A feast of Amish Country
Tis the season to order Christmas gifts for employees, clients, teachers and party hosts. Before opting for another houseplant or paperweight emblazoned with the company logo, consider this: The recipient may never water the plant and is likely to stow the paperweight at the bottom of a desk drawer.
Bestowing a memorable holiday gift is as simple as appealing to the recipient’s taste buds.
“If you’re tired of giving the same gift every year, give the taste of Amish Country,” said Matt Keeler, Walnut Creek Cheese’s director of marketing.
Throughout the season, Walnut Creek Cheese offers gift boxes, baskets, trays and other holiday items that appeal to a broad range of tastes and budgets.
“What makes our gift baskets and boxes unique is that they contain a lot of popular products we make here or local products we offer at our stores, such as Guggisberg Cheese or Troyer’s Trail Bologna,” said Keeler, adding that the two locations sell thousands of boxes and baskets every holiday season to local customers as well as clients in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Boxes range from $15.99 to $49.99, while baskets run $27.99 to $142.99.
Boxes contain many of the same items as baskets but in a smaller quantity and without the basket.
Among the popular specialty gifts is The Meat Lover, which features Uncle Mike’s Beef Jerky. The Holmes County Collection showcases local favorites, such as Walnut Creek and Guggisberg cheeses and Troyer’s Trail Bologna.
The Best of Walnut Creek brims with popular jarred products, homemade fudge and beef jerky. And The Entertainer is ideal for folks who like a house full of guests. It contains bologna, baby Swiss cheese, summer sausage, Colby cheese and Venus crackers.
Larger baskets, containing more than 15 items each, are ideal for sending to offices, Keeler said.
Colby cheese, apple butter barbecue sauce, peanut butter spread, an enormous wheel of Swiss cheese and sparkling grape juice are among the goodies in The Picnic Basket.
The Ultimate Basket contains all of the items in The Picnic Basket plus Coblentz chocolate, jerky, beef sticks, mint tea and an 80-ounce EZ Carve ham.
If customers desire, they may customize a box or basket to meet the recipient’s tastes.
Beginning in November, Walnut Creek will stock a selection of preassembled boxes and baskets for walk-in customers. A couple of days’ notice is requested for large orders.
“We have all the components here, but they’re assembled as they’re ordered,” Keeler said. Walnut Creek can ship boxes (but not baskets), which is a handy service for companies sending multiple gifts.
“They never have to touch anything,” Keeler said. “They can provide the addresses of their customers or vendors and we’ll ship everything for them. We can even include a note.”
In addition to boxes and baskets, Walnut Creek Cheese offers two holiday-themed party trays.
The Holly Jolly is a snacker’s delight, with chocolate-covered pretzels, sprinkles-covered pretzels, peppermint patties and red and green spice drops.
“It’s very colorful and festive,” Keeler said.
Nuts and chocolate devotees will enjoy The Classic Christmas. It contains chocolate panned caramels, chocolate-covered bridge mix, deluxe roasted and salted mixed nuts and whole-roasted and salted cashews.
To get shoppers in the holiday spirit, the Walnut Creek location is hosting a Christmas open house on Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5.
“We’ll have a variety of products throughout the store that guests can sample,” Keeler said. “It’s our way of celebrating Christmas. We’ll also have gifts baskets on display that customers can grab and go.”
It is already starting to feel a lot like Christmas at Walnut Creek Cheese. Near the café, a wood-façade fireplace and adjacent bookcases are decked in holiday cheer. The area is enhanced by a fully trimmed Christmas tree and a gas fireplace.
Keeler invites everyone to experience Christmas at Walnut Creek Cheese.
“People stop at our store because of our environment,” Keeler said. “It has that old, antique, flashback-in-time feel to it. We try to achieve that with our gift baskets and boxes, too. People say, ‘I remember my grandma used to have that bologna over the holidays.’ We try to piece gifts together with that in mind.”
Walnut Creek Cheese is located at 2641 state Route 39 in Walnut Creek and 4727 U.S. Route 62 in Berlin Hours are Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Walnut Creek phone number is 330-852-2888 and the Berlin phone number is 330-893-3273. The website is www.WalnutCreekCheese.com.