Minnesota Gift Basket Explained

Silly me for not realizing the winner of my anniversary giveaway had two blogs, and she posted about her prize on Blog #2.  I hadn't wanted to ruin the surprise so didn't explain, but now I can come clean.  The basket was a tribute to Minnesota.  Now we are proud to say Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes.  Actually there are 15,291 lakes larger than 10 acres.  The spit of a pond I have in my back yard park and those like it do not count!

Minnesota is the State of Hockey.  Never mind how few Stanley Cup's have been brought home here. We do have the Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, MN. "Check" it out; bad pun intended. The t-shirt should make for interesting conversations in the UK from which the winner, Frugally Challenged/Trundling through Life lives.  Here is her assessment of the prize. I think the animal is supposed to be some sort of cat-it has always been a mystery to me exactly what it is. Maybe it is a bear?  I like this logo because it highlights our lakes, rivers, and streams, north woods, and our north star.  Minnesota, as the French voyageurs used to say is "L'etoile du nord." 

Next I included 3M Post-It Notes and Scotch tape.  A business staple close to my part of Minnesota, I couldn't even estimate how many family and friends have been employed by them over the decades.  Their products are good quality, and rumor has it, Post It Notes were the result of some sort of error in another product development.  I've heard multiple versions, so won't commit in writing to tell the tale. 

General Mills, originally a cereal and grain company, now is buying and merging with other companies like crazy.  I included treat size versions from their head quarters in Golden Valley, MN. General Mills also has a philanthropic arm, so I have been to many events they hold for non profit organizations, and have worked with them when they were a funder of programs I directed in my past work. They are big and a multi million if not billion conglomerate, but try to do good work with some of their profits. 3M as well as most Minnesota  companies do a lot of charitable giving through a a foundation arm.

Then my favorite items in the basket, Pearson Salted Nut Rolls and Dunn Brothers coffee.  The coffee speaks for itself, and I posted a few weeks back about  telecommuting while perched in a Dunn Brothers coffee house. The Pearson Candy Company was a family owned business making delicious and unique candies for generations.  I would have loved to have sent a Nut Goodie, but worried the chocolate covering would have been a mess, so stuck with the Salted Nut Rolls, nougat, covered in caramel, coated in peanuts; a salty sweet wonder. Scout troops, school classrooms, and 4-H clubs have all been on tours of the Pearson plant, leaving with goodie bags of treats.  DH once worked in wholesale candy distribution and Pearson often sponsored events-one when I was pregnant with DD#1 and had ridiculous sugar cravings. I think I devoured a pound of Pearson mint patties that afternoon.

I could not put together a Minnesota gift basket without Spam.  Spam is a pork something product, meat like stuff, made by Hormel, hailing from the great city of Austin, MN. It is the butt of jokes regularly, but has a tremendous following in Hawaii, I've heard. DH's mom used to make pizza burgers with Spam and my mom stocked up if it was really cheap and used it for a pantry staple for when times were very tight.  If it came out for dinner, that was our clue that dad's construction work was being reduced, or he was between projects, and shoeing horses as his only income. Surprisingly, I would not call economical at all anymore, but in the 70's it was the frugal "meat." 

Finally, the basket contained Minnesota cultivated wild rice.  Wild rice is very different than other white rice varieties.  It is nutty, and hearty and delicious cooked along with white rice, through must cook longer, as a grain in bread and stuffing, and just on its own. this is not your Uncle Ben's wild rice. I usually soak mine for a few hours to soften the shafts and then cook along with long grain white rice, in a mix of water and chicken broth. Wild rice is a Minnesota American Indian staple, and still harvested traditionally this same way.  This video will help get a taste for how it is harvested. I love the music, so much a part of Minnesota history, the glorious and the sad.