Best Food Gifts You've Ever Received

[Chris Amirault]

I just made an outstanding chana masala with some garam masala made by a friend of mine (thanks Meera!), and it ranks among the best food gifts I've ever received. What are the gifts that rank at the top of your list?

[kitchensqueen]

This is an excellent question; it really made me think.

As far as edibles are concerned, I'd have to say the perfect snickerdoodles that my mom used to send me each Christmas ranks as one of the best thins I've ever gotten. I'd eat them in one sitting, and they're the gold standard I aspire to when making them myself.

As far as non-edibles are concerned, last Christmas I received both Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child et al (from my husband) and The German Cookbook by Mimi Sheraton (from my mother in law). I almost cried with joy.

[PopsicleToze]

From a master sauce maker -- a whole case of little homemade reduced stocks, demi-glace and homemade Lemoncello. All were in pretty decorative jars and labelled. It was one of the best gifts ever -- non-food related, too.

Rhonda

[ambra]

Homemade Plum Jam

Homemade Limoncello.

But I think the best gift was Homejarred Tomatoes from a family in Brooklyn. Oh and homemade salami from that same family. To die for....Miss it.

[annecros]

Mayhaw Jelly.

[judiu]

Believe it or not, my mother's famous "blond" (no dates, dark raisins or figs)fruitcake.

[Tri2Cook]

My favorite food gift is the tin of cookies I got from my mom at christmas every year. I don't get them anymore since mom is gone but they'll still always be my favorite food gift. I'd force myself to dole them out carefully so they weren't gone too fast. I miss those cookies... not as much as I miss mom, but I do miss them.

[Peter Green]

Edible: Yoonhi's forcing me to go to Thailand against my will, and then my first meal in-Kingdom You can never go back after that.

Inedible: Yoonhi's last gift to me of a magnetic induction tabletop unit, which has opened up a whole world of hot pots and stir fries for a boy who's challenged by electric grills.

[snowangel]

If a non-food, but food-related gift counts, it is the olive wood cutting board my sister hand carried back from Italy for my 51st birthday. It's so beautiful it resides on the counter, and I could hardly bring myself to use it.

[zoe b]

a whole foie gras from a friend who knows how i love it.

[TarteTatin]

Tarbais beans from France.

A whole huge piece of truffle butter that I sliced down in small slices for the freezer.