Ahhh. A wonderful lesson in gift basketing that I'm happy, and a bit embarrassed, to share with the world.

I've been making gift baskets from home for just over a year now. And as a home-based gift basket creator, I keep a fairly steady inventory of gourmet food items in my office. I have everything from gourmet crackers to cookies, mustards and dipping pretzels, and yummy yet fancy chocolates from Ghiradelli and Guylian. I've never had a problem with the freshness and quality of the food until this summer.

Last week, my family took an escape route to the coast to enjoy some 70 degree weather, as opposed to the sweltering, record-breaking temperatures plaguing the California inland areas. We enjoyed a wonderful week long trip to the ocean, where the temperature was perfect, the view well beyond beautiful.

We were bummed to have to return to the 100 degree heat we were suffering at home...and I was even more upset to find that all of my chocolate inventory had melted! Simple it would have been to refrigerate the chocolates before going out of town...I merely did not even think about it.

Unfortunately, yet fortunately, for me...I've been forced to eat it myself. Although it's simple enough to refrigerate the chocolates after they have melted to get them back to their desired consistency, they just don't look the same and are not suitable for placing in my gourmet gift baskets!

This have given me a wonderful opportunity to test the product prior to selling and I can positively tell you now, that even after having melted, the Ghiradelli Squares (dark chocolate with white mint filling) are wonderful. And the Guylian Twists (milk chocolate truffles) look nothing like the little sea horses on the package, but they taste just as yummy.

Several dollars lost, five pounds gained and an important lesson learned on my part. If you are new to the gift basket industry...learn from my lesson. Pay attention to your inventory! It is money, after all.