Food Gifts for Appreciation

[heidih]

Do you? Sometimes tipping is not the right thing. I've taken to food as a show of appreciation for workers or friends. I used to do the Christmas thing but Covid disrupted that. I recently did cookies for the guards and firemen. Tomorrow I am doing cookies again for the trash guy who volunteered to take away a ridiculous mess of stuff. He would not have accepted cash. Cookies also for my mail place who treats me like family - prints and scans stuff and refuses to let me pay. .  

 

Do you have food gifting traditions that make that thank you connection?

[heidih]

Oh I do recall that  @blue_dolphin is a serial popsicle gifter as she has posted And those are no ordinary popsicles. 

[MetsFan5]

I tend to tip in cash during the holidays. While I could absolutely give the people I tip (mail person, garbage people, landscapers etc) with a homemade lasagna, I am unaware of their allergies and preferences and you can’t go wrong with cash.  

[Darienne]

Tend to use ice cream as a special tip for help.  Or chocolate-coated, almond-topped toffee also.  So many younger folks don't seem to cook that homemade items are always welcomed.  But as noted by Heidi, covid19 has disrupted much of normal life.

[Darienne]

Speaking of gifting with ice cream which I tend to do, our wonderful IT guy who treats this old Luddite woman so wonderfully has now asked for Strawberry Ice Cream.  Fine, say I...until I go to look in my ice cream books for recipes.  And Lebovitz and Damerow and Torrance Kopfer don't have any simple basic ones.  And then I learn why.  Apparently strawberry is one of the most difficult ice creams to make properly.   I think I'll end up going with David Lebovitz's Strawberry Sour Ice Cream.  

[donk79]

Are you sure he wants strawberry ice cream, not pink ice cream?  At my family's ice cream shop we served both strawberry  and "special strawberry" milkshakes.  The first just used artificial strawberry syrup.  The second used real strawberries, with the syrup added for a boost of flavor and color.  The first (all artificial) was by far the more popular. 

 

Our strawberry ice cream (soft serve) was regular vanilla ice cream mix with the artificial syrup added.   Today I would probably prefer some of the recipes you are already looking at.   But my palate does not necessarily reflect the larger population,  and the same can probably be said of most EGulleteers.

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, donk79 said:

Are you sure he wants strawberry ice cream, not pink ice cream?  At my family's ice cream shop we served both strawberry  and "special strawberry" milkshakes.  The first just used artificial strawberry syrup.  The second used real strawberries, with the syrup added for a boost of flavor and color.  The first (all artificial) was by far the more popular. 

 

Our strawberry ice cream (soft serve) was regular vanilla ice cream mix with the artificial syrup added.   Today I would probably prefer some of the recipes you are already looking at.   But my palate does not necessarily reflect the larger population,  and the same can probably be said of most EGulleteers.

He was quite specific that it was to have tiny chunks of strawberry in it. 

 

Initially he refused all offers of ice cream, stating that he was getting fat and getting a paunch.  The guy is as skinny as a rake.  However, when he finally realized that it was HOMEMADE, he jumped at it. 

 

So his ice cream will contain vodka and sour cream and that's that. 

[Alex]

I've made Jeni's Roasted Strawberry & Buttermilk Ice Cream with great success. 

[donk79]

9 hours ago, Darienne said:

He was quite specific that it was to have tiny chunks of strawberry in it. 

 

Initially he refused all offers of ice cream, stating that he was getting fat and getting a paunch.  The guy is as skinny as a rake.  However, when he finally realized that it was HOMEMADE, he jumped at it. 

 

So his ice cream will contain vodka and sour cream and that's that. 

Fantastic to hear!

[Smithy]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:11 AM, Darienne said:

 

So his ice cream will contain vodka and sour cream and that's that. 

 

...and strawberry chunks, I hope? 🙃

[Darienne]

12 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

...and strawberry chunks, I hope? 🙃

Yes, that was the first requirement established.  

[kayb]

I gave a box of peanut brittle to the UPS man la st Christmas, as he delivered here so often he took to calling me Mama. He was quite overcome. He told me a day or so later he’d eaten the entire box that day on his route, and begged me for the recipe.