Knoxville has been buzzing ever since the news broke that the Today Show's Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb were coming to town to broadcast their hour of the popular NBC show from the University of Tennessee campus.
So I was thrilled when my friends at Knoxville's WTNZ Fox43 contacted me about doing a special segment this morning. In the spirit of southern hospitality, I have been tasked with creating a basket of local, southern goodies as a welcome gift to make KLG & Hoda feel right at home.
I knew I wanted to make this gift basket extra special so I thought long and hard about which local products would best showcase all the talent and creativity that Knoxville (and East Tennessee) has to offer. You can see the basket (above) with everything I chose and find links to the items and their sources below.
- Spoil Me S'mo dog treats
- Benton's bacon (no shortage here!)
- Stonehaus wine (Cumberland Gold)
- Tennessee Thunder habanero hot sauce
- Gunshot Sauce
- Haze & Co. salad dressing (poppyseed)
- Muddy Pond sorghum made just down the road in Muddy Pond, Tennessee
- The Tomato Head hummus
- Ole Smoky Tennessee moonshine barbecue sauce
I figured these New York gals love bagels so I also grabbed some Bagels from Flourhead Bakery but as you can see, the basket is pretty full so I wasn't able to get them in the photo.
I hope Kathie Lee & Hoda feel right at home here in Knoxville. We might be a scruffy little city but we're good people and I think we know how to make visitors feel welcome!
