Redland People gift ideas: homemade food and drink hamper

Apologies in advance as it's only October, but I'm going to mention the C word...Christmas. I've started thinking about Christmas shopping and rather than doing it all online of having to brave the hoards at Cabot Circus, I'm planning on sticking to what I know - here in Redland.

With pseudo High Streets like Whiteladies Road and Gloucester Road and smaller shopping areas like Cotham Hill and Chandos Road in Redland there are no shortage of shops to get gifts from, but if you need inspiration of what to buy and where to go then look no further.

My first, and favourite, suggestion was something I did for a friend's 30th Birthday last week - but something which I'll certainly look to do again this Christmas and that's a home-made (or if you want to be technical about it, home-gathered) hamper. And that is what I'm focusing on with this feature.

I managed to fill my hamper with a diverse array of delights during a 30 minute venture onto Gloucester Road one Saturday morning, but if you have the time then it is well worth venturing further to places like Bella Deli, Hart's Bakery and Corks of Cotham or Earthbound, House of Flowers and Wild Oats.

The bulk of my hamper came from The Olive Shed. I picked up some mean chilli olives and mixed them with some garlic olives, some beautfully soft sundried tomato bread, a truckle of cheddar cheese with white wine and leeks and a small tub of Damson chutney. This set me back about £15 in total.

I then headed across the road to Brewers Droop, where I picked up a Bath Ales Ginger Hare - a limited edition ale with a fiery ginger kick. I also grabbed a Welsh blackberry cider and a small packet of summer barbecue flavoured Tyrells crisps. All came to less than a fiver. Sorted.

Back over the other side of Gloucester Road I wandered into Scrumptiously Sweet, where I spent far too long umming and ahhing over the jars and jars of sweets (as well as dodging the excited children embracing the first weekend of the school holidays). In the end I settled for 100g of strawberry toffee bon bons, well two helpings really - one for the gift and one for me. Came to a couple of quid.

My final stop was Scoopaway, where I picked up some Somerset Rhubarb and Ginger jam, Bristol honey (well, outskirts of Bristol anyway), some Pukka Teas and an odd looking energy ball consisting of nuts, seeds, fruit and chocolate. This came for about £7 - making my total spend around the £30 mark.

I de-priced all my buys and added them to some homemade brownies (these were actually homemade...from a packet!) and carefully placed them into a beautiful tote bag. Needless to say, the friend was absolutely delighted with her gift - which made me think I'd definitely do it again.

Of course, there are plenty more places to check out for these kind of items - many of which do ready-made hampers, but as long as you hit a few different shops you're bound to find everything you need. We've also got next weekend's farmers' market which would be a good place to grab some unique items. 

To see a gallery of photos of the hamper I made, click HERE.