By Chuck Martin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Stonewall Kitchen's "Downeast Breakfast" rated high with Taste Team member Kathy Zollar. (We made the pancakes from the mix.) (Brandi Stafford photo)

Read carefully but FAST, procrastinators. If you plan to send edible gifts to arrive before Christmas, you don't have much time.

To evaluate last-minute food gifts, we ordered a variety of items - cheese, mustard and hot sauces, cookies, bread, smoked salmon and a breakfast kit - to seven members of our Taste Team. (We based our choices on hints about what they liked to eat.) Everything cost $21 to $35, not including shipping.

We asked the team to rate the gifts on several criteria - including the condition in which the food arrived, the variety of products, and of course, how everything tasted. We sent some of the gifts express; the rest by standard shipment.

You don't have that option. If you're ordering today or Thursday, pretty much nothing but express will arrive before Christmas.

So read on. Then make a bee-line for the phone or computer with your credit card.

Stonewall Kitchen "Downeast Breakfast" (www.stonewallkitchen.com; 800-207-5267)

Recipient: Kathy Zollar, West Chester Township

Average score: 10. (Variety: 10; Quality: 10; Taste: 10.)

Price: $29.95

Shipping: $7.65 (standard)

Arrived four days after order.

Gift included 2-pound pancake and waffle mix; 13 ounces blueberry jam; 8.5 ounces maple syrup; and 10 ounces coffee beans.

Plus: Box is too nice not to reuse.

Minus: Almost missed gift message at bottom of packing slip.

Would she send it as a gift: Yes, definitely.

Comments. Nothing about the gift that I didn't like. Liked the coffee so much, would order it for daily coffee.

Appalachian Mountain Specialty Foods "Sampler Pack" (www.zestsauce.com; 800-659-9998)

Recipient: Tom Levesay, Mount Auburn

SCORE CARD

How the edible gifts scored (1-10 scale) • Stonewall Kitchen "Downeast Breakfast" (10) • Montana Mills "Sample Pack" (9) • Port Chatham Smoked Seafood "Sunset Beach" (8.8) • Appalachian Mountain Specialty Foods "Sampler Pack" (8.7) • Cookiestotheworld.com "Cookie Lover's Gift Basket" (5.7) • The Virginia Company "Hot Six-Pack" (5) • igourmet "French Cheese Assortment" (2.9)

Average score: 8.7. (Variety: 8; Quality: 10; Taste: 8.)

Price: $21

Shipping: $30.94 (expedited and ordered through www.Amazon.com) .

Arrived three days after order placed.

Gift included four 10-ounce bottles of Real McCoy Mustard Sauce with Garlic; Orange-Berry Basil Salad Dressing; Original Zest Sauce; and Old-Fashioned Wilted Lettuce Salad Dressing.

Plus: Included description of each item, party planner, recipe cards and suggestions for use.

Minus: None.

Would he send it as a gift: Yes.

Comments: Loved it. Especially liked the Original Zest Sauce, which added a real kick to clam chowder.

The Virginia Company Hot Six-Pack (www.thevirginiacompany.com; 800-568-2746)

Recipient: Stewart Zanger, Montgomery

Average score: 5. (Variety: 4; Quality: 5; Taste: 6.)

Price: $34.95

Shipping: $18 (expedited and ordered through Amazon.com)

Arrived four days after order.

Gift included six 5-ounce bottles of hot sauce: two habanero, one jalapeno, one green chile-pasado, one cayenne and one chipotle.

Plus: All bottles survived shipment without leaking.

Minus: Even though there was no leakage, the interior cellophane wrapper was torn and bottles were tossed around in box.

Would he send it as a gift: No. Not enough variety.

Comments: Didn't like the gift because the variety of flavors and heat is narrow. The packaging is uninspired and didn't hold up well. For a true chile-head, this would probably be a disappointing gift.

Cookie Lover's Gift Basket (www.cookiestotheworld.com; 800-730-2545).

Recipient: Denise Bruner, Evanston

Average score: 5.7 (Variety: 5; Quality: 6; Taste: 6.)

Price: $35.

Shipping: $7 (standard).

Arrived seven days after order.

Gift included about 3 pounds and eight varieties of cookies and biscotti, including lemon butter cookies, peanut butter twists and chocolate-almond biscotti.

Plus: Gift basket looked OK. Items sealed properly.

Minus: Basket included cheesy message printed on plain paper. No other information about the products or the company.

Would she send it as a gift: No. I would've sent something more elaborate or distinctive.

Comments: This might be acceptable as a gift from a business or a corporation.

Montana Mills Sample Pack (www.montanamills.com; 585-242-7540.)

Recipient: John Royer, Amberley Village

Average score: 9 (Variety: 10; Quality: 8; Taste: 9.)

Price: $34.

Shipping: $11.95 (standard).

Arrived seven days after order.

Gift included 11/2-pound loaf cinnamon swirl bread; 21/4-pound chocolate-chip cookies; 2 large scones; 2 large muffins; bread slicer; honey "bear"; and 1/2 pound of granola.

Plus: Gift included keepsake bread knife and instructions on how to keep bread fresh.

Minus: Bread and cookies were a little dry. Also, scones and muffins did not list ingredients on packaging. (A concern because my daughter is allergic to peanut products.)

Would he send it as a gift: Yes.

Comments: When my parents come for a visit, I plan to serve them items from this gift.

igourmet French Cheese Assortment (www.igourmet.com; 877-446-8763).

Recipient: Jenny Notton, Hebron

Average score: 2.9 (Variety: 6; Quality: 1; Taste: 1.7.)

Price: $32.99

Shipping: $9.76 (2-day air)

Arrived 8 days after order.

Gift included 2 pounds of 4 French cheeses - Gruyere, chaource, chevre and epoisses. Also included trial size bottle of olive oil.

Plus: Description sheet had suggestions on how and where cheeses were made, and how to serve them.

Minus: Quality of the cheeses. Cheese was not very cold when it arrived, even though instructions said they should be refrigerated. The epoisses (cheese) was supposed to have a strong smell, but it also smelled of ammonia. The chaource could not be eaten. It was very soft and very moldy, the blobby type that isn't supposed to be on cheese.

Would she send it as a gift: No.

Comments: Did not like the cheeses because their quality was so poor. Otherwise, I like cheese and I like to try new things.

Port Chatham Smoked Seafood "Sunset Beach" (www.portchatham.com; 800-872-5666)

Recipient: JoEllen Hothem, Loveland

Average score: 8.8. (Variety: 8; Quality: 10; Taste: 8.5.)

Price: $29.95

Shipping: $14.95 (expedited, 2-day air)

Arrived two days after order placed.

Gift included 2 ounces smoked salmon; 3.5 ounces smoked salmon pate; cheese, sausage, crackers and chocolates.

Plus: Small piece of smoked salmon was very good - moist with nice smoke flavor. Salmon pate was very tasty, a bit tangy, again with a hint of smoke.

Minus: I would have skipped the cheese and the beef log (sausage). Although the smokiness tied the items together, they seemed out of place with the seafood. There were only two crackers.

Would she send it as a gift: I might. Smoked salmon is an unusual item and it's good to know a place where you can get it.

Comments: Seafood items included descriptions and serving ideas. Gift came in nice, reusable, gold-colored box.

Food gifts with a taste of Cincinnati

• Best of Cincinnati (gift baskets and boxes with Cincinnati products): 851-2900; www.thebestofcincinnati.com. Last day to order to ensure Christmas arrival: Monday. (Today, if shipping to West Coast.)

• Clearbrook Farms: (preserves, fruit butters and dessert sauces): (800) 222-9966; www.clearbrookfarms.com. Last day to order: Tuesday.

• Gold Star Chili: (800) 643-0465; www.goldstarchili.com. Last day to order: Monday.

• Graeter's: (800) 721-3323; www.graeters.com. Last day to order: Monday.

• Montgomery Inn (also ships Graeter's and Skyline) (800) 872-7427; www.montgomeryinn.com. Last day to order: Sunday.

• Skyline Chili: (888) 752-4454; www.skylinechili.com. Last day to order: Sunday.