Shop Local: Gifts for Your Favorite Foodie
A dozen last-minute gifts for all your favorite foodies.
Save yourself all of those cardboard Amazon boxes this year and instead take your tote bag around the Delmarva Peninsula to purchase these local goods. Luckily, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia artisans are making it easy to support small businesses with more high-quality culinary treasures being created by the day. Find something for everyone on your list with our local picks, ranging from sweet-smelling seasonal candles and handpicked sea salt to savory snacks for our four-legged friends. Especially with a smaller carbon footprint, it’s the most wonderful time of year, indeed.
BARRIER ISLANDS SALT CO.
Virginia
Every cook in your community should have a jar of this locally harvested sea salt, harvested by hand via Atlantic waters off of Virginia’s barrier islands. These bright, white flakes bring the fresh taste of the briny ocean to each and every dish.
DEWEY BEER CO.
Delaware
This Dewey Beach brewer is quickly becoming the new go-to suds shop on Coastal Highway, with creative takes on craft beers like IPAs and sours, with every batch brewed on site. Head to the taproom to pick up a six-pack of tall boys, equipped with fun, colorful labels, for the hop heads in your life.
CAPE CHARLES CANDY COMPANY
Virginia
For the stockings of sweet-lovers, grab a slab or two of this homemade fudge from its namesake town, featuring decadent flavors like peanut butter chocolate, cookies and cream, and salted caramel, all sold out of an old-fashioned candy store with throwback candies and soda pop.
CAPE CHARLES DISTILLERY
Virginia
Booze has arrived on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with the region’s first distillery now making small-batch bourbon, whiskey, vodka, and moonshine in Cape Charles. These handcrafted spirits are made with local corn and grains, as well as Virginia mountain spring water—a perfect gift for the host-with-the-most.
CHAPEL’S COUNTRY CREAMERY
Maryland
Every holiday charcuterie spread is better with cheddar, especially the cave-aged Talbot Reserve variety from this family farm in Easton. But don’t sleep on the other show-stopping artisanal cheeses of these Jersey and Holstein cows, like the creamy Chesapeake Brie or Stilton-style Bay Blue.
HONEY WATER CANDLES
Maryland
We’ve recently fallen for these hand-poured soy candles made in equally enchanting Berlin. Not only do they tout stunning labels and seasonal scents such as green tomatoes, summer fig, and “Atlantic,” with sea salt, lily of the valley, and tonka bean, but five percent of proceeds go to conservations efforts. Order online or check the website to find local retailers.
RAPA SCRAPPLE
Delaware
Delmarvans know that when it comes to holiday breakfast, there’s only one king of first-meal meats: Rapa Scrapple. The Bridgeville company still uses the same recipe it has since the 1920s—salty, savory, with a touch of spice. Best of all, you can buy it online and ship it to homesick friends and family.
WEIRD BEARD COFFEE
Virginia
This offshoot of the Eastern Shore Coastal Roasting Company is a new coffee character to watch, with inventive roasts, like the Sailor’s Rum aged in Lyon Distilling barrels, using ethically and sustainably sourced beans in Eastville. In fact, the High Tide variety, infused with CBD, might make the perfect pot for the season’s many family gatherings.
HABANERA FARM TEA
Maryland
Morning routines just got more mindful with these all-natural herbal teas—chai, chamomile, and hibiscus, to name a few—all farm-grown in Tyaskin on Maryland’s lower shore. Snag a pouch of their custom blends, geared toward helping with energy, mood, and even allergies, as well as imported organic black and green options for caffeine.
OLD WYE MILL
Maryland
This historic grist mill in Queen Anne’s County is one of the oldest continuously operating water powered mills in the United States, producing local and organic stone-ground grains such as whole wheat, buckwheat, and rye flours, as well as cornmeal and grits. Stop into the gift shop and then stand in awe of the state’s historically massive oak tree stump out front.
WAGGIES BY MAGGIE & FRIENDS
Delaware
Let us not forget our four-legged friends when it comes to foodie gifts. Luckily, this nonprofit dog treat company, which employs persons with intellectual disabilities in Wilmington, has everyone covered with all-natural dog bones made with the likes of peanut butter and sweet potatoes.
WYE RIVER CRAB POPCORN
Maryland
Forget those tri-color cans of stale popcorn from Christmases past. This locally made popcorn, from the Queenstown seasoning, soup, and snack company, is always fresh and especially addictive thanks to a heavy-handed sprinkling of an Old-Bay-like spice.
