Is Mom a foodie? I promise she will enjoy any of these unique savory and sweet items!
Boarderie is a gourmet gifting company that specializes in fully assembled charcuterie and dessert boards delivered ready to serve. Instead of buying ingredients and building a spread yourself, you order online and receive a carefully arranged board that arrives chilled, beautifully presented, and ready to put directly on the table. The brand focuses heavily on presentation and convenience, making it popular for parties, gifts, and special occasions. Their medium dessert board is designed for small gatherings, typically serving about five to seven people. It comes with more than 30 assorted sweets arranged on a reusable wooden board, along with insulated packaging to keep everything fresh during delivery. The selection usually includes a mix of items like macarons, brownies, truffles, mini cakes, cookies, and other bite-sized confections, often paired with a “smash” chocolate box that adds a fun, interactive element. Overall, the medium dessert board is meant to feel like a ready-made celebration centerpiece. It’s less about preparing dessert yourself and more about opening a box and instantly having a visually impressive spread that looks like it was professionally arranged for an event. You can get the board with or without “i Love You Mom” written on the chocolate box that you break with a mallet and eat. Order here for $169.99: Mother’s Day Dessert Board Medium.
Effie’s Homemade Biscuits are not like your typical American biscuits—instead they’re more like a rich, crunchy oatcake with a shortbread-like feel. Many people compare them to a cross between a cracker and a cookie, designed to be eaten on their own or paired with cheese, spreads, tea, or wine. The brand produces a variety of flavors, including original oatcake, ginger, cocoa, walnut, pecan, corn, and more modern flavors like Gruyère with black pepper and hazelnut. They’re often used on cheese boards or as a snack for entertaining because they bring a mix of sweet, savory, and nutty flavors in a very crisp, elegant form. For Mother’s Day, there are some great sets of Effie’s Biscuits that come with spreads. I recommend Effie’s Snack Stash Gift Box which delivers both sweet and salty flavors. Mom will get these four boxes of biscuits and four mini jams, nestled in a custom yellow box: 1) Effie’s Oatcakes which has layers of toasted nuts with a hint of salt, 2) Effie’s Gruyere Biscuits which mixes nutty Alpine cheese with a twist of pepper, 3) Effie’s Pecan Biscuits which have Southern pecans with wildflower honey and 4) Effie’s Walnut Biscuits which feature toasted walnuts with cranberry and fennel. The 4 Mini Jams in the set are by Blake Hill and they are Naked Chocolate Sea Salt, French Onion with Rosemary, Apricot with Orange & Honey, Spiced Plum with Port & Anise. You also get a reusable wooden spreader and a printed card with serving ideas. Order here for $60: Effie’s Snack Stash Gift Box.
At the recent World Championship Cheese Contest held in Madison, Wisconsin, the LaClare Creamery won third place in two categories (the Soft Goat’s Milk category and the Soft Goat’s Milk Cheeses Flavored with Sweet Condiments category). I am thrilled with this package of their goodies that just arrived—the blueberry vanilla flavor is calling my name right now. A box like this would make a great Mother’s Day gift for any mom obsessed with goat cheese. These cheeses have a good shelf life, by the way—my batch expires in July—so mom will definitely have the time to devour them! You can order any combination of goat cheeses that you want at laclarecreamery.com. Each artisanal chunk costs about $6 for a four ounce portion and $10 to $11 for a six ounce portion—which is a steal for world class award winning cheese! These definitely live up to the “unrivaled” slogan printed on each box! Just for the record, LaClare Creamery has some non-creamy cheeses like sages Goat Cheddar Chunk and Jack Chunk which I hear are fantastic and melt like a dream! If you are ever in Malone, Wisconsin be sure to stop in for a tour of the facilities and a baby goat yoga class. Visit http://laclarefamilycreamery.com for more information including where to buy their cheeses locally or for mail order.
Want to make up your own charcuterie tray for Mom on her special day? It’s economical but classy way to have a special meal! I strongly suggest that you try Formaggio Cheese’s great items—think bite-sized indulgence, no cooking, and totally Instagram-worthy moments! I recommend the Artisan Wraps (fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto, soppressata, or pepperoni, starting around $5–$8) and Charcuterie Bites (ready-to-serve charcuterie spreads, typically under $15). If you want to go all out, add in one of their famous Stuffed Crust pizza or Marinated Salads! Never has it been this easy to create a meal so special! Formaggio products are available at ShopRite, Sam’s Club, Walmart and Lowes Foods nationwide.
Esther Price Candies is a long-established American chocolate company founded in 1926 in Dayton, Ohio, by Esther Price, who began by making candy in her kitchen and selling it to coworkers and neighbors before growing it into a full-scale business . Over time, the company expanded into a regional chain with dozens of stores and a dedicated following, while still producing its chocolates at the original Dayton facility using many of the same recipes and techniques. Known for traditional, gift-style assortments—such as cream-filled chocolates, caramels, nut clusters, and chocolate-covered cherries—the brand has built a reputation for quality, consistency, and nostalgic appeal, even earning recognition as one of Ohio’s best chocolate makers . Today, after nearly a century in business, Esther Price Candies continues to emphasize handmade craftsmanship, classic flavors, and its legacy as a beloved Midwestern chocolate tradition. Pictured above is the classic Milk & Dark Assorted Chocolate collection. Order here for $34.95: Esther Price Milk & Dark Box.
Bissinger’s was once the chocolatier for French royalty but now they just sell the chcholate fit for kings both on line and in exclusive department stores and malls around the country (including a gorgeous boutique that they opened in Macy’s Herald Square last winter). I think that the Limited Edition Bissinger’s Summer Truffle Collection–which includes some of their favorite fresh cream ganache truffles including Rose Tea, Chocolate Strawberry, Birthday Cake, Raspberry, Strawberry, Cheesecake, Crème Brûlée, Chocolate Soufflé and White Chocolate–is something any mother would love. The fruity and creamy fillings are unforgettable the blue box with flowers is worth saving and repurposing. The box contains 16 mouthwatering truffles and you can order it here for $36: Bissinger’s Summer Truffle Collection.
If your mom loves hearty American classics like Philly Cheesesteaks, I cannot recommend Raybern’s Crafted Sandwiches Frozen Philly Cheesesteaks enough. They are as good as if you made a trip all the way to Philly to get one, LOL! Raybern’s Philly Cheesesteaks are primarily celebrated for their convenience and surprisingly high-quality texture for a frozen product. The standout feature is their proprietary deli roll, which is specifically engineered to stay soft and bakery-fresh rather than turning rubbery after 90 seconds in the microwave. Beyond the bread, the sandwiches offer a savory, well-seasoned flavor and a significant protein boost—typically around 20 grams—making them a filling and cost-effective alternative to fast food. Their individual butcher-paper wrapping also makes them a highly portable option for quick office lunches or easy late-night snacks. These are an incredible bargain and can be found at most popular supermarkets and big box stores price at about $12 for a six sandwich box. For more info on where to buy, go to: Raybern’s Store Locator.
I am a big supporter of homegrown dessert businesses from the New York area. At the recent Baldor Bites biannual food show at Basketball City in Lower Manhattan, I found one that really knocked me out. It was a bakery called Four & Twenty Blackbirds! They gave out generously sized personal pies and I went nuts when I tasted one of the Caramel Apple Crumb pies. They have a pie with strawberries in it that is now on my bucket list! I will be making a visit out to Brooklyn someday to check out more of their items but for now I will have to order off of Goldbelly. They have both traditional and edgy flavors available. Go to Goldbelly and check them out. You can order a large Signature Salted Caramel Apple Pie here for $84.95 (Mom is going to love this): Signature Caramel Apple Pie.
Nuts Factory is a fast-growing snack shop chain across New York City known for roasted nuts, dried fruits, chocolates, and grab-and-go mixes, with multiple locations in neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Chelsea, and Brooklyn. The brand is a third-generation family business that started over 20 years ago and built its concept around an old-market style experience, offering a wide variety of products—often over 100 options—like flavored cashews, chocolate-covered treats, halva, spices, and more, many of which are roasted fresh in-store using their signature “on-the-spot” roasting method. Stores are designed to feel colorful and abundant, with bulk bins and ready-to-go packaging, making them popular for quick snacks, gifts, or late-night cravings. They have an amazing treat called Dubai Strawberries freshly made on the premises for you and treating Mom to one is a charming and unique way to say I love you. The most intimate of their stores is the new one that just opened at 30 Third Avenue in the East Village. (Oh, be sure to let Mom scoop herself a cup of mixed candies for only $15 from the hundreds of candy bins on display!) Check out their official website, nutsfactory.com.
Chandon Spritz is a ready-to-drink sparkling cocktail made by blending high-quality sparkling wine with citrus, bitters, and botanicals, so you don’t have to mix anything—just pour it over ice! The most popular version, Chandon Garden Spritz, combines brut sparkling wine with handcrafted bitter-orange liqueur made from fresh oranges, herbs, and spices, creating a balanced flavor that’s citrusy, lightly sweet, and slightly bitter, similar to an Aperol spritz but smoother and more wine-forward, and it’s designed to be served simply with ice, an orange slice, and herbs like rosemary. Other variations include the lemon-and-verbena style that is lighter and more refreshing and the berry-hibiscus version that leans fruitier and sweeter, but all follow the same concept of being pre-mixed, lower-effort spritz drinks meant for casual occasions like brunch, day parties, or aperitif hour. The Chandon Spritz Collection 750 ml size bottles retail for about $36 each and can be found at liquor and big box stores. For more info, go to: Chandon Spritz Collection.
Does Mom love refreshing vodka-based drinks? Well, Whale, the California-born brand behind one of the most beloved modern gins, just debuted new offering– Gray Whale Vodka (retail $29.99). Continuing its mission to stir up something good, Gray Whale is bringing its coastal ethos and commitment to ocean conservation to the world’s largest spirits category. Designed for everyday occasions that bring people together, Gray Whale Vodka is distilled in small batches from California grapes, offering a touch of sweetness. With no added sugar or additives, the offering delivers a refreshing and balanced spirit that works just as well in a simple spritz as it does in batch cocktails for a crowd. You can order all the fabulous Gray Whale products including their incredible gin and fun “icon” T-shirts at GrayWhaleSpirits.com.
