Gourmet Goodies, Gadgets and a Giveaway

From summer parties to making your own botanical butter, we're confident this edition of Gourmet Goodness will pique your interest and wow your tastebuds. After visiting the featured websites, be sure to send us an email to win the prize of your choice from our gift closet, details below.

I had no idea there was such a thing as flowering tea! How lovely is this for summer luncheons or afternoon tea parties? Primula Tea Flowering Teas come in Jasmine, Peach and Variety Packs. This is surely a "Gotta Get It" for every tea {and flower} lover. It goes without saying, a must-have for serving flowering tea is a glass teapot. Pictured here is Primula's Blossom Classic 40-oz. Glass Teapot which retails for $24.99, flowering teas start at $9.99 at PrimulaTea.com.

Can't have tea without cookies! Duchy Originals Organic Lemon Shortbread tops our list of most delicious. A wee bit of lemon zest results in the perfect shortbread cookie. The light and crispy lemony-butter cookies are baked to perfection with only the finest wholesome ingredients by the famous shortbread maker, Walkers. A donation from every sale of Duchy Originals is given to the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation for distribution to charitable causes throughout the world. A 5.3-oz. package retails for $5.99 at walkersus.com.

How cute is this Cutting Board Blind Mice Spreader from Beatriz Ball? He'll be the hit of every happy hour! Better keep an eye on him, your guests will definitely want to take him home with them. He's just darling paired with the very first Beatriz Ball item we featured, and still one of our favorites, the Soho Square Cracker Cutting Board pictured here. The Blind Mice Spreader is $22 and the Soho Cutting Board $137 at beatrizball.com.

Make sure you invite this guy to the party for the perfect summer martini. The award-winning Crystal Head Vodka is quadruple distilled and then filtered 7 times with the final 3 stages being through diamonds resulting in the purest, smoothest vodka. The ultra-premium vodka is crafted with high-quality Canadian ingredients and contains zero additives, sugars or citrus oils. The bottle, a crystal head, designed by Dan Aykroyd and John Alexander, is a work of art two years in the making. SRP for a 750ml bottle is $49.95. A store locator is available at crystalheadvodka.com.

No summer soiree should be complete without Screamin' Sicilian's Mambo Italiano Pizza. It arrived in perfect condition piled high with Italian meatballs, pepperoni, a delicious zesty sauce, and loaded with Wisconsin mozzarella atop a crispy stone-fired artisan crust. Better have a few on hand because they will be gone before you can say "Mama Mia!". We also tried Bessie's Revenge which was just as mouth-wateringly scrumptious. Oh, just try them all for a screamin' good time. SRP: $8.99 a store locator is available at screaminsicilian.com.

From summer salads to exquisite dinner entrees we found the secret ingredient to make them amazing. MiaBella Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is made with carefully selected Trebbiano grapes from the rolling hills of Modena, Italy. Thick, rich, sweetly flavored and aged to perfection. Want more greens in your diet? This ultra-premium balsamic makes every salad extraordinary. Each bottle is numbered, individually signed and guaranteed to please. An 8.5 oz. bottle retails for $40 at miabella.co.

Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil is milled at Red Ridge Farms' Oregon Olive Mill from a blend of Oregon and California Frantoio olives. It's a flavorful oil with a buttery taste combined with hints of artichokes and hazelnuts, with a peppery finish. Drizzle on salads, fish, veggies or used as a dipping oil. Smooth and delicious! A 12.7-oz. bottle retails for $18.95 at shop.redridgefarms.com. 

Did someone say party? Turn up the music, I'll bring the wine! Co-founded by musician, Dave Matthews, and veteran Sonoma winemaker, Steve Reeder, Dreaming Tree Wines is the fruit of these two artists' passion for making great wine. We tried Dreaming Tree Chardonnay which is bursting with a spicy citrus fruit flavor perfect for summer get-togethers. This eco-friendly company produces a variety of wines all at affordable prices. SRP for the 750 bottle of Chardonnay is $15 at dreamingtreewines.com.

Foodies, DIYers, and health conscious peeps, listen up. How would you like to make botanical butter, sauces, oil and lotions at home? Meet Magical Butter! Similar to a slow cooker, Magical Butter is a plant extractor that pulls plant nutrients directly into butter, oils, sauces and lotions through its integrated blender and temperature controller. Simply add oil, herbs, close the lid, select heat and set timer. I had a ball making a body lotion concoction in just 2 hours! The product is so popular, it keeps selling out! Get yours while you can! $174.95 at magicalbutter.com.

Air Wick's Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll Freshmatic Automatic Spray Refill will control cooking odors and fill your home with the comforting scent of fresh baked cinnamon rolls...without the calories. Use with the Freshmatic gadget to release bursts of cozy fragrance throughout the day. Other scents include Snuggle Fresh Linen and Baby Magic Clean Baby. Available at Walmart SRP: $5.99. 

Foodies who enjoy receiving surprise goodie boxes will ♥ LovewithFood, a subscription box of healthy and delicious snacks. Each month an assortment of organic, all-natural snacks arrive in the mail. The company gives back by donating a meal to a hungry child for every box sold. Available in 2 sizes, the Tasting Box includes 8 snacks for $10 and the Deluxe Box, which has 16-20 snacks, starts at $17 per box. lovewithfood.com.

If you're as tired as I am of having to throw out fruit because it went bad or you're concerned about what's on the veggies you're buying, you've got to checkout Eat Cleaner Produce Wash. Available in spray and wipes, Eat Cleaner cleans pesticides, dirt and wax off fruits and vegetables and extends their life! The 8-oz. spray bottle retails for $4 and the wipes are $14.95 for 30. Eatcleaner.com.

Chic Giveaway! ~ One reader will win the prize of their choice from our gift closet.

To Enter: Email chicgiveaway@gmail.com and include the following: 

• "Gourmet Goodness" in the subject line
• your first and last name
• complete mailing address
• twitter id 
• facebook name 

If you're entering our giveaways, we ask that you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest as well as our sponsors. 

If you wish to tweet about this giveaway, here's a sample tweet for your convenience ~

#Win the prize of your choice from @ChicLuxuries' gift closet in *Gourmet Goodies, Gadgets & a #Giveaway* EASY entry: ow.ly/xBRE3

Giveaway ends 11:59 PM ET July 15, 2014. Limit one entry per person and email address. Winner will be notified by email and announced on our Winner's page. Winner will have 48 hours to claim prize. Open to US Residents 18 years of age and older. We will not clog your inbox with emails nor do we share your email with sponsors, we only email giveaway winners.

Many thanks to each of the brands featured for providing products and/or photos for this editorial.