I was recently sent the most wonderful gift through the post. It was something I had always wanted…..a hamper of lovely food. I am absolutely thrilled with it!

It was kindly sent to me by Caledonian Hampers who make and sell the most amazing Scottish hampers. They are packed full of delicious food and they come presented beautifully in a pale yellow presentation box that was filled with shredded wood. The box tied up with some pale yellow ribbon and do you know what……it was such a treat to open that gift!

When Caledonian Hampers said they would send me a hamper I didn’t know which one they were going to be sending me …so I was genuinely excited to open the box and see what goodies we had been sent to eat.

My first impression was just awe…I was very impressed with the care and attention that had gone into packing the hamper. Everything was carefully packed in the box so that it didn’t damage anything else that it was next to.  My second thought was….Wow! How did they manage to get so much food …and a bottle of cider…. into the box and still have room to pack it with the shredded wood. You can tell they are hamper packing professionals! 🙂

I had been sent the Scottish Hamper which is £44.99 with the addition of a personalised bottle of Scottish cider which is £20.40

When the hamper arrived I had my aunty and uncle staying close by so lots of the contents of the hamper got shared around between us all. 🙂

The Scottish Hamper I was sent contained the following items :-

• Whisky flavoured tea (Edinburgh Tea and Coffee Company) – 20g  – I gave these to my aunty and uncle as they have a friend who loves to drink whisky in his tea.
• Dundee Marmalade (Mackays) – 340g – This is in my fridge ready to be eaten on toast one morning. I might even use it to make a marmalade loaf cake following a recipe I found on the internet.
• Strawberry jam (Scott’s) – 340g – This is absolutely delicious! You would never know it is no added sugar. I have already nearly finished this jar and it tastes yummy on toast, crumpets, in Victoria Sponge cakes etc. I will definitely be buying this again!
• Scottish tablet bar (Lee’s) – 60g – I gave this and the macaroon bar to my dad and uncle and they shared it between themselves. I think they liked it because there was none left behind for me to eat! 🙂
• Scottish macaroon bar (Lee’s) – 70g – Same as above.
• Scottish fudge bar (Lee’s) – 60g – My daughter and I shared this and it was so sweet and tasty. It was a really lovely bar of fudge. Another product from this hamper that I will have to hunt down and purchase again!
• Cheese oatcakes (Stockan’s) – 100g – These are in my cupboard ready for a buffet tea towards Christmas time.
• Mixed berries oat biscuits (Nairns) – 200g – These biscuits are a healthy, wholesome treat and my daughter loves them.
• Shortbread fingers (Patersons) – 150g – Ummm….what can I say apart from these didn’t last long in my house! I have been buying this brand of Scottish fingers for years and this pack was just as lovely as ever.
• Triangle oatcakes (Patersons) – 150g – These are being kept for a Christmas time buffet meal.
• Choc chip shortbread rings (Border Biscuits) – 30g – These were eaten as soon as the photo had been taken! They were crumbly and moreish.
• Oat crumble biscuits (Border Biscuits) – 30g – These were eaten a little while after the photo had been taken…but after the Choc chip ones had gone! 🙂 Borders are a premium biscuit that everyone loves.
  
• Premium Haggis (Grant’s) – 220g – This has been given to my mum and dad as they said they would like to try it.
• Wholegrain mustard (Arran Fine Foods) – 180g – I love mustard and am a fan of using it in honey and mustard pasta and homemade cauliflower cheese. I still have some left in my current jar of mustard but once that has gone I will be using this one.
• Simply Add Chilli (Simply Add Chilli) – 120g – I am not into really spicy food so I gave this to my Aunty as she loves things with chilli in. She can’t wait to try this out.
• Apple and ale chutney (Arran Fine Foods) – 190g –  I love the sound of this. I have this ready and waiting to be enjoyed at my Christmas buffet of oatcakes, cheese and condiments.
• Tomato and red pepper chutney (Arran Fine Foods) – 185g – This too will be eaten at Christmas.
• Spicy Tomato Salsa (Mrs Bridges) – 100g – As this says it is spicy I knew my aunty would appreciate it…which she did. She thought it sounded very nice.
• Cold pressed rapeseed oil (Supernature) – 100g – I have never used rapeseed oil so I look forward to cooking with this.
• Lemongrass infused rapeseed oil (Supernature) – 100g – My aunty told me she loved lemongrass so I said she could have this bottle of oil and enjoy using it in her cooking.
• Lime Drizzle (Cochrane Cottage) – 100g – This is a very unique product. It is a lime flavoured fat free drizzle that can be used on fish, chicken or drizzled or mixed into boiled rice. I gave this to my aunty and she is going to use it in one of her meals.

The 750ml bottle of premium Scottish apple cider was personalised with a Happy Christmas message and my name. If you decide to order a bottle of this cider for a gift for somebody you could also have a photo added to the bottle.  The cider came in a wine bottle and I thought this was a very unique touch. I’ve not seen cider presented like this before but I thought it looked great. It is described as being a  ” sweet and round cider” and they say “it is achieved by keeping the apples fermenting for longer, and using less cooker time.”.  We all shared this cider at a family meal when my aunty and uncle were visiting. My uncle opened the bottle and we all had a little bit each. It looked lovely standing on the dinner table and it had a great taste. It was indeed sweet just like it said it would be.

I cannot say thank you enough to Calendonian Hampers for sending this hamper to me. It was such a lovely treat and one that was very much appreciated. I do not hesitate at all in recommending them to you.

They have also been very kind and offered my readers a 10% discount. If use the code mumrev before the end of November 2014 you will get a 10% discount on their website www.caledonianhampers.com  You can order now and ask for the delivery to be delivered to the gift recipient , or of course yourself, closer to Christmas.

Before I go I just want to provide you with a few links to hampers and personalised alcoholic gifts on their website :-

• Supernature Hamper – £22.99
• Personalised Beer Keg – £39.99
• Scottish Food Hamper – Large – £45.49
• Personalised Bottle Of Champagne – £43.80
• Jumbo Scottish Hamper with Merlot – £134.99

As you can see the prices of the products on their site varies so there is something for every budget. Any of their hampers or personalised bottles would make a really special Christmas gift.

Please stop by and like Caledonian Hampers on facebook and follow them on twitter.  Thanks everyone. 🙂

P.S – Don’t forget to use that discount code before the end of November 2014. mumrev gives 10% off at www.caledonianhampers.com