I have a gift hamper to tell you all about today, and oh my goodness it’s a good ‘un. I’ve broken this post into three parts. You’ll get one today, one tomorrow, and on Wednesday, the summary – all of these with a giveaway for one of these incredible hampers. Come back then to find out more!
On to chocolate. You heard right – chocolate!
Serenata Gift Hamper
I was contacted by the wonderful people at Serenata about a month ago, offering me a hamper to review and giveaway on the blog. At first I was hesitant – Serenata is a flower company, primarily, and I couldn’t figure out how my readers would appreciate what they have on offer. However, they do have some great gift hampers, and after I had a look at the selection I realised that something crafters on my social media networks are always talking about is chocolate. (And wine, and gin, and yarn….too bad they don’t do a hampers for the last two…) I’m not much of a drinker myself, and good friends don’t let other friends drink and knit…so I decided to go for the chocolate one!
Of course, I couldn’t manage an entire hamper myself, and in a week where we had my entire family under one roof and friends from the States, we all had good fun testing chocolates and giving our opinions! Before I head into the detail, I want to talk about the hamper itself. It’s a great size for small picnics, and as someone looking for homely storage for my craft supplies, this will be perfect in use in my studio. The fixtures are strong leather, very different to gift hampers I have had before – and I’m looking forward to using this to display yarn when we finish the chocolate!
The Chocolate
Opening up the hamper is a bit of a delight itself. I’ve already mentioned the leather fixtures, and the act of opening something where they haven’t scrimped on the quality of the basket builds up the excitement for what will be revealed upon opening. The hamper is packed with goodies. You get six different boxes of treats, and we still have some left – despite having had over eight people nibbling over the last week.
The Dormen Chocolate Peanut
I don’t know about you, but I normally shove (small) handfuls of chocolate peanuts in my mouth rather than tasting them individually. However, in the interests of Science, I decided everyone would try do this properly. I noted the reactions of five of us – here goes.
Mum – [white chocolate] “Light chocolate, not very sweet, which I like – but slightly bland.” [milk chocolate] “Nice, crispy peanuts but maybe not sweet enough.”
Dad – [white] “Crisp and light.” [milk] “Has a better texture.”
Brother – [white] “Not that impressed.” [milk] “I prefer the milk chocolate.”
John – [white] “Not blown away, it’s not particularly strong.” [milk] “It doesn’t taste chocolatey and doesn’t have much substance.”
Corrie – [white] “It’s peanuty, the chocolate is too thin.” [milk] “Nice cocoa flavour.”
You can see we weren’t off to a very good start…to preserve my dignity in front of my parents, I didn’t stuff a handful in my mouth to see what that was like, but I will keep you posted on that…
The Dormen Chocolate Raisin
We are all quite big fans of fruit, so hopes were higher for the raisins.
Mum – [white] “That’s better. I like that.” [milk] no reaction recorded
Dad – [white] “The chocolate is underpowered.” [milk] no reaction recorded
Brother – [white] “Very nice.” [milk] “I prefer the white, and I don’t like white chocolate…I love that the raisins are nice and smooth, they aren’t at all grainy.”
John – [white] “Enjoyed that one.” [milk] “Prefer the white. Darker chocolate would be nice.”
Corrie – [white] “Sweetness of raisins helps the chocolate compared to the peanuts.” [milk] “I would have these with rum! I like them.”
The peanuts and raisins both come in delightful little jars – ideal if you make your own preserves or anything, and also fabulous for storing ‘bits and bobs’ in. I’m definitely going to use them for jewellery findings.
There was more chocolate, but you would have to read over 2,000 words in one go if I posted all the reviews together – Part Two to follow! The best will come soon…
The Giveaway – CLOSED
It’s not over…I am absolutely delighted to say that Serenata have offered one of you lovely readers one of these chocolate gift hampers of your very own! I am so thrilled to be able to offer you all this, and I think you will love it – so here’s how to get your hands on one.
Head over to the Serenata website and check out their products. Then come back here and leave a comment saying which of these you would buy, and for whom! Bonus entries will be awarded to those of you who share on social media, provided you tag it with #plutoniummuffinschoc so that I can find your share!
The giveaway will run until the 21st of October 2015. You must provide me with your email address or another way to contact you in order for me to notify the randomly drawn winner and get their address. If the winner has not contacted me by the 31st of October, I will redraw. THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED
Unfortunately, this giveaway is not open to non-UK residents as there are complications with postage. Please do feel free to take part – I will draw International contributions separately and one randomly chosen participant will receive a little surprise from me in thanks.
I am so thrilled about this, and I wish you all the very, very best of luck – I’m kind of jealous! I wouldn’t mind another one…
Much love,
Corrie xx
I would buy the chocolate hamper and give it to my Mum for her 60th birthday next month!
I would buy the Modern English Fruit Box chocolates for my mother in law. She is a widow but keeps busy with family and friends and this would give her lovely little treats when she stops for a cup of tea or to catch up with her favourite TV programmes.
oooo i would so send my mum in law the Time For Tea Trug shes a tea addict and loves gardening so this would be the perfect gift for her at any time. WoolyTanis on Rav
Sounds like a very delicious thing to review! It is interesting to see how different people thought things tasted isn’t it. I would order either one of the autumn flower arrangements or a chocolate hamper because as you say, you can never have enough chocolate if you are blogger can you! xx
I would buy the sweet treats gift basket, and give it to my lovely friend Jill. But of course would invite myself over when she got it!
I think I would get the champagne and chocolate basket for my Mom. She’s been having a really tough time at work and the lady needs to unwind.
I’m keeperofbear on Rav.
I would buy my husband a bottle 2011 Rioja Cosecha , Bodegas Ugarte.
I’m pcollingwood on Ravelry
This is a lovely giveaway! I’d get the Modern English Fruit Box chocolates as a treat for my mum.
I would buy the Champagne and chocolate hamper for my sister, I’m outside the UK so I’m participating just for fun, those hampers are fabulous.
Ohlalalaine on Rav.
I would buy the Bella bouquet for my friend Bella (who is as beautiful as the bunch of flowers)
The Happy Birthday gift with the teddy bear and chocolate bar is SO CUTE – I’d definitely buy this for my sister :)
I’d probably buy two of the teddy-in-a-bin with chocolate bar, for my DD and her bestie, who are chocaddicts :)
sunshinegirl3 on Ravelry
So many choices, I’m sure there is something for everyone, but I think the chocolate hamper would be great for my family at Christmas.
I like the Time for Tea Trug. I’d get it for my best friend.
I’d buy 10 of everything and down it all in one sitting. I’m so glad to be here in San Francisco, far away from all those enticing calories. Seriously tho, the Raspberry or Orange Peel Truffles really tempt me the most. KittenWhiplash on Rav
I’d buy the cheese trug for my husband and he likes nice cheeses & crackers :)
shared on twitter https://twitter.com/AngelaMWilcox/status/652268035529670656
I would love to buy the Modern English Fruit Box for my daughter – just the thing for a treat at her next dinner with her friends.
greyowl (ravelry id)
Ooh, great choice! Think I may plump for beers of the world though as a treat for hubby!
Time for Tea Trug looks lovely! for my mum.
Miss.Chris@aol.com
The chocolate hamper for my mum x
What a lovely giveaway :) I would definitely go for a balloon in a box for my mum’s birthday. There’s something smile-making about opening a box and having a balloon jump out!
I’d pick the Bordeaux and Artisan Cheese hamper for my Francophile sister – and invite myself over the opening! Wine and cheese enjoyed in good company has to be a recipe for a perfect autumnal evening!
Time for Tea Trug – but to be fair I could change my mind as they are all gorge!
If these were in the states, I’d totally order a live rose for my daughters birthday. As it is.. those raspberry french dusted truffles are something my husband would love.
Champagne and chocolate for my sister for sure.
MissBunt on Rav
From a non-UK resident – Beautiful site!
Who won?!
You did! You should have received an email from Serenata – please email corrie@plutoniummuffins.com if there are any problems.