Join Us on Pinterest for Holiday Entertaining Ideas

With the holidays just around the corner, it’s time to start planning festivities. With hundreds of ideas and suggestions regarding holiday planning, organizing your plans can be a bit overwhelming. Fortunately, Pinterest not only provides inspiration for holiday entertaining, but also helps you keep your ideas organized. Billed as an “online pinboard,” the site allows users to collect, or “pin,” ideas from anywhere on the Internet.
Visit Hickory Farms on Pinterest and follow our boards to stay up-to-date on seasonal entertaining, gift ideas and more. You’ll find ideas for everything from holiday gift baskets and recipes to party inspiration and stocking stuffers. Here are a few of our favorite fall entertaining ideas for your next party.

Pasta salad is a great choice for holiday parties because it still tastes great at room temperature. To make a tried-and-true dish like pasta salad feel extra special, dress it up with the rich flavors of beef Summer Sausage and one of our delicious gourmet cheeses, like our Jalapeno and Cheddar Blend or Smoked Gouda.

Nothing says fall like the classic combination of orchard fruits and cinnamon, so we love this idea for Warm Pear with Cinnamon Ricotta. As a bonus – it’s a healthy dessert that still tastes indulgent!

The “Apple Pie Apple” recipe also looks delicious, and the creative presentation is sure to impress your guests. For best results, use high quality fruit, such as the Crown Comice Pears and Fuji Apples in our fruit baskets.

Gourmet sausage and cheese from Hickory Farms

Beef Summer Sausage from Hickory Farms

For last-minute celebrations or impromptu guests, it’s a good idea to have easy, delicious foods on standby. Our gourmet gift baskets are the perfect supplement when creating a last-minute holiday party menu. A selection of slice gourmet sausage and cheese with some specialty crackers and gourmet mustard makes a great spread that your guests will love. Add some gourmet nuts for a bit of crunch and one of our candy gift baskets or sweets and you’ve got an instant party!

Do you use Pinterest when planning holiday parties? Share your favorite ways to make holiday entertaining easier in the comments below, and be sure to follow Hickory Farms Pinterest boards!

Create Great Hostess Gifts with Gourmet Food Gifts from Our Mix & Match Promo!

Spirit of the Season Wine Gift from Hickory Farms

The holidays are a time of togetherness with friends, family and community, and that means lots of social engagements! Whether it’s a dinner party, holiday open house or another festive event, don’t forget to show your appreciation with a host or hostess gift.

When it comes to choosing a great holiday host gift, you can’t go wrong with wine and cheese baskets. Wine gifts are a thoughtful way to thank the host, especially when combined with gourmet cheese or nuts. At Hickory Farms, we have a wide variety of wine gift baskets available to fit any taste, from fall-themed wine gift baskets to options with traditional Hickory Farms items.

holiday hostess gifts from Hickory Farms

Make custom holiday gifts.

Martha Stewart has some great ideas for hostess gifts as well, like the one shown above. Just arrange a jar of specialty preserves with a pretty tea towel and a small cutting board, and then tie a ribbon around it. Or, for a convenient alternative, try our Orchard Preserves Sampler.

Beef Summer Sausage from Hickory Farms

You could also use a cutting board as the base for a custom gift, adding gourmet meats and cheeses, sweet hot mustard, and other gourmet food gifts. Tie a decorative knife and spreader to the cutting board with ribbon, and you’ve got a great host gift. Not only is this idea charming and easy, but right now we’re doing our Mix, Match & Save promotion!

Throughout November, buy two and save $1 on our featured items, plus save an additional $1 for each added item! This amazing deal includes our classic Summer Sausage, gourmet cheese bars, holiday cheese balls and cheese spreads, bagged candies, gourmet mustards, peanut brittle, and meat snacks. All items under $10 are included, so you can pick up plenty of pantry essentials for holiday gifts, and get yourself some of your favorites as well.
What is the best host or hostess gift you’ve ever received at a holiday party? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and be sure to visit Hickory Farms to get your holiday shopping done early!

Prepare a Holiday Buffet Filled with Family Favorites & Seasonal Décor

Thanksgiving will be here before you know it! Planning ahead will minimize stress, allowing you to enjoy the day with family and friends. If you’re expecting a crowd, consider serving your Thanksgiving feast buffet style.

Hickory Farms’ Guide to Cheese and Meat Dishes

Spiral Sliced Honeygold Ham from Hickory Farms

As The Etiquette Advantage points out, it’s polite to provide Thanksgiving menu options that can be enjoyed by all guests, including those with dietary restrictions. For instance, our Beef Summer Sausage and gourmet cheeses are gluten free and make a perfect accompaniment to the meal or as an appetizer to keep guests happy while they wait.

Thanksgiving is a time to make special side dishes with your family’s own unique twists, from sweet potato soufflé and green bean casserole to stuffing and cranberry sauce. With fabulous side dishes, the main event needs to be just as good. A Hickory Farms spiral ham is a delicious solution that will not only impress guests, but also makes things easier on you, the host! Our Spiral Sliced Honeygold Ham is tender, moist and slightly sweetened with a bit of honey, making it a classic favorite at holiday meals.

With the menu planned, it’s time to lay out the buffet itself. Martha Stewart and The Kitchn provide some great tips on how to set up a buffet. Here are some of the most important ones to keep in mind:

For maximum efficiency and smooth traffic flow, use a table pulled away from the wall. That way, the line will be directed around the table and guests won’t have to reach over one dish to get to another.

Arrange your buffet table so that plates come first, then entrees, side dishes, bread and salad. Silverware wrapped in napkins should be placed at the end, so guests don’t have to hold it while loading their plates.

Make sure to include condiments and sauces for the various dishes. Our specialty mustards and preserves, like Sweet Hot Mustard, Cranberry Mustard and Orchard Preserves, are great with honey ham, turkey and gourmet meats.

Don’t forget to put out serving utensils! Each dish should have its own tongs, serving fork, etc., and a saucer or dish to set it on, so your table linens stay clean.

Fill in holes in your Thanksgiving tablescape with small bowls of gourmet nuts.

Use stations to make the line more manageable. In addition to your main food table, consider a separate beverage station and dessert station.

When choosing serving dishes, try to use items with different heights. Tiered servers, plate stands and other items can help you create a buffet that is more attractive and easier to use.

And last, but definitely not least, make sure to have a trash receptacle easily accessible. You don’t want anyone leaving trash on your beautiful buffet spread.

Spirit of the Season Wine Gift from Hickory Farms

If you’re going to be a guest rather than a host for Thanksgiving this year, enjoy being the recipient of all that hard work and preparation, but be sure to let your hosts know how much you appreciate their work by bringing a gourmet gift basket or one of our festive wine gifts.

How do you manage Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd? We’d love to hear about your own Thanksgiving buffet tips and family traditions, so leave us a comment!