Ask a Texan to wax poetic about the Lone Star State and if that person is knowledgeable about true Texas statehood, he or she will tell you Texas is a state of mind. Texas is big and diverse, easy to feel, difficult to explain, and a Texan simply could not live anywhere else. Lots to experience and lots of incredible food to eat.
The name Texas comes from an Indian word, tejas, which means friendship. And since Texans are friendly by nature, they like to share their love of Texas foods by sending family and friends a box full of Texas foods. A Texas gift box, of course, is simply a Texas gift basket made perfect for shipping to anywhere on the planet. A birthday or some other big day or possibly just an expression of thanks, if you happen to be on the catching end of a great Texas gift box sent your way, it says a lot of good about you.
Giving the gift of a fiery habanero salsa or possibly a classic green tomatillo salsa lets that special person know how much our cuisine has been defined by the great foods of Mexico. But if that Texas gift box has a variety of fruit preserves or pickled garlic inside of it, you can bet that a friend in the Piney Woods of East Texas got creative with food. There aren’t too many types of produce that don’t grow here in Texas so if you receive a Texas gift box of food you ought to be guaranteed it was pureed, preserved or pickled here in Texas.
In Texas, the planet’s best barbecue can be discovered east (or west) of the Pecos River. So if you receive a Texas gift box packed with bar-b-cue marinades, sauces and rubs, let that tell you someone down here thinks incredibly highly of you. Whoever sent you that Texas gift box of B.B.Q goodies knows you are not going to make tasty “cue” with the stuff from your local market. That individual is watching out for you so be sure to say thanks. And chances are good that a Texas gift box is going to have something in there that has been introduced to a little heat. As in, jalapeno heat. A blueberry or peach jelly with some jalapeno peppers mixed in will give a totally new meaning to a biscuit sitting on a dinner plate north of the Red River.
Texas gift boxes leave the state by the big bushels during Christmas season. What better way to convey to a client in Omaha, a customer in Milwaukee or a loved one sitting on a rig in the North Sea how much you appreciate them. Thanking a person for their business or support with a Texas gift box filled with foods grown or made here in the state of Texas tells them you care.
Jay Potter is blessed with the responsibility of evangelizing about the joys of giving Texas gift boxes from Simply Texas. He shares loads of culinary Texas treasures, often wrapped up in those Texas gift boxes, and shares recipes for Texas food and for Texas living on the Simply Texas website blog.