Healthy Eating for the New Year

If losing weight and getting in shape are on your to-do list for the new year, you’re not alone. Last year, losing weight was the top resolution among Americans, with staying fit and healthy as the fifth most popular resolution.

Adjusting your overall lifestyle and committing to the goal of becoming a healthier person are critical steps you’ll have to take to achieve your goal. In addition to getting regular exercise and breaking unhealthy habits, you must also develop healthier eating habits to lose weight and be fit.

Make healthy snacks with Hickory Farms fresh fruit baskets and gourmet nut gift baskets. (Photo via Lunch Box Bunch)

Counting calories is important, but you should change the type of carbohydrates you consume, opt for adding healthy fats to your diet, and incorporate the right protein sources as a part of healthier eating habits. Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of carbohydrates that also provide you with vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients needed to maintain your health, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

Our Dried Fruit Collection includes delicious healthy fruits such as apricots, peaches, pears and other fruits, as well as crunchy almonds to provide a tasty contrast to the fruit. If you are looking for post-holiday food gift ideas, this collection is an excellent idea.

The Hickory Farms Fresh Fruit Trio includes Crown Comice Pears, Fuji Apples and Mandarin Oranges; our fresh fruit baskets create a combination that offers variety and flavor.

Health fats come in two forms: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These types of fat are helpful in improving blood cholesterol levels and benefit insulin and blood sugar levels, according to the Mayo Clinic. Nuts are a fabulous source of healthy fat and make for healthier snack options than potato chips and sweets. Hickory Farms offers a variety of gourmet nut gift baskets.

Protein is an essential element of a healthy diet, as it helps repair and build muscles that are being exercised. Other benefits of adding protein to your diet include helping you feel fuller longer and preventing issues like heart disease and diabetes. Nuts are a great source of protein, and, according to LiveStrong, cashews contain 4 grams of protein per ounce, while pecans contain 2 grams per ounce and walnuts contain 7 grams per ounce.

We have several gourmet nuts, too. One of our best sellers is the Colossal Cashews Tin. Fresh, large cashews with a hint of salt make for a great snack to munch on throughout the day or a healthy party snack.

Our Finest Mixed Nuts Gift includes almonds, cashews and pecans, roasted and sprinkled with sea salt to snacking perfection.

Have you resolved to eat better and become healthier in 2013? If so, how do you plan to accomplish that goal? Share your healthy eating plans for 2013 with us by leaving a comment below.

Decorating with Gourmet Gift Baskets for the Holidays

The holidays are one of the busiest entertaining seasons of the year for many of us – from hosting neighborhood parties, to family gatherings or dinner with friends. Decking your home with festive holiday décor helps set the mood for your events and can be done easily and inexpensively with a little creativity.

Hickory Holiday Reserve Gift Basket from Hickory Farms

Decorating with baskets is an excellent way to add some classic holiday style to your home, and the possibilities are endless! In fact, when you purchase gourmet gift baskets from Hickory Farms, you’re getting not only delicious gourmet sausage and cheese, but also a finely crafted basket that could become a beautiful centerpiece for your holiday gatherings.

Orchard’s Bounty Gift Basket from Hickory Farms

Many of our keepsake gift baskets feature baskets from the Peterboro Basket® Company, hand-crafted in New Hampshire. These made-in-America baskets provide a wonderful base for all sorts of arrangements and centerpieces. Take a look at some great ideas that you or the special person on your gift list could use to decorate with Hickory Farms gift baskets.

We love this simple centerpiece idea from Martha Stewart. The equation is simple, but the key is quality; a beautiful handmade basket, greenery and luscious fruit. Our fruit baskets are a fantastic choice for last-minute holiday entertaining. They not only make great centerpieces, but the delicious fruit is also great for pre-meal snacking!

Channel the cornucopia motif of Thanksgiving with an autumn harvest basket full of colorful gourds. A trip to your local farmers market or grocery store is all it takes to find an assortment of visually interesting gourds in different shapes, sizes, colors and textures.

Create a stunning centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table or sideboard with this tutorial for three-tiered Bountiful Fall Baskets. A set of small, medium and large baskets overflowing with lush greenery, eucalyptus, pinecones and clove-studded citrus makes for a display that is not only beautiful, but also deliciously fragrant.

And remember, you can decorate with baskets throughout your home! Spruce up your powder room for guests by placing clean hand towels in a basket near the sink.

How do you use baskets to decorate for the holidays? To explore more basket décor ideas, visit Hickory Farms on Pinterest, and don’t forget to buy your gourmet gift baskets now for the holiday season!

Get to Know Hickory Farms

Hickory Farms in the beginning

Traditions and success have one thing in common: Even with humble origins, they can turn into something big. At Hickory Farms, we know this first hand because it’s our story!

Our founder, Richard Ransom, started it all when he began selling hand-cut cheese at county fairs in Ohio in 1951. Throughout the next decade, the operation expanded to include booths run by husband and wife teams, with another very important addition – our famous Summer Sausages.

The first Hickory Farms retail store opened outside of Toledo, Ohio, in 1959, and the next year saw another big step; the opening of the first franchise location in Chicago. These stores were the first of many and would become a familiar sight in malls and shopping centers across the country.

During the 1960s, we continued to expand our selection of gourmet food baskets, adding items like our Sweet Hot Mustard that would go on to be long-lived favorites. The following years brought even more food selections, from fruit baskets and gourmet chocolate to spiral ham and gourmet gift baskets with nuts. To this day, we continue to expand our offerings with a new assortment of wine gift baskets, a perfect thank you for your host or hostess this holiday season.

Styles have changed quite a bit throughout the years (Just look at our groovy uniforms from the 1970s!), but the high quality of our gourmet sausages, cheeses and other specialty food products has remained the same. After more than half a century in business, we are committed to keeping our traditions alive, while also striving to improve.

Take, for instance, our 100 percent recyclable packaging that is environmentally friendly in every way, from our re-designed gift boxes to packing materials made from sustainably forested trees.

We’re also proud to make giving back a part of the Hickory Farms tradition, participating in programs such as Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign® to fight childhood hunger and Operation Gratitude’s military gifts for troops to say “Thanks” to our brave men and women in the armed forces.

Just like coming home for the holidays, people know what to expect from our gourmet food gifts – a delicious taste of tradition. To learn more about our history, visit Hickory Farms on Facebook!