With the launch of our 2023-24 holiday collection, we are delighted to bring back many of the neighborhood staples that have been part of Neighborly Gifts’ success the past few years. We are also thrilled to announce a number of new small businesses that will be working with us for the first time. Neighborly Gifts is on the lookout year-round for new, locally-made goods in the neighborhoods we call home. After getting to know these vendors and sampling their creations, we are confident you will enjoy them as much as we do. Here are a few examples.
Oleavia | Edina, MN
As we grow our neighborhood, finding quality products from companies that share our values is a must. We were excited this year to discover Oleavia, a Minnesota, family-owned business, who work across generations and countries to bring premium quality extra virgin olive oil to their customers. Umut Kaplan and his family share their traditions of hospitality, friendship, and authenticity within their business. After he and his brother moved from Turkey to Minnesota for school, they had a desire to share their traditions and products from the Mediterranean with their new community.
Oleavia prides themselves on their award-winning, highest quality extra virgin olive oil, produced with ideal olives, natural components, vitamin E while maintaining a high polyphenol content creating an extraordinary flavor and aroma.
Little Black Box | Jacksonville, FL
Crystal Israel, owner of Little Black Box, left her corporate job to return home to Jacksonville, where she started selling her goods at local farmers markets for fun. Little Black Box believes that food should be a connection. Little Black Box is proud to create quality jams, from fresh ingredients, that celebrate taking a moment to savor.
The complex flavor of their Blackberry Bourbon Vanilla Jam complements well with cheese boards or on a fresh piece of French toast. Their Pineapple Mango Pepper Jelly is a staple of southern pantries. This hot jelly combines sweetness of fresh sun-ripened mangoes and pineapples with a spicy kick of habanero chili peppers. A great addition to marinades and meatballs, it can also be served with cream and crackers for an appetizer.
Orchard Pond | Tallahassee, FL
Orchard Pond’s family-owned farm produces their goods directly from their fields. Sustainable practices are used to enrich the land, not drain it. They started their organic garden back in 2008 to feed their growing family fresh produce and now produce and goods from their ever growing farm can be found at local restaurants, grocery stores, and retailers across the country. Their drive to put their community first makes them a great vendor to add to our neighborhood.
From their farms in the Red Hills region, Orchard Pond crafts premium beef jerky. Their beef jerky is made with 100% certified organic grass fed beef. The Peppered Beef Jerky is filled with flavor without overpowering the natural taste. If spice isn’t your thing, the Original Beef Jerky is just as delicious.
Driftless | Viroqua, WI
We jumped at the chance to work with a Wisconsin-based charcuterie company, Driftless Provisions. The company celebrates the connection between the land, animals, and farmers in the Driftless region they call home. Each package has pairing suggestions for the customers to craft the perfect charcuterie experience. The Saucisson Sec salami is an Old World, French style salami flavored with garlic, salt and pepper. Their Chorizo is a Southern Spanish style salami, with smoked paprika, cayenne & clove that gives it a strong flavor profile.
Milkhouse Candle Co. | St. Ansgar, IA
What started off as a hobby in 2002, Milkhouse Candle Company founders Eric and Janet Sparrow, coined the name for their business from the jars they bought at local auctions for their original candles. Their dream to produce candles that celebrate the Midwest has grown along with their company. Milkhouse’s candles are crafted with a unique blend of pure beeswax and natural soy wax from locally grown soybeans.
It was hard to narrow it down to two scents this season, but this year we are showcasing Harvest Wine Cellar and Tobacco & Honey. Harvest Wine Cellar is a fruity fall candle, with nuances of Honeycrisp apple, wild blackberries, and cinnamon mixed with seasonal mulled spices and red wine. The fragrance also has notes of oak barrels and musk, which will warm homes this holiday season. Tobacco & Honey offers essences of honey over dried tobacco, teakwood and cashmere. The fragrance gives notes of amber, cashmere and sandalwood that will fill a room with lasting flavor.
Monsoon Chocolate | Tucson, AZ
Straight from the Sonoran Desert, Monsoon Chocolate is an award-winning chocolate maker and confectioner joining our neighborhood this year. Drawing inspiration from local ingredients, they handcraft their sweets using transparently-sourced cacao from all over the world. Their goal is to honor their hard work by processing the cacao as minimally as possible to reveal the beautiful and complex flavors inherent in the beans.
Monsoon’s buttery, crunchy Cashew Brittle is covered in their signature dark chocolate, a 69% dark blend featuring beans from Ecuador, Madagascar, and Uganda. Their signature Dark Milk Chocolate Malt Balls crunch with each bite.
Freshwater Sauce | Pine Island, MN
In 2018 after moving to a small hobby farm and planting far too many pepper plants, an opportunity was born from an abundant harvest for Freshwater Sauce’s founders. With peppers to spare, they set about creating the perfect Minnesota hot sauce. After several attempts to craft the perfect recipe, they finally reached their product which they call Bluegill Bait.
Their sauce bridging the balance of mild “Midwestern” heat and bright fresh flavors. While other brands may work to create spice, Freshwater pushes to keep flavor forward with their sauce. Their pepper-forward approach gives the sauce a tangy flavor and mild zing.
Broth Bomb | Lakeland, FL
Broth Bomb’s mission started with the idea to excite people to cook more wholesome, easy, one-pot meals at home. Founder Andrew Laurent was a disabled stay-at-home dad when he had the idea. His necessity to learn new ways to cook is why every recipe is designed so you can use pre-chopped grocery items like frozen veggies, hash browns, and canned beans. He searched for ways to share his delicious one-pot recipes with friends and family. While sharing these recipes, he thought of including seasoning mixes to simplify the steps and the idea of Broth Bombs was born.
Broth Bombs are a cooking catalyst, which better breaks down food in every stew, curry, and chili. The chemistry works similar to baking cookies with baking powder; it improves the taste and texture, especially with beans and greens. This holiday we are excited to include three different Broth Bombs, Scarborough Fair (Pot Pie Seasoning), Curry Up, and Speckled Rain (Chili Seasoning), to spice up your meals.
John Hardy’s | Rochester, MN
As a staple in the Rochester community, we are excited to partner with John Hardy’s this year. It began in 1972 when in a small restaurant located on Third Avenue S.E. in Rochester, MN, John Hardy, Jr. opened a Southern Bar-B-Q restaurant. Although John passed away in 1986, his recipes and traditions are still carried on under new ownership with two locations in Rochester. We are thrilled to have their famous BBQ sauces in our collection this holiday season.
Desert Provisions | Tucson, AZ
After Amanda Horton, owner and founder of Desert Provisions, relocated to Tucson, Arizona, she quickly fell in love with the magical allure of the desert southwest. After months of drying and milling chiles for friends and family, she explored how to bring her passion to a wider audience. Desert Provisions encapsulates Amanda’s love for all-natural, locally-sourced, products.
Dessert Provision’s Hatch Red Chile Powder is rich with flavor and fruity spice. The power is made from 100% pure air-dried chiles grown along the banks of the Rio Grande River. The chile powder has a smooth floral heat that works well for a variety of recipes and flavor profiles.
Chocolate Shoppe | Mantorville, MN
The Chocolate Shoppe was started in 1976 in the historic town of Mantorville, Minnesota. In 1989 Lynne Kenworthy along with her daughter Lynnette, purchased the business, then Lynnette’s family bought it from Lynne in 2012. Using the same recipes, Lynnette and her family make a wide variety of handmade chocolates. Their assorted box is filled with chocolate covered caramels, toffees, truffles and creams that they craft in small batches in their kitchen.
