There’s something cozy and quintessential about the holidays in New England. They evoke Christmas tree farms, flannel pajamas, crackling fires and the aromas of apple pie — or maybe clam chowder — wafting through the air.

We all know food has the power to transport us to times, places and people we hold dear. If you’ve got loved ones who aren’t in the region this season (but maybe wish they were), you could send them a little taste of home. We’ve compiled a list of edible gift ideas, from savory to sweet, so you can send bites from New England directly to doorsteps near and far, just in time for the holidays.

Boston Magazine deemed Legal Sea Food’s clam chowder the best of 2024.

This rich, creamy soup is so beloved it’s been served at presidential inaugurations. Ingredients include New England little neck clams, chunky potatoes and salt pork. A combo gift order of two quarts also includes dinner rolls, garlic butter and tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce ($50).

Legal has other gift boxes, too, including a soup sampler ($80), the filet mignon and lobster tail combo ($250), and a lobster roll kit that includes 2 pounds of Maine lobster meat, Legal's special mayo and artisan buns (serves 4-8 people for $200).

Oysters have been synonymous with Christmas in New England since the late 19th century.

Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Massachusetts has a few enticing gift options that feature the farm's fresh, briny bivalves. A selection of two dozen oysters from Duxbuy goes for $99. Then there's the “Duxbury v. Wellfleet” ($219), which sends 50 oysters from each of the two famous oyster towns. Oh, and their merch — including caps, sweatshirts and shuck sets — could also make a mollusk maniac's day. 

The Hook family has been supplying restaurants and seafood lovers with live Maine lobsters since 1925. According to their website, they ship 50,000 lobsters a day! James Hook & Company’s facility on Boston’s historic waterfront suffered a fire in 2018, but the third generation family business has been rebuilt and continues to offer overnight delivery of fresh North Atlantic lobsters.

You could keep it simple (live, 1.25 lb. lobsters go for $24.98) or get fancy with their “Holiday Special” consisting of lobster meat, lobster ravioli and Newburg sauce ($219, includes shipping). As you’d expect, James Hook also has lobster rolls on the menu ($174.99 for two, plus Cape Cod Chips), along with clam chowder ($10.99 per 18 oz. container).

Savory Atlantic bluefish pate from Boston Smoked Fish Co. can take a holiday party or pre-dinner cocktail hour to the next level. This company’s rustic preparation combines chunks of hand-crumbled, hickory-smoked fish with cream cheese, chives, parley, lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and smoked paprika ($10.99-$20.99). The bluefish is wild-caught, and the pate — which is made at the Boston Smoked Fish Company’s facility on the historic Boston fish pier — is nitrate- and gluten-free.

If you're saying carp-e diem and want to go big, you could send the “Holiday Family Pack,” which includes smoked bluefish pate, smoked salmon pate and hot smoked salmon ($117.99).

Rhode Island is rife with squid, and Iggy’s in Warwick can send calamari — the deep fried variety — to far-flung family and friends. The Oakland Beach institution was founded by Gaetano and Sally Gravino in 1989. It’s gone on to become famous for other regional favorites, like sugar-coated doughboys and stuffies. These days, the Gravinos’ son David runs their restaurants in Warwick and Narragansett. Iggy’s calamari gift box for four includes pepper sauce and ships frozen with ice packs ($44.95 via Golbelly.com).

Of course, in Vermont, cheesemaking is a long, living tradition. There are plenty of options for shipping from myriad producers, including the Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company. Their gift collections can include maple sriracha windsordale, brie, and castleton crackers. The “Beer Lovers Six Pack” ($49.95) holds half a dozen cheeses, one being "Cheddy Topper" (yes, it's made with"Heady Topper," the Alchemist Brewery's famous double IPA). The deadline to order is Dec. 16.

If that's not gouda 'nough for you, Jasper Hill Farm offers what it calls a true “Taste of Place” box that includes three of their award-winning cheeses (Cabot Clothbound, Harrison, Willoughby), caramelized nuts and spent-grain crackers ($105). They also have a Cheese Club with a monthly subscription or one-time purchase.

Sending a Boston Cream Pie could be a slam dunk of a gift for New Englanders with a sweet tooth. This moist, yellow cake and chocolate-covered dessert’s origins can be traced back to something known as a “Pudding-cake pie.” But in 1856 a chef named Augustine Anezin at the Omni Parker House Hotel transformed it into the decadent, chocolate-drizzled sensation we know and love today.

The Boston Cream Pie is the official Massachusetts state dessert, and for $99.95 the Omni Parker House can send their frozen pies anywhere in the country.

Apple picking is a favorite, nostalgia-drenched activity in Massachusetts. If a friend or family member has moved away, you could brighten their holiday with a mother-load of this crisp, juicy New England fruit. Honey Pot Hill Orchards can send two different varieties of apples — 25 pieces of fruit in total — for $35. Shipping is calculated upon ordering. They also have options that can include preserves and/or local honey ($45 and $55, respectively).

While we're over here in Massachusetts sipping on tart cranberry juice, Rhode Island offers a sweeter option: coffee milk. Whether you're downing it hot or cold, Dave’s Coffee makes an accessible, smooth syrup with Brazilian beans and caramelized sugar. It captures the essence of "coffee milk," and the company’s signature, amber glass bottles have a vintage look that adds to their stocking stuffer potential (16 oz for $15).

Dave’s suggests using the syrup to caramelize carrots, yams and other root veggies, too. It could also be a drizzled on ribs or added to espresso martinis.

Multiple states lay claim to the Whoopie Pie’s origins, including Massachusetts and Maine, the latter of which actually designated this scarfable baked good the official state treat in 2011. South Portland’s Cape Whoopies offers a variety of these hand-crafted, individually wrapped delicacies. There’s the traditional chocolate cake with white, marshmallow middle, but also a holiday assortment, with flavors including Christmas Crush (chocolate cake with peppermint cream and crushed candy cane) and Eggnog (vanilla cake with an eggnog cream).

Baker and owner Marcia Wiggins’ little pastry sandwiches are made with real butter, not shortening. They're frozen before shipping so they stay intact until arrival, and one dozen goes for $69.99.

What New England food gift guide would be complete without maple syrup? There’s a long list of sugar houses across the region, but my mind jumps to Polly’s Pancake Parlor, a quirky, beloved establishment in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Skiers and locals line up outside Polly’s Pancake Parlor so they can dowse their piles of fluffy pancakes with New Hampshire maple syrup. Polly’s, which was founded in 1938, even won a James Beard Award in the “American Classics” category in 2006.

Folks can mail order homemade, stone ground pancake mixes and maple syrup via a few different gift boxes that also include White Mountain coffee, fruit marmalade, maple sugar and/or maple candies.

These creamy, chewy candies are something of a contemporary New England classic. Jason McCrea has been cranking out inventive caramels in the Boston neighborhood of Hyde Park for over a decade. His epicurean flavors include rosemary truffle sea salt, chocolate peppermint, black lava sea salt, maple and single malt scotch.

McCrea's dubbed its holiday line the Sugarplum Collection. It includes chocolate orange caramel, along with spiced plum & Cape Cod sea salt. The "Holiday Party" goes for $39.95. They also offer a Caramel of the Month Club. Members receive about three dozen pieces of a single flavor caramel every three, six or 12 months, depending on the subscription plan.