I have gotten chacuterie meats from D'Artagnan and they were very good. Not sure about refrigeration as I have always ordered other meats with them.

DiBruno Brothers should be able to hit all of the above

I'm intrigued by the idea of duck sausage. Just because I've never had it before. Could be good, could be weird . . .

https://www.dartagnan.com/artisanal-dry-cured-saucisson-sec-duck/product/CHASAU046-1.html?dwvar_CHASAU046-1_freshFrozenWeight=fresh-CHASAU146&cgid=pork-free-charcuterie#start=1

Do you have any good Jewish delis nearby? My parents always visited a particular one in Cleveland for the salami - I remember it being better than Hickory Farms.

No good Jewish delis for 100 miles at least. 200 to Chicago but maybe there are some in Detroit. I am not a Zingerman's fan. They're not Jewish per se, but specialize in artisnal locally sourced stuff. They're just a little too much for me, the price is high and the quality is just not worth it, IMHO. They've gone downhill IMHO, and I've been going there for over 30 years . . .

There's a great gourmet grocery called Horrocks about 50 min. away but their meats aren't that great, IMHO. Nothing out of the ordinary there. That's why I'm probably going to have to mail order if I can't find what I want at that place. Folks around here can't afford fru fru meats and cheeses. If you do find something its probably been sitting around for a good long while.

Hickory farms, Swiss colony etc are Carp... the cheese is "pasteurized processed cheese food" and not cheese at all....it will keep for a year without refrigeration

Any aged cheese will keep easily a week without refrigeration. If its sealed it won't mold. Remember the old Delis where the wheel of cheese sat on the counter ready to have a chunk whacked off?

As for the salami any cured hard salami doesn't need refrigeration. How about a piece of unsliced pepperoni?

Are hard salamis labeled as such? Also aged cheeses? I'm looking for help decoding the labels. Back when I lived near a good farm market, they had an awesome cheese stand that would advise and give me samples. Same with the meat places. No such luck anywhere around me now.

Olli is a good brand of hard salami. if you dont have a local souce you can find from multiple sites on line.

Zingermans has some food and cured meat combos. . .

Hm, I can get Olli at my local Meijers, according to their Web site. They have a presliced assortment tray, that would be fun if I can find it . . .

I think sopressata is good for both eating straight and putting in a sandwich or on a pizza kind of thing. You can get a small whole one, domestic, for a reasonable amount of money, by mail order.

For interesting domestic cheeses (imported has gotten very dear), you might try Lamb Chopper (one of my favorites) or for more traditional, anything from Marin French Cheese Company.

The problem with mail order on these kinds of things is the shipping cost. I don't like the prices at iGourmet. I know nothing of Michigan geography, but there's a cheese shop in Berkeley, called Monger's Provisions and a craft butcher in Ferndale called Farm, Field, Table. I'm sure if you do some creative investigation, you'll find something within driving distance where you could shop, or maybe a place where you can call in an order, get help on the phone, and have the items delivered.

Are there any fancy farmers' markets near you? By fancy, I mean where people bring artisanal offerings like salami? If so, if they're closed for the season, you might still be able to find the names of the organizers so you could call them to get the names of the people who sell such things and buy direct.

As to the composition of the basket, if you just call it a "gift basket", you don't need to worry about it fitting a single definition. Pasta is often used as an extender with expensive meats/cheeses. Also think about a small jar of whole grain mustard. Interesting hot sauce. Local dried fruit. Monofloral honey. You can get creative!

Good luck!

Im not sure of this, Pink, but unsliced might keep better at room temp.

I haven't tried them, but I have a foodie friend who loves to order from this place in Pittsburgh... here's a link to their dried meats section: PennMac Dried meats

I just had a cheese & Croghan bologna pkg sent to a friend from Adirondack Cheese. CB is apparently a big deal in the northernmost area of NY and guys seem to go crazy for it. lol! I've only had it once though, many years ago. I don't recall it being something that would work with an antipasto, but it definitely fills some niche. :)

Olympia Provisions in Portland, also sold by high-end grocers and specialty shops in the metro area.

https://www.olympiaprovisions.com/

Here are the salami samplers. They're excellent.

https://www.olympiaprovisions.com/collections/salami-samplers

@Eileen, have you tried their pork roll? If it's something a bacon lover would like, plmk!

Eileen - now l'm in big trouble! I'm on the other side of the country from you, but those French salamis are calling to me!! I know Santa delivers, right??

So I had another idea of an assortment of Jiffy mixes, (a local baking mix company that makes these delicious sweet little boxed mixes) and some local syrup and honey, and maybe some type of breakfast meat to go with that, again, something that has a bit of shelf life to it but is good. They had some aged hams that looked good as a breakfast thingie . . . as for aged cheeses, I'm thinking provolone is what I see most often in the antipasto pairings.

We do have gourmet market 50 min. away but I just haven't been that impressed by their meats, but then what does mostly vegetarian me know, I don't like cured meats . . . I totally don't know the good brands, that's one reason I get overwhelmed, the choices are pricey and I have no idea what is good and what is not . . .

Edited to ask, does "pork roll" keep outside the refrigerator before opened?

I say, don't give what you don't like! i mean unless you know your friends really like that exact thing. And if they like the mixes, and the boxes are cute, why not? I like your breakfast idea. Skip the meat. How about some farm eggs? Dried fruit?

Remember, this is treats for the well fed, not provisions for the needy. The basket doesn't have to be a balanced meal, just make sense. If you're focusing on little nostalgic mixes, maybe a little decorative pan one can be made in. Maybe some cocoa mix or other similar riffs on the theme.

Oh, and, yes, sliced meats must be chilled. Maybe a few extra hours leeway for hermetically sealed, but not days.

I've got two baskets going. One for my home made canned antipasto relishes for my foodie wino friends, and one for the grandkids and family with the breakfast stuff.

For the breakfast basket, just look for bacon that's smoked, dry cured, and vacuum packed. It'll then be shelf stable. I haven't lived in the US in nearly 30 years, but I recall my family buying bacon from Benton's.

Most dry, hard salami/sausages will be shelf stable -- pepperoni, Genoa salami, soppressata, cervelat.

Just saw this article, and I though you might enjoy it.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-make-a-charcuterie-board_l_61a8fb3be4b0ae9a42b9b46a

Provolone is not an aged cheese unless it says "aged provolone"...it's usually sold young.aged cheddar, gouda, emmenthaler, of course Parmesan and a Peccorino will be well aged and keep for a week in the mail

I second the idea of finding buying local. The mail order places at their prices...you don't get quality nor something affordable for what you want to put together.

I love the breakfast basket idea-- so many great options and IMO no need to include meat. Home made granola and/or an interesting hot cereal mix. Pancake mix-- homemade or otherwise. Dried or fresh fruit. Homemade jam or marmalade. I especially love the farm fresh eggs if you aren't shipping. What a treat!

If the kids are young (or even not young-- i bought this for my 22 yo niece), sparkle syrup might be fun .. it is $20 but it's pure vermont maple syrup.

Or if that is too silly, I also got this Unicorn Garden jam from Brin's collaboration with the MET.

Now I need recommendations for a good artisnal "real" extra virgin olive oil, and aged balsamic. For everyday use, I just buy what seems like a good value at the store at the time. I go for middle of the road, not the expensive stuff. But if there was an actual good brand that wasn't just ginned up stuff, I would splurge for it for a gift for my foodie friends.

I totally buy local, but sadly there is very little available locally. I live in a depressed rural area. The shopping areas, such as they are, practically have tumbleweeds blowing through. We have Aldis, Walmart and a regional chain called "Meijers" and that is it. You can get locally butchered meat for pick up but not cured meats and cheeses. But I am going to stop in the nearest big city next week, they have a gourmet market, it's very nice. So I'm trying to bone up on my cured meat brands and cheese types. I don't have a problem giving cured meats, just eating them, I don't care for them. Which is why I sought help here. Condiments are about as local as you can get, they are ones I grew the vegetables for and canned myself. I made salsa, two kinds of relish, pickled cukes and jalepenos, bruschetta and antipasto relish.

That sparkle syrup looks so fun! But honey and maple syrup are some of the few products I can get locally so going to go with local for that. Also putting "Jiffy" mixes in the basket, they are a regional flour mill making products akin to "Bisquick" and other boxed muffin mixes. They are excellent in quality, for that kind of thing.

I grew up on Jiffy mixes-- I didn't realize they were regional but they've been here in south central PA for 50 years (more or less). I still use them on occasion for quick small-batch bran or corn muffins.

There are so many amazing olive oils and vinegars-- Mtn shared an olive oil she called "sublime" in the food gifts thread. The same company had (key word had) an olive oil and blackberry vinegar gift box that I am so sorry I missed! Hopefully it will come back in stock so i can gift myself!

I am sure you will find fun local items on your trip next week. Have fun with it.

Thank you everyone for these tips. Some of these companies seem so awesome, hard to choose! I live in a foodie desert, always has been. Not my state, just my town. There just isn't a critical mass of folks who like the assertive tastes and price of gourmet and ethnic foods. There is not zero folks like that, just not enough that local shops would carry such things. So we stock up when we visit more urbane areas. Some nearby cities do have burgeoning local food offerings because MI is an outstanding agricultural area, or at least that was once part of our history. It's sad to see what's been lost. For example, my county was once ringed by apple orchards and we used to bring folks apples and cider for gifts when we visited. All gone. Not in the whole state, just my county. I have to travel a half hour at least to get to a local orchard, and I grew up being friends with the locals at the time. Just wasn't economically viable for their kids to stay in the business, it was either go big or get out. Even the localish orchard I mentioned is hanging by a thread . . .

Now when it comes to beer, that's a whole other story. There seems to be no end to the optimism of folks opening up local breweries, although not sure how long most of them will be around. And now it's marijuana, everyone is getting into growing that as a crop, and selling it at local artisnal boutiques. There are seven in my town . . . more than there are locally owned restaurants and grocery stores.

While I don't have a brand to recommend in olive oil, I would look for something organic with a harvest date.

When I was a kid, my Mum wrote a letter to the company about how much she liked Jiffy mixes. They sent a box of products back as a thank you for your letter. My oldest siblings (well under 10 yo att) wanted to send letters to all sorts of companies to see if they could get more free stuff. 😆

I just read an article on Epicurious comparing and recommending the Best Olive Oils.

I rarely saw the little boxes of Jiffy mix in grocery stores when I lived on the East coast, although I did see them sometimes. I think it was only certain markets . . . they are ubiquitous here in their home state. Haute cuisine they are not, but their small size is perfect for small families and small events where you want to whip up something super quick.

Last year someone recommended this company. I sent for some of their products and loved them all. I've given many as gifts. Along with everything else, their penne pasta was excellent. I've already sent a couple gift boxes of olive oil and balsamic.
Sciabica

Ipink, my mother has always used Jiffy mixes and we lived in 4 east coast states by the time i was 10 (50+ years ago 😯), so it was available pre-internet shipping. I live in Bethlehem now, and I’m sure Wegmans carries it.

A couple of years ago I received a bottle of Sutter Buttes Citrus & Habanero olive oil and loved it - sometimes using just a few drops to add a little kick, sometimes more for marinating ... they have a whole line of products here.

Now I am far from a foodie, probably can't much tell one decent olive oil from another, but you might like to consider this.

ETA: Ooh, I just saw their EVOO sampler tin. I'm intrigued!

Check out their baking kits, too!

Interesting H, because I lived in Allentown for 12 years and rarely saw it. I shopped at Wegman's and Giant groceries. But I didn't shop in the Bethlehem area. Perhaps they were just out on the days I went looking for it. I lived in the area 2001-2014.

The Epicurious list was interesting. Thanks, Hhireno. I was going to suggest Colavita for flavor and price and it was nice to see they agreed. It's great in a pizza crust and good straight on anything you want to taste olive-y. Awhile back, there was controversy about EVOO that hit them, too, but the fact is that EVOO must be handled right or it turns into ordinary olive oil, and I've never had a bottle that wasn't good, and definitely the real deal. Heat and light can both be detrimental to EVOO, so a poorly loaded truck can kill it. That said, IME, California Olive Ranch EVOO is boring. It's not poor quality, but just kind of middle of nowhere, flavorwise. But I might have had mistreated bottles...

While there are differences between balsamic vinegars, but not so much that it's worth getting in a twist for. The cheap stuff is sad, but go above rock bottom and you should end up with something pretty good.

If you want to do the cured meats, do get a whole small salami, rather than a cut, if it won't be chilled. I'll again say sopressata, which is different enough to be "special" without being too challenging.

America's Test Kitchen and Epicurious recommend California Olive Ranch but not their Destination series, which are blends. It's the one that's 100% California olives, and their website says it was an excellent year. They harvest in the fall so you might take a look at their bottles for the recent harvest.

https://californiaoliveranch.com/products/100-california-everyday/?gclid=CjwKCAiA78aNBhAlEiwA7B76p73IFyGhzWB3X0raaPtuLBDclkaXFaDzMFNzmKVZ2G4t2nxicOlDHRoCFmYQAvD_BwE

How about a gift of ingredient’s for a fancy homemade flat bread pizza?

Organic California Olive Ranch is my everyday olive oil. It's okay nothing special but decent although I wouldn't consider it fancy in any way.

Although lately I've been using Terra Delyssa.

Eileen, what I've had is the real thing. Not this year's. But, again, poor handling can kill the flavor of any EVOO, and I can't guarantee what exigencies my bottles had gone through before I got them... But I agree with Bumblebeez.

BTW, I think it's fab that you're including your own condiments. I hope this includes fennel relish. :)

Can you see if there's a really good Italian deli near them and buy a gift card so they can choose for themselves and buy fresh? We have a lovely one near us who would sell a gift card.

There was a huge oil olive scandal several years ago and I will never buy any of those brands. The lists are out there and easy to find.

Common, popular brands.

Bumblebeez, ,that's what I was referring to. There were accusations that some companies were "faking" the EVOO. What happens is that light and heat can break down the solids that make EVOO so good, which just leaves you with plain olive oil. There were a couple of evildoers who really were faking, but most of the EVOO was mishandled by shippers, not faked at the source.

Yes, there was a long piece on NPR one time on the olive oil issue, but it was quite a while ago. These days, shipping and handling are major issues, so getting it from a reliable supplier who has not had such issues in the past would surely be a plus. I may just eschew the olive oil, not sure it is necessary, and if they don't use it right away and store it properly at their house, also kind of defeats the purpose. I wonder if balsamic vinegar has similar issues.

So our local grocery has the Olli salami, but it is all pre-sliced. In fact, almost all of their salami is sold pre-sliced. I wasn't familiar with the one brand that they sold whole, it was Daniele, and the other one was Margherita.

I think the olive oil is a good idea. But I wouldn't overthink it. Just look for something with a harvest date and again you get what you pay for so I would plan to spend at least $15 for a smallish bottle. It'll be fine and good.

Sometimes it's just better to go in the store, see what they have and buy something. Everything doesn't have to be a research project.

iPink.. I know you have a vision for this gift but I think the real treat are the items you made yourself. I don't think you need cured meats and honestly, i don't think they stand up to the other items in your gift baskets. A nice or special cheese or two would be a nice accompaniment -- and maybe some special olives?

If you really think you need something more, why not make some home baked breads? A no-kneed bread or focaccia.. or a french bread is so easy to make and would go well too! Or herbed nuts? I am a fiend for rosemary marconi almonds -- but I have also used Ina Garten's recipe (i believe from Gramercy Tavern??) for herbed nuts with a regular old can of grocery store cashews or mixed nuts.

I hope I don't put you off-- but I really don't think you need to travel to a gourmet store an hour away or track down other pre-made items. You've already put the love and work into your homemade spreads, etc.

Just my 2 cents.

I'm going to be passing by the gourmet store tomorrow anyway, and I was going to stop anyway. I have to go into the city for another reason, for a meeting with a financial advisor. And I might even keep some of the goodies for myself. And being an academic, I love a good research project!! Plus I am a frugal, "caveat emptor" kind of gal so I often so a lot of research ahead of time to avoid wasting my money on a purchase. Does not mean I'm not open to wonderful spur of the moment finds!

Normally I wouldn't overthink it too much, but the folks I am giving this to are totally into this kind of thing, the husband majored in hotel and restaurant management and is into the minutia of foods and wine big time . . .

Edited to add that rosemary almonds sound fab, I might make some if I ever get around to it. I can also make my own crackers, but I haven't in a while. If you haven't done it, home made crackers are great!

Edited to ad . . . YUM! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chipotle-and-rosemary-roasted-nuts-recipe2-2106660

Edited again to add that I bought a small Olli salami with my "Nuts.com" order. I might even use it myself, it had a 9 month shelf life. Hopefully I will be able to at some point do some entertaining in the next nine months . . .

So given what you've just said about the people you're giving to, that's even more reason to focus on your own produce and anything out of the ordinary. There's nothing so delicious as a new to you flavor, and nothing so heartwarming as homemade.