The Gift of the Tropics

Don't know about you, but this frigid, blizzard weekend had me dreaming about a warm, sunny tropical getaway. Unfortunately, I think the farthest south I'll be going this month is Philly.

But, never fear. The Miami Herald has compiled a list of tropical gourmet goodies that you can send to your snowbound loved ones. Here's the purveyor that offers the gorgeously vivid and definitively tropical fruit selection above:

acoupleofbasketcases.com

Owner Caron Cole offers a 12-month Gifts from the Tropics program ($249.95) that will keep the cheer coming all year. Each box brings 5 pounds of seasonal fruit packed with recipes, sweets, snacks and condiments ranging from guava jam to orange-lavender horseradish dressing. The fruit lineup: January, Honeybell tangelos; February, Ortaniques (a tangerine-orange hybrid); March, avocados; April, papaya; May, passion fruit; June, Key limes; July, mangoes and baby coconuts; August, carambola (star fruit); September, mamey; October, Buddha's hand (fingered citron) and dragon fruit (pitaya); November, canistel (egg fruit) and carambola; December, black sapote. Eight-month ($159.95) and quarterly ($69.95) options are available, as are customized baskets in a wide range of themes and prices.

This one also sounds like a winner gift resource:

ROBERT IS HERE