Less than a week until Christmas, the malls are jammed, you’re out of ideas and you need help! Whether it’s cross-town, or cross-county, let your computer and FedEx save the season. Food and wine related gifts are a click away and will make anyone on your list a happy gourmand.

If you haven’t used the computer to make purchases yet, your not alone. Many folks are still leery of using on-line shopping; fearing a lack of personnel security as well as not getting what you want delivered in a timely manner. Fear not, it’s one of the safest ways to spend your holiday dollars, get guaranteed delivery, and beat the crowds. Food and wine related gifts are the best bet. Everyone loves to eat, and most these days are enjoying wine.

Here are some basics to enhance your computer shopping experience. Shop a reputable site, it helps if it’s a store with a brick and mortar location, it may make returns easier. That’s not a requirement though. Many food and wine related sites are exclusively on-line. Look for the small "gold padlock" on the lower right side of your browser’s tool bar to ensure the site is secure and encrypted. As extra protection, use a credit card and not an ATM. Most major credit cards offer a degree of Internet shopping security and fraud protection. It’s late, so pay the extra for time definite delivery that’s guaranteed. So, get your gift list out, have the addresses ready, and your credit card handy.

As a food and wine kind of guy, I have been ordering on-line for years and have several favorite sites that I want to share with you.

Beef, it’s what’s for dinner…and makes for great gifts. Send a bit of the Midwest with steaks from Omaha Steak Company or Dodge City Steaks. Both have great gift packages that are sure to please.

Behold the power of cheese…another great choice. There is no better single source of gourmet cheese from around the world than igourmet! Select your own or use one of the many combined or themed packages offered. They have lots more than cheese; olive oil, sauces, spreads, coffee, tea and sweets, as well as some great kitchen accessories.

How about Texas specialty cheese, made by good friend Paula Lambert and her skilled team at the Mozzarella Company in Dallas? The best hand crafted Mozzarella for sure, but again so much more. They even make a special Christmas Cheese this time of year, great for gifts or holiday entertaining.

Sweets are always a big hit at my house. The finest chocolate imaginable is a click away. Another good friend, Michael Recchiuti and wife Jacky of Recchiuti Confections, are making the finest chocolate I have ever enjoyed. The packaging is first class; the handcrafted confections are individual works of art made with the finest ingredients.

Worried about calories, consider some fresh fruit for your snow bound friends. I really like Harry and David, premium fruit, nuts and confections, as a single gift pack or a monthly seasonal gift subscription.

When it comes to wine, the choices are many. We can’t legally ship bottle of wine to Kansas, but to your friends in reciprocal states there are some great choices. You can always send wine related gifts that are sure to please.

Wine Enthusiast and International Wine Accessories or IWA are great choices. You may also want to visit Wine.com or Beverages and More for the perfect wine accessory. Don’t forget wine related books. The best single source is The Wine Appreciation Guild web site.

These are just a few that I have used with great success. I have listed the web sites, but don’t hesitate to do a Google search for specific gifts you have in mind. Happy shopping, and a Happy Holiday are truly a mere click away.

(Note - all preceded with www.)

dodgecitysteaks.com

omahasteaks.com

igourmet.com

mozzco.com

recchiuticonfections.com

harryanddavid.com

wineenthusiast.com

iwawine.com

wineappreciation.com

bevmo.com

wine.com