I ordered a quarter pound of vanilla beans from
this place.
I can't recommend the site yet because I haven't received the beans.

Captcha: boldface Times

OK, I accidentally posted as Anonymous again. I don't have a good excuse. At least I have an excuse to publish another Captcha:

includ- cockpits

I am a long-time Tienda customer. They feed my nostalgia for all things Spanish. They are incredibly reliable and speedy in their delivery.

I'll third La Tienda. I also dig GermanDeli.com for nostalgia reasons, and heartily recommend Rancho Gordo for heirloom beans. Sure, 5 bucks a pound is a lot for dried beans, but I can pretty much guarantee that you have never had beans like these. Sublime!

Captcha:Harry dredgers. Tasty...

I've got one I'm sure of, two that might be too specialized.

First, Zingerman's. It is worth the trip to Ann Arbor just to go there. They started as a deli not unlike Bonducci's, but without the attitude (if you go there, they will feed you samples until you find the perfect things for you, and won't let you stop until you faint with pleasure). I have had vinegars, of all things, from there that I wanted to chug out of the bottle. Their cheeses are beautiful and perfect. Their artisinal sausages are eye-opening. You really can't go wrong with anything from Zingerman's.

If you like coffee, Sweet Maria's is your place. Tom (he named his store after his wife) does have a few roasted coffees, but he specializes in green coffee beans. He also has all the information and gear you need to roast, brew and serve delectable coffee. There are also megabytes and megabyles of information on all aspects of coffee, freely available to everyone, plus Tom's coffee buying trip photos. If you like coffee at all, you really should spend some time just poking around.

For spices, there is, of course, Penzey's. Yes, they have a bricks and mortar store in Rockville you can go to (and, smell the cinnamons if you do...amazing), but they've always done a huge mail order business. Their ground cumin is so fresh and strong it'll shock you.

I have ordered from La Tienda and had good service. The smoked olive oil they carry is terrific.
You might take a look at http://chefshop.com/. I haven't ordered from them but their weekly newsletters always look delicious.

Might not be a bad time to mention that if your comment has more than one link in it, the blog will hold it for moderation, just in case it is spam.

I get Camelia brand beans (for red beans and rice), tasso, pickled pork and andouille & boudin sausage from Cajungrocer.com.

tautest 36 ??

If you love pecans, check out this site. www.youngplantations.com. It is for Young Plantation in Florence, SC., a major grower of pecans. All kinds of pecans--honey roasted, butter salted, yogurt coated, plus other food items like cheese straws, etc.

Certainly not gourmet, but Vermont Country Store for regional goodies and candy nostalgia.

I ordered my friend Avocados from the Avocado of the Month Club a few years back and she loved them.

The teachers at my childrens' day care center always got Kringles as a holiday treat:
http://www.kringle.com/

My mother mail-orders Black Walnut Extract for her black walnut poundcakes because they it is so hard to find in stores.

Luuuuuv Penzey's!

Lissa, years ago we received some special English muffins from Zingerman's and we were disappointed. They were very doughy, as I recall.

Waitaminute--maybe that was Wolfermann's ...

I have ordered numerous food items from QVC and have not been disappointed. If you don't like what you ordered or the food arrives spoiled (had that happen once) their 30 day return policy makes it risk free. We are getting a ham for Christmas from them this year since the one we had last year was so good.

Since I watch Made in Spain every night I am familiar with La Tienda. I am glad to hear good things about them. I need to try some of that $160 a pound ham. It looks so good on TV.

Dahlink - I think you are right about Wolfermann's. As I recall, their muffins were too "yeasty", and did not toast up like other english muffins.

By the way, Pappas provides mail ordering for their crab cakes (ducking head and running...).

I have had great success ordering from www.gourmetfoodstore.com as well as www.cajungrocer.com. The latter has an amazing selection of creole and cajun ingredients, and their shipping is fast.

I have mentioned this site before, but NutsOnline is my go-to source for all kinds of nuts, dried fruits, and other snackables. Most often, I get their already shelled and salted pistachios, dried apricots, strawberries, gojiberries, and the veggie chips are most excellent. Plus, (sorry YumPo), their quinoa is always high quality and cheaper than what you can buy in the health food stores.

A plus for y'all, usually stuff I order for Baltimore gets there the next day, if I order by like 5pm ET. It takes 3 days to get here.

That is weird, the blogware added the path to this blog entry to the link I posted above.

anyway, its www.nutsonline.com.

Scribner's peps

A friend of my wife's sends us a package of Alaskan smoked salmon each Christmas. We love it. We get the pack of six varieties, smoked filets -- not the shaved stuff -- which retails at $80 with free shipping. The latter is important because most others charge a lot for shipping. Main list:
http://www.great-alaska-seafood.com/

Love Penzys, Zingermans, La Tienda and QVC (served deep-fried turkey on Thanksgiving-delish), tsp spices and Kringles. But my favorite all-inclusive site is foodzie.com.

http://www.mackenzieltd.com/
among other things, they have the Smith Island Cake.
and its a local company!

It is difficult to tell, but the 5:14 comment is either a shill or from yet another person confused by the url field.

And here I was getting all paranoid that they somehow knew I was in Spain this Fall. I got home and found La Tienda in my mailbox.

It's like they're stalking me.

No one has mentioned Davids Cookies! Maybe it's because I am a big catalog and ecoomerce shopper, but when I think of 'best of' for food gifts, David's Cookies is the first in my mind for scrumptious, delicious baked goods and cookies!

I love to get some good old Virginia ham from Edwards & Sons down in Surrey, VA.
It's the closest thing to Heaven on a biscut!

As I was scanning the other news on the web, this link http://www.delish.com/entertaining-ideas/holidays/food-of-the-month-clubs?gt1=47001 caught my eye. First, because the initial club is a D@L favorite, Bacon of the Month! The rest are anticlimactic!

Big Swifty,

Go to VirginiaTraditions.com.

As I've written about a few times, I love the brisket from Texas Hickory Brisket.. It is far away the best brisket I've ever had.

For spices, I normally get mine from the Spice House.. Oddly enough, considering my politics, I love their Hyde Park seasoning, a mix of Hawaiian sea salt and African grains of paradisde that is a tribute to the President.

As for the worst, I think I'll go with Omaha Steaks. I don't see how they are so popular. The quality is so-so and the prices, when shipping is figured in, is quite high.

I have enjoyed excellent ducks from libertyducks.com.

I got a La Tienda catalog a few months ago, but they're too expensive for me. I love to Godiva, Chef's Expressions and King Arthur Flour catalogs too, but again, too dear for my purse. There's always Wolferman's, Hickory Farms, and Swiss ... what ... Chalet? Village?

RoCK, I agree about Omaha Steaks--the meats are so FATTY, and frankly, I can get FAR tastier meat at Safeway!

ECKRICH kyushu ...what kind of sausage is "kyushu"?

I'm not gonna lie.

After experiencing the pure, uncomplicated, unencumbered joy explosion that is Jamon Iberico de Bellota, $1495 for a whole leg seems like a relative bargain.

A second mortgage is worth that kind of happiness, right?

Eggs fried sunny side up in olive oil, the white covered with Jamon iberico de Bellota and the yolk covered with shaved black truffle. Every time I see this on Made in Spain I shed tears of joy.

RoCK and Dahlink,

I haven't had the experience that you both have had with Omaha Steaks. Once I got a top sirloin that was a bit fatty, but the filet mignons, especially the triple-trimmed ones, were quite good.

here is an odd captcha:1,235,000 impanels

PCB Rob, I didn't say anything about Omaha Steaks--I was whining about doughy English muffins.

Sorry Dahlink,
I meant Dottie.

Lebanese Rafford

My South Carolinian wife reminded me of this goldmine:
http://www.boiledpeanuts.com/index.html

saner Polis (could mean a couple of things...)

The problem with Omaha Steaks isn't that they are too fatty; it is they are not fatty enough. All the fat, remember fat equals flavor, is trimmed away, and in order to keep the meat juicy it pumped with some kind of salt solution. It ends up tasting very weird.

As for the prices, if you factor in shipping, an 8 oz steak from them ends up costing around $10. I don't see how that is any type of a deal for a second rate piece of meat.

I have 2. Enstrom's for the best Toffee by far that I've ever tasted (great Christmas gift) and Grand Traverse Pie Company for terrific Cherry Pies- their specialty.

The Grand Traverse Pie Company does mail order? Dang...that take me back. My family summered in Traverse City, and we'd stop in for pie a few times a year.

I preferred my cherries fresh off the tree, though, and headed for Mackinac City fudge when given a choice of sweets (although I'd take the orchard over both).

RoCK,
My ex used to call me a second rate piece of meat.

My ex used to call me a second rate piece of meat.

Your ex? What, you let her get away?

My ex used to call me a second rate piece of meat.

Still better than first-rate tofu

RoCK,
I didn't really let her get away, she chewed through the chains while I was at work.