Hunter Valley Winery Twin Bridges

Have you ever considered the reason restaurants supply a straw with every drink, when serving soda, ice tea, or other non-alcoholic beverages?

"Customers expect them," you might say. And you'd be right. Customers do expect them at McDonalds or Starbucks. But those same people don't expect them at home. In fact, most of the people who drink through straws in restaurants do not use them at home.

Restaurant customers have been trained to ask for and expect straws. That's a more accurate explanation. How did it happen? Marketing, and repetition. Straws have been in common use so long that most of us have grown up with them. Straw at the restaurant, plain glassware at home has become the ordinary way of thinking for many of us.

What's the result? We drink more in restaurants. That's why they do it.

For the entire history of human evolution, splashing a drink on your face or at least your lips was an accepted and normal part of drinking. The introduction of straws changed the rules. Over tens of thousands of years, our bodies evolved to associate wet lips with satisfied thirst. Drinks that are ingested via straw don't touch out lips, and so do not satisfy our thirst as quickly. The result: we drink more.

Nowhere in the many articles chronicling the history of drinking straws have I read this simple truth. Do they teach it at McDonalds and Wendy's franchise school? I wonder.

Try it yourself next time you order a Coke or ice tea . . . skip the straw. Do you drink less? I wager you will.

It's an intersting point to ponder.

And how exactly does the lack of a straw reduce consumption? I'm not sure, but I have some ideas. One is this: you don't feel the need to take a drink while your lips are still wet from the previous sip. The straw gets around this inhibition, because your lips never get wet from the drink.

An interesting fact that reinforces this theory of mine relates to the carrying capacity of modern straws. Did you know that the plastic straws at today's fast food restaurants are 50% larger than the straws at soda fountains 50 years ago? It's true. Look at some old straws in a museum if you don't believe me. Stimulation of consumption is the only reason I can see for increasing the diameter of a straw.

As a child, I never once heard the complaint, This straw is no good! I can't suck enough juice through it!" Did you?

But the marketers were watching. If they could cause a drink to be ingested more rapidly, they reasoned, they'd be more likely to sell refills. And they were right. It worked. The high capacity drinking straw was a solution in search of a problem, and it's been a huge success for the foodservice industry. But has it helped us, the eaters?

There has been much made recently of the supersizing of American food. The high capacity plastic drinking straw has made a major contribution to the success of supersized drinks, alongside our supersized meals. High capacity eating and drinking have grown up together in America. It's why we need Plastic Free July here in Australia.

There are some drinks that are served with toppings - the head on beer, the whipped cream on hot chocolate - and the topping is savoured on your lips and in your mouth. It's a part of the experience of drinking those liquids. And as a result, liquids like that are seldom drunk with straws, even today.

http://newcastledigital.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/christmas-fruit-hampers.html

Fresh Sympathy Fruit Hampers are Christmas Gift Selections

http://2013xmas.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/christmas-hampers-for-2014.html

Chocolate Gourmet Gift Hampers
make perfect last minute gift solutions.

http://fruit-baskets-john-hunter-hospital.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/fruit-basket-specials-delivered-to-jhh.html

BYO Wine is the perfect addition to a blackboard menu

Send a fruit Arrangement to share get well soon wishes

Planning for your work Christmas 2014!

Do you understand the rule of thumbs of gift-giving?

Every single one of us carries within ourselves a set of rules about edible gifts, git boxes and gift-giving. Seldom acknowledged and rarely discussed, these rules determine what we type appropriate to get well soon gift and online gifts we give, how much we give, and to whom we give.

Despite living only in our minds and expectations, the customs of sending a fruit basket govern everything from the office Secret Santa exchange to the family's morning sharing wine country gift baskets under the Christmas tree.

Problem is, "unwritten" means that gourmet hamper gift-giving rules undergo interpretation both in our own minds, and in our dealings with others. Even in a single family, it's common to find members with radically different ideas when it comes to "the rules" of gift-giving for sympathy and bereavement occasions.

Why is it so important to get a grip on the rules behind sending a fruit hamper before we make our Christmas gifts list?

First, if you don't understand why you use online gifts, it's easy to enter the land of the absurd: making a midnight raid on the supermarket's presents aisle when you discover that one child's stocking holds fewer gifts baskets than his brother's.

Second, following one version of the customs can lead to conflict with loved ones, who may hold a different view. Scratch the surface of gift-giving disagreements, and you're likely to find a rules conflict. Some one loves a fruit basket while others love a funeral hamper.

Young person take on debt to give their own parents a fruit arrangement gift the empty nesters neither use nor need. When a handmade artisan gift the product of hours of work-- is unwrapped to a lukewarm response from the recipient, a determined crafter feels let down. None of the parties can address the real conflict unless they understand the source: a failure to share the same assumptions about the act of giving an online gift.

The place to start? By understanding your own set of gift basket rules. Bringing "the rules" into focus is the primary step to bringing sanity and simplicity back to the season and being clear about your own underlying delivered gift assumptions can ease conflicts with others.

How do you and your family interpret the following fruit hamper rules? There are no right or wrong answers:.

Get a gift, give a gift: gourmet hamper exchanges must be reciprocal.
Even-Steven: gift basket exchanges must be of equal value.
Once begun, never undone: gift exchanges, once established, must not change.
Come one, come all: gift exchanges must extend to every member of a relationship category.

Get a gift basket, give a gift hamper.

It's a few days before Christmas, and the doorbell rings. A neighbor appears, offering a pretty gourmet gift basket of quick breads. You thank her, and graciously but your heart sinks because you haven't prepared gifts for the neighbors this year, much less baked goods.

Gotcha! You've just been tripped by reciprocity: the belief that for every single gift received, one must be given.

As a general rule, reciprocity has an even-handed fairness to it, but applied to cases, it can be overbearing. A knee-jerk "like for like" exchange doesn't account for differences in resources, intent or ability.

Know where your comfort limits lie on the issue of reciprocity, and prepare accordingly. If you're a fervent believer in the principle, set aside a few "just in case" generic gourmet gift boxes before the season to be ready for the inevitable surprise presents.

If you're more relaxed about the issue, focus on your response, not reciprocity; it's likely to be the payback the giver will value most. Your neighbor will leave your home glowing when you clap your hands, damn your diet and insist on sampling the breads right then and there, along with a cup of tea and a good chat.
Even-Steven.

Business to Business Gift Ideas

You're a veteran online shopper of affordable get well soon gifts, and this year, you scored the perfect anniversary present for your discerning sister: a luxurious natural organic wicker basket marked down to a bargain price. Wrapping the authentic basket for the family gift box, you pause. Laid out next to the gift delivery address you're giving your brother, the get well soon inequity strikes you even though you paid the same amount for each gift.

What do you do? Add a gift basket to your brother's gift hamper? Set the traditional basket aside for Sis's birthday to avoid a comparison? Give the get well gifts as they are? Welcome to the slippery world of Even-Steven!

The idea that Christmas gift exchanges must be of equal value is confused and fraught with danger.

If your version of the rule declares that edible gifts must be of equal value, how do you decide what "value" is? Full retail price or the actual amount spent? For genuine homemade gifts, do you consider cost of materials or the time spent to create your own?

Gourmet Hampers Australia

More important, how will you assess your end of the exchange? Will you be disappointed if your sister's sharing gift to you is more modest, less "valuable" than that perfect gourmet hamper?

Be aware: Even-Steven calculations can be a flashpoint for seasonal gifts, especially if there are status or financial differences between people in the exchange.

An affluent auntie can cause resentment with lavish fruit gift baskets to her nephews, if the children's parents can't afford to match or reciprocate her largesse. A well-meaning boss can ruin office morale if she chooses an inappropriate employee gift hamper: a $25 gift certificate to her favorite boutique, where even the toilet water starts at $40.

Think carefully about how you assess value when giving a fruit basket. Embracing a more flexible measuring stick is a powerful holiday stress-buster, even when other parties to the exchange may not hold the same view. Divorcing considerations of what you paid, what else you gave, and what you got in return allows you to reach for the true values of connection and gratitude that, ideally, underlie the practice of giving fruit gifts.
Once begun, never undone.

It was a nice idea, that first year after you crossed the country: sending gift baskets of local gourmet foods to the folks in your old neighborhood. The second year, they sent you a box of your favorite sweets. Five years later, the packages are still jetting from coast to coast. What will you send this year?

Examine where you stand on the notion of longevity in gift exchanges. If you feel that once begun, gift giving exchanges should continue from year to year, think carefully about beginning new ones. Since you value the continuity that the ongoing exchange provides, make certain that the online gifts celebrate your deepest relationships and the other party shares your view.

Send the neighbors a lovely card this year and breathe easier if you're more comfortable with a dynamic view of exchange longevity. Chances are, they'll be relieved that you've called a halt to an exchange whose time has come ... and gone.
Come one, come all.

Who is included on your gourmet gift hamper list? If you give a gift to one member of a group family, friends, co-workers do you believe you must you give equal gifts to all?

For instance, Australian Christmas Hampers at the in-laws' house is rich in tradition. There's oyster stew on Christmas Eve, plum pudding for dessert and a Christmas morning gift hamper exchange among all five children. And their spouses. And their children.

Thinking up more than just 20 unique gifts annually wracks your brain and wrecks your budget. You 'd love to scale back the annual extravaganza, but you know that your husband would object strenuously. That towering annual pile of fruit basket presents? It's a family tradition-- and a classic issue of "come one, come all" when it amounts to gift-giving.

Family tree and tradition will figure in in where you fall on the equality spectrum, and there are no right answers.

For many, the act of giving one-to-one is central to their expression of the holidays. If scaling back the amount of fruit basket gifts or giving selectively feels wrong, consider setting cost limits to reduce the burden of celebrating all those relationships.

Others find that downsizing group gifts by drawing names, white elephant exchanges or an informal "no gifts" agreement enhances their holiday and reduces seasonal stress.

For them, the trick is to negotiate the change in a loving way, and to understand that others may feel more invested in individual get well soon gifting than they do.
Knowledge is power.

When it relates to the customs of gift-giving, there is only one right answer: the one that is right for you! By taking a long, hard check out the beliefs that underlie your giving decisions, you empower yourself to give consciously, in harmony with your personal values. By knowing where you stand on these issues, you'll be able to address any conflicts with others in a loving, measured way. And make the right decision when it comes to sharing fruit baskets.

Unwritten or not, there are rules to giving and receiving gourmet gifts. Know where you stand ... to simplify your holidays and celebrate the Christmas season!