfect unique gift to fit people’s personalities isn’t always easy but there are a few free services out there dedicated to helping you find them. They do this by having thousands of gift ideas from the best merchants online all in one place. You can search the websites by category, if you already know what you want to buy, by occasion, or by recipient.

When you have made a decision on the gift you are interested in, you simply go to the merchants’ website to make the purchase. The advantage of using these free services is simple. Firstly, with these services not concentrating their efforts on trying to shift their own products the web surfer can have a completely unbiased opinion on the products they view. Secondly, they give access to thousands of products the web has to offer all in one place giving the customer more choice.

Although skeptics would insist that some holidays we celebrate today have been fabricated by the card and giftware companies to sell more products, we all enjoy receiving a valentine’s card, don’t we?