Indicative of the holiday season would be Christmas trees, Hanukkah menorah's present and most of all, gift baskets. I was born into a family business, The Pampered Professional, owned by my mom, two aunts and my grandmother. Ever since I was a little girl, helping out in the family business has been a part of my life throughout the holiday season.

Our family never took trips to the mall during the holidays, and Hanukkah was never celebrated during Hanukkah as we always had to wait for the thousands and thousands of gift baskets to be sent out before we could enjoy any semblance of our own holiday.

Now you may think that a gourmet gift basket is all glitz and glamour, but let me tell you a little bit about what goes into making the perfect Christmas gift basket. Trust me, it’s harder than it looks.

It starts back in the summertime when we start shopping, searching and attending all types of trade shows for new gourmet goodies containers baskets and gift items. Come the end of September, the trucks start rolling in.

Skids upon skids get dropped at the back door of the store, and that's when it begins.

Cases and cases of cookies, biscotti, chocolates, truffles, baskets umbrella stands, bowls and trays get hauled off and opened by me, my cousins, my sister, my brothers, my mom, aunts and grandparents.

Everything gets organized, stacked, shelved and set up so that the season is ready to begin flawlessly.

Tape dispensers are filled, ribbon rolls are hung, and reels of bows are ready to go. Now here come the prototypes- one sample of each basket per client is created in specific price ranges and color schemes to fulfill the specific requirements.

Then we roll- 36 of these, 24 of those, 192 of that, 67 of this etc. Once each basket is made it goes onto wrapping - once perfectly cellophane with ribbons, it returns to the makers for bowing, carding, bagging and boxing. This continuous cycle continues for two months straight, 5am mornings roll into 9pm evenings fulfilling each order carefully and impeccably.

Tape must be neat and flat, and items all straight and beautifully set in each basket. All the while, our fingers get ripped and raw from thick tape wearing away at layers of our skin, cuticles get torn from opening cartons and cases of delicious gourmet goodies, at the same time basket pieces occasionally point and stick causing cuts.

You don't sit down all day and your feet throb after a painfully long day of basket production.

The biggest satisfaction is an email from a client raving about the responses they are receiving from their clients, so we feel our hard work and sleepless nights are all worth it.

So, the next time you receive a gift basket from someone, think hard about the work and labor that went into creating the perfect one!