Gifting Goes Wild: Four Fab Finds for a Blue Christmas

A Maine Wild Blueberry Wreath celebrates the influences of Washington County’s wild blueberry harvesting industry. Courtesy of Maine Made Christmas.

Wild blueberries – sweet, delicious, and packed with powerful antioxidants – they are part of holiday-ready homes, not just in Maine and Canada but across the nation. If they aren’t part of your celebration, they should be. Blues do heavy lifting during the season as the perfect ingredient for the sweet, the savory, and everything in between. And, gifts that feature wild blueberries send a message that the recipient is as unique as what’s in the box.

Whether your love for wild blues cleaves toward the traditional – say, blueberry pancakes on Christmas morning – or the more enthusiastic (like the Maine Wild Blueberry Wreath pictured above from Maine Made Christmas), you can incorporate this beloved berry into your holidays. These four wild blue finds are a great start, whether you are gift shopping, entertaining, or in need of an exceptionally sweet treat.

Enjoy the season!

1. HoneyMaker Blueberry Mead 

HoneyMaker Mead is handcrafted in Maine and uses the natural ingredients of the state – notably, locally sourced honey – to create its complex flavor. To make HoneyMaker Blueberry Mead, organic wild blueberries infuse a blueberry essence and a rose-colored hue to the mead, and the result is an aperitif that serves as a distinctive alternative to rosé.

Wild Cocktail Tip: 

Lovely alone, cocktails are a creative way to enjoy mead. Try HoneyMaker Blueberry Mead in a Nor’Easter, a refreshing cocktail any time of year that combines Cold River Blueberry Vodka and Bar Harbor Blueberry Syrup – a true taste of the coast!

2. Pemberton’s Spicy Blueberry Steak Sauce & Marinade

This superbly spicy, savory version of steak sauce takes flavor to new heights when meat, chicken, or fish are involved. Its use of wild blues makes more traditional sauces seem old-fashioned. It was developed by a retired Maine police chief and perfected by Pemberton’s Gourmet in Gray. It recently received a seal of approval from Portland Press Herald’s food writer Meredith Goad. Spicy Blueberry Steak Sauce & Marinade imparts a subtle flavor to steak and chicken (even salmon) and works as a kicky marinade. Pick it up for the meat lover in your life at Pemberton’s Gourmet, where you’ll also find Blueberry Salsa and some mouth-watering ideas for giving your sauce a try.

3. Wild Maine Blueberry Tart

The art of the tart is not lost on wild blueberry lovers the world over.  If you’re looking for a sensational dessert for a holiday party, hostess gift, or a taste of home to arrive at a far-flung relative’s door, iGourmet.com comes through with their Wild Maine Blueberry Tart, a decadent dessert made with fresh Maine blueberries, lime curd and a touch of coconut. This taste-of-harvest-season treat arrives frozen anywhere you wish.

4. Chocolate! (with a Touch of Blue)

For some, it’s a stocking stuffer, for others it’s the main event – chocolate, that is, a gift giving staple for all seasons. Wild blueberries create a sweet fusion with chocolate that local chocolatiers find it impossible not to take advantage of.

Exhibit one: Len Libby’s Maine Wild Blueberry Clusters. Go wild and add Blueberry Caramel Popcorn from the Maine chocolatier for a unique take on the state’s favorite flavor. You can also opt for Bar Harbor Jam’s Milk Chocolate Covered Blueberries, a sweetly sensational example of how this company uses wild blues in their wares. Finally, get your sweet on with Wilbur’s Chocolate Covered Blueberries – these dried blueberries dipped generously in white chocolate are tinted for their true blue look.

Baking for the holiday season? Make sure to keep Wild Blueberries Recipes close at hand. You’ll be prepared for seasonal surprises with everything from appetizers to cocktails.

12 Wild Days of Pure Blue – Day 9

What is a culinary walking tour? Nothing less than an adventure in the state’s foodiest city. The holiday season is a perfect way to explore Portland’s Old Port, a place known for its food artisans and Maine inspired-culinary delights. Whether you live in Portland, are taking a shopping trip there, or have friends and family in the area who want to explore the city where local food reigns, it’s a unique opportunity to learn more about a seaside town’s history and discover the chefs, brewers, and bakers that make it famous for eating.

Day 9: Old Port Culinary Walking Tour

December is an ideal time to uncover the food secrets lurking in the shops and fish houses of Portland. It’s decked out for Christmas, and tour spots tend to have a holiday slant to their offerings. Tours are planned through December 23, and resume on the 27, where they go through the new year.

Culinary tours can be made by trolley or by foot, but December tends to focus on foot tours. The sweet-toothed can even center their attention solely on chocolate – tours include the town of Freeport as a food tour hot spot for chocolate as well.

Are there samples?  Absolutely. A culinary tour would not be the same without them. Wild blueberries make an essential appearance here – wild blueberry preserves served with a scone is a featured sampling, along with local cheeses, lobster, chocolate make with Maine potatoes, and Maine-crafted ales. That’s why an Old Port Culinary Walking Tour fits the bill for our palate-pleasing Day 9 pick for the 12 Wild Days Countdown. So put on your walking shoes and have a foodie holiday!

Don’t live in Maine? There are food tasting and cultural walking tours all around the country. Find one in your city or a city you are visiting for the holidays, and get a taste of the local offerings.

12 Wild Days of Blues – Day 11

Maine’s wealth of balsam combined with deeply-rooted family wreath-making businesses make the state a national treasure during the season. It’s no wonder the “Wreaths Across America” program, which for the past 20 years has sponsored a nationwide effort to place fresh evergreen wreaths at the graves of fallen U.S. servicemen and women, was begun here in Harrington, Maine 20 years ago.

In December, northern Maine bustles with the business of wreaths. One well-known Maine wreath business, Whitney Wreaths, offers Spirit of Blue wreaths – not in homage to the berry, but to honor Maine servicemen, known as the men and women in blue.  A portion of the proceeds goes to Spirit of Blue.

The Wild Maine Blueberry Gift Pack wreath
from Down on the Farm showcases decorative wild
blueberries and comes with Wild  Maine Blueberry Truffles.

Day 11: Wild Maine Blueberry Wreath

It’s clear that when you buy a fresh evergreen wreath, you are celebrating Maine. So why not add a touch of the state’s famous fruit? No reason, says wreath businesses like Sprague Nursery  in Bangor, and Wreaths of Maine in Waldoboro. But it was this wreath from Danforth, Maine’s Down on the Farm that provides our Day 11 pick: the Wild Maine Blueberry Gift Pack wreath. This handcrafted balsam fir wreath includes a choice of either Wild Maine Blueberry Truffles or a Wild Maine Blueberry assortment created by Savour Chocolatier to transform it into a unique gift package. A perfectly sweet way to add a little blue to your holiday.