We’re up to our eyeballs in Christmas sweets but still dreaming about the malted chocolate chip cookies from Keep It Grand.

Minnevangelist’s Andrew Parks surprised resident Sagittarius Ashlea Halpern with an awesome birthday meal kit from Chef Jamie Malone & Co (formerly of Grand Café). The package included a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a bottle of wine, enough food for three meals (including gloriously old-fashioned beef Wellington with a Bordelaise sauce and a brunch-ready blueberry Dutch Baby with maple syrup and powdered sugar), a dozen take-and-bake cookies, and a D.I.Y. craft project. (Andy chose the tie-dye kit but we haven’t busted that open yet.)

Some “light assembly” was required, but that’s half the fun. And we love that the meal kits are customizable — you can choose from an array of fancy brunches (caviar, eggs en cocotte), breads, afternoon meals (croque monsieur mmmmm), showstopping dinners (lobster and bacon bucatini, duck cassoulet, fish en papillote), nostalgic desserts (eggnog ice cream bar with milk chocolate magic shell, oh my), sherry cocktail kits, oyster kits, palate-training wine kits, and Le Snackie boxes with all the hors d’oeuvres your hungry pack could dream of. The amusements don’t stop there, either. Non-edible add-ons include candles, flowers, and the aforementioned creativity kits covering everything from oil pastels to printmaking.

Build-a-Box orders can be placed through Tock; pick-ups are at Eastside’s pizza pop-up Woodfire. And psssst…. It’s not too late to order one of Grand’s New Year’s Eve boxes, priced between $95 and $170, with a tantalizing array of goodies (pork pate en croute, chocolate pot de crème, etc.) to help you give 2020 the final boot.

Keep It Grand at Woodfire
305 S. Washington Ave., Minneapolis, MN; 612-208-1638.