Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with gift and Food

Giving the gift of deliciousness

sararah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:32:56 -0800

In previous years I've made a lot of cookies to give away to friends and family around the holidays. This year I'd like to do something a little different, but still make it a gift of food. So I've done my holiday-cookie-palooza for the last three years or so, and I'd like to change it up a bit this year. For one, making all of the cookies tends to be a lot of minutiae since it is like 10 different recipes. Also, a lot of people (including yours truly) are trying to eat better, and there are more than enough holiday cookies that will make their way on to our plates throughout the season. I recognize not all of the ideas below are "healthy," per se, but some of them will last a lot longer, are used in small quantities, or are freezable for enjoyment after the holidays.

I'm not ruling out cookies entirely, and I may still make a few favorite batches. I'm not really interested in making the jars of brownie mix/cookie mix or whatever, I feel as if those often go unused.

Some ideas I have rolling around in my head:
-Breads: either a sandwich-type loaf or a sweet fruit bread
-Jams: I have recently learned how to preserve and have successfully made strawberry jam and apple butter. Considering making pumpkin butter, cranberry jams/chutneys or some sort of citrus jam/marmalade as oranges, etc hit their peak.
-Frozen baked goods: fully prepared pies, scones, chocolate chip cookie dough or cinnamon rolls that you would just have to bake.
-Granola
-Would be awesome but also a lot of work: homemade bacon

So I'm wondering what you would personally like to receive in a holiday-themed gift basket of food? Have you ever done anything like this or received one from a friend? Ideas on clever packaging are also welcome.

Cheap, portable, legal-to-cross-an-ocean food from TJs

mdonley — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:47:23 -0800

My mother is coming to visit me in Poland from our home in California and has asked me what foods she can bring me from Trader Joe's that are worth her bringing over. I have some ideas, but as I've been away so long (over a year), I want to make sure we land at the intersection of still-in-the-storeness, luggage space allowance, practicality and deliciousness. In fact, she has kindly but firmly requested I produce a list! For Christmas last year, I got a hamper of UHT mole sauce, a few bottles of Tapatio/Cholula, some random Mexican dry spices, and a bunch of TJs sweets/cookies. It was great.

While the quality of "raw" food here is amazing, prepared/regional/fancier ingredients which cost a bit more, like real maple syrup or balsamic vinegar, etc., are much harder to find and often severely lack in quality unless one buys, say, a tiny $50 bottle of the stuff.

We're on a budget of not-crazy. Total cost of this little excursion should be under $40 for me to have a good conscience. I also don't have a TJs in front of me to see what things actually cost. And lighter is better.

She's checking a bag, so liquids are cool. Fresh food is out given agriculture restrictions and the total door-to-door length of her journey (about 24 hours).

As a final note, the mdonley kitchen trends Mediterranean generally, with Latin, Indian, and Southeast Asian flavors popping up when cost and ingredients align. And I love Thanksgiving.

My future dinner guests and I thank you!

Food gift ideas

Ziggy500 — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:46:55 -0800

What UK food gift can I take to someone in the US? I live in the UK and will be visiting Washington DC soon. I need ideas for food-related gifts that I can take for some people there. What kind of thing can I take along from here that they wouldn't be able to find easily there? Thanks for your help.

Book-Hungry Mother

Weebot — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:23:23 -0800

[Xmas Filter] I'm doing my Christmas shopping, and I'm a bit stuck on what I need to get my mother. She likes culinary-cultural history books, preferably with recipes. Suggestions? She's been really into these books for a while now, and I was hoping to get some suggestions. She's gone through Salt, Cod, and all the other Mark Kurlansky books, as well as Lizzy Collingham's Curry and David Kamp's The United States of Argula.

She has also been a fan of food memoirs like Tender at the Bone as well as travel books with a strong culinary bent. You get the idea. So, any suggestions?

The gift that stops giving not long after being received.

doift — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:15:18 -0800

Giftfilter: What are your favorite consumables that are only available in NYC/on the East Coast? My sister, who is trying to own fewer things, has requested a Christmas present that can be used up. She lives in the western U.S. and I live in Brooklyn, so I'm looking for foods and other consumable things that aren't readily available where she is. I'll be buying the gift at least 4 days before Christmas and taking it on the plane with me, so it needs to last at least that long and be able to withstand a flight, though I'll be checking a bag so liquids should be ok. Price range around $30, per our family gift-exchange rules.

Her tastes are pretty eclectic in terms of food and entertainment: she likes most sweets and junk foods, though she's somewhat health conscious and doesn't drink alcohol. My fallback gift plan is some Peanut Chews and a Netflix gift certificate, but surely I can do better than that.

When you care enough to send... um..

FortyT-wo — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:20:11 -0800

Am looking for something nice I can send to someone to thank them for a wonderful kindness, but it probably shouldn't involve food or flowers. Any thoughts? I'm getting married in a couple of weeks. The groom's father has been incredibly kind and is hosting the reception at his house. Immediately afterwards, we're going away for a week on a cruise. Which is also a gift from him. I'm not really even sure how to thank someone properly for such a wonderful thing.

I would like to send him and his wife something nice while we're away to thank him, but he's going to be swimming in leftover food and flowers after the reception. I'm looking for suggestions on what we might send him instead.

Thanks in advance!

Memphis Gift Basket

iphog — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 09:58:26 -0800

I have a friend that is starting a new job in Memphis TN. I want to send her a gift basket of pastry's or a gift basket of food from Memphis for her and her office to enjoy. Can anyone please give me some advice on who to call or where to look?

Wary of bringing gifts to Greeks....

longdaysjourney — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:54:34 -0800

What booze to give the Greek relatives? I'm going to Greece next week for an extended stay, during which I'll be meeting some family members I haven't seen in years. I'd like to bring them a gift. I was thinking chocolates for the children, but I'm drawing a blank on gifts for the adults. Wine or liquor sound fairly safe, but I have no idea what Greeks consider "good" alcohol. Glenfiddich? Stolichnaya? I'm not a big drinker, so it's hard for me to just pick something out of the vast array of alcoholic beverages out there. If anyone has any recommendations for what might be good wine or liquor to bring, or any other suggestions for non-alcoholic gifts, I'd greatly appreciate your advice.

Spreading cheer with festive food

nnk — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:10:12 -0800

(not cookies) food gifts. I'd like some recipes for not too expensive, not too hard to make, but stunning food gifts that are easy to package and give away for the holidays. Got any gems you'd be willing to share? This year I am committed to making what is turning out to be a pretty expensive cranberry chutney that I am going to package in french jelly jars and give away as gifts. But for next year, or this year if I am feeling ambitious, I'd like to have some other alternatives. This is a bit of a tall order, so if you have something you love that fits one or the other criteria (easy to make or not too expensive) please share those too.

Offbeat eatable housewarming gift for a friend?

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:41:49 -0800

I need an awesome housewarming gift for my friend that can be drop-shipped from the other side of the country. Recommendations? (posted anon because this friend reads MeFi). This particular friend really likes gourmet food. Some sort of tasty, offbeat food-oriented gift basket would probably work well. I really need help with the offbeat part; please don't suggest Harry and David or similarly mainstream offerings.

Bring Home the Bacon

Miko — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 09:02:24 -0800

Ham it up: Need recommendations for an especially delicious and good-quality mail-order ham, as a holiday gift for ham-lovers. Something that costs less than Harry & David's $100 ham would be appreciated.

New Book for My Spouse

mojohand — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 10:46:49 -0800

Need help with a gift for my spouse. She likes to read memoirs (not biographies) focused on food and/or travel. She's mined this category heaviliy, so titles published this year are a plus.