Rosh Hashanah (21st September) is almost upon us, so JLife recommends a selection of sweet gift basket ideas to celebrate the New Year in style.
Rosh Hashanah is a time for generosity, celebration and contemplation, as well as wonderful traditions, including an emphasis on eating foods and fruits to hopefully encourage a sweet and successful year ahead.
Busy Bees
Tiptree, the fruit growing and condiment creating arm of Wilkin and Sons, take the art of honey tasting to a new level with the honey selection gift box. For a little variety this Rosh Hashanah, dip your apples in six popular samples – from creamy English Blossom to the clarity of Acacia and the citrus notes of Orange Blossom and beyond.
For further sweetness this New Year, snatch another sugary fruit fix from Tiptree’s array of conserves and jams too. Sweet tip raspberry, strawberry, loganberry and damson feature in this range of both familiar and imaginative jams.
Honey selection gift box £9.99.
Conserves from £2.29.
Tiptree.com
Sweet Like Chocolate
Divine Chocolate, purveyors of Fairtrade chocolate treats, offer an assortment of kosher certified bars. The combination of classic and creative chocolate combinations, as well as the decorative wrapping, is ideal for a New Year present, adding an indulgent dimension to any gift basket or hamper.
The 70% dark chocolate and dark chocolate, almond and raisin 100g bars are among those certified as kosher, and can be found at Waitrose stores as well as online, while the chocolate company’s commitment to fairer trade also fits with the Rosh Hashanah spirit. Dig in!
From £2.00.
Divinechocolate.com and Waitrose.com
Say It With Flowers
Filling a gift basket with sultry scents as well as, or instead of, traditional New Year treats, can be just as effective for those without a sweet tooth. Lily’s of Bramhope prides itself on being a local florist but does also deliver to vast swathes of Leeds, including Adel, Alwoodley, Chapel Allerton and Moortown. Choose from a wide array of seasonal flora or plump for an arrangement already housed in a convenient and stylish basket. The fragrant country basket option, filled with roses, lisianthus and asters, can leave a sweet smelling imprint in the house of your guest. Or, for a longer-lasting present, opt for a seasonal planter featuring a mixture of flowering and non-flowering plants for the recipient to nurture as the year goes on.
Fragrant country baskets from £29.95.
Seasonal planters from £26.95.
Lilysofbramhope.co.uk
Dish It Up
Add a dash of sophistication to someone’s table by including a honey dipper, complete with dish, pot or plate, in your gift basket this New Year. Kitchen and bakeware company Lakeland’s patterned Ditsy Blossom honey pot and bamboo drizzler is a stylish example of turning a traditional piece of crockery into an elegant table centre piece.
£19.99
Lakeland.co.uk
Peace Out
Pick up a bottle of Peace Oil, a prize-winning extra virgin olive oil produced in Israel’s Carmel Mountain range, to give back to a good cause through your Rosh Hashanah gift.
Made by teams of Jews, Arabs, Druze and Bedouin all working together, Peace Oil is an initiative from The Charities Advisory Trust intended to champion co-operation and economic ties between communities, with profits used to support peace and reconciliation work in the Middle East.
Peaceoil.org
Shanah Tovah!
