The winter holidays are coming up and will probably be here before we know it, so it’s a good idea to start planning now. That’s especially true if you have a big family, or a lot of friends and/or clients to buy for. It’s also important if, like me, you have a significant other who is hard to please. Over the years I discovered that cookie gift baskets do the trick for him. He gets a nice assortment of things and I get to give a spectacular-looking gift that’s affordable. And I don’t even have to leave the house to get it, so we’re both happy. Because of my experience, I’m now a real fan of gift baskets. People have pretty much come to expect that’s what they’ll get from me when I give them a gift. And they tell me they really like them, so that confirms I’m on the right track.

The great thing about giving gift baskets is that there are so many “flavors”. When I want to welcome people to their new homes, I normally order wine and cheese gift baskets. Those also work well as elegant thank you gifts or when someone has finished remodeling a home. Still, there are occasions when the perfect type of gift basket doesn’t leap right out at me, so I just do a search by gender. Doing a Web search for “gift baskets for men” or the opposite usually produces a large selection of varied baskets that range from items that appeal to Baby Boomers to wine to desserts. So I usually find something I wouldn’t have thought to look for.

The only problem I have with shopping for gift baskets on the Internet is that normally I can’t get away from the site without buying something for myself! But I’ve made some great purchases that way. In fact, My friends and I are still drinking some West Coast wines I purchased in a gift basket last month. I guess I’d better finish those bottles soon. I’m going to begin my Christmas shopping any day and I’ll be I will be buying more for myself!