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Food Gifts


Pam R

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  • 1 month later...

This year, our family has agreed to exchange only edible and/or consumable gifts for the sake of an easier, more manageable holiday for each one involved. For my partner and I, this means that many bottles of booze will be coming our way. No complaints here.

The gift ideas that I have include marinated olives, spiced nuts, macerated fruit, etc. I am curious to hear about what other people are going to make/bake this season, to see some photos and exchange some ideas. The first thing that I am looking for is a good spiced nuts recipe. I've tried a few but have not found a solid one yet.

I will be posting about my projects as they come along. Happy baking!

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This year I am giving home made gifts for the first time, mostly because my husband and I are broke. So far I've started making shrubb (clementine infused rum) from Jessica Harris's Beyond Gumbo : Creole Fusion Food from the Atlantic Rim . I've never made it before, but what could be bad about rum infused with citrus, vanilla and spices? Other than that, I think we're giving pumpkin seed candies, some cookies, and home roasted coffee. But after reading this thread, I'm thinking I'd like to include some savory treats too. Most of my friends are decidedly not foodies, so I don't want to go overboard. Has anybody given home made cheese straws? Do you think they will hold up well enough? I know a lot of people who would be very appreciative of some duck bresaola, but I can't afford to shell out for magret for everyone.

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I just posted my recipe for Apricots in Amaretto over at the <a href = "http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=13552&hl" > Artisanal Christmas Prezzies </a>forum - I probably should have posted it here!

Happy Feasting

Janet (a.k.a The Old Foodie)

My Blog "The Old Foodie" gives you a short food history story each weekday day, always with a historic recipe, and sometimes a historic menu.

My email address is: theoldfoodie@fastmail.fm

Anything is bearable if you can make a story out of it. N. Scott Momaday

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  • 11 years later...

Reviving this ancient discussion in time for the upcoming holidays...

For the less discriminating foodie, I give you a Magnum of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (click). It's the third from the top item on that web page. Available in a few weeks.

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 9 months later...

"Feast Your Eyes on This $7,100 Hot Dog Couch That Is Currently Being Sold at Your Fave Department Store"

That is if your "fave Department Store" is Neiman Marcus.

Quote

...Neiman Marcus, the lavish department store, is selling a couch shaped like a hot dog and adorned with cucumber, wiener, and tomato pillows that costs—wait for it—$7,100! Plus tax! (You always have to remember to count the tax.)

There are photos of the couch and accompanying pillows.

It's a snarky article written about an admittedly odd food-related gift.

 

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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Oh hell I gave my guards https://www.rolling-hills.org/ homemade choco chip cookies. They were SO happy. My fish guy (I learned today) is from the east side of Mexico on the Gulf. I am pondering.... He knows the peeps from Coni https://coniseafood.com/ He is incredible but my usual does not seem enuf...We shall see 

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  • 1 year later...

Some bacon-related gift suggestions for the foodie(s) in your life:

 

"25 amazing gifts for your favorite bacon lover"

 

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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On 11/28/2006 at 9:08 AM, Live It Up said:

This year I am giving home made gifts for the first time, mostly because my husband and I are broke. So far I've started making shrubb (clementine infused rum) from Jessica Harris's Beyond Gumbo : Creole Fusion Food from the Atlantic Rim . I've never made it before, but what could be bad about rum infused with citrus, vanilla and spices? Other than that, I think we're giving pumpkin seed candies, some cookies, and home roasted coffee. But after reading this thread, I'm thinking I'd like to include some savory treats too. Most of my friends are decidedly not foodies, so I don't want to go overboard. Has anybody given home made cheese straws? Do you think they will hold up well enough? I know a lot of people who would be very appreciative of some duck bresaola, but I can't afford to shell out for magret for everyone.

Home made cheese straws is an excellent gift, especially if you can find some square tins to pack them in. In simpler times, if such a thing existed, they were a great on-the-fly appetizer for drop-in guests and always better than commercial ones. That's probably not happening, but the recipients will have them all to themselves, so it's win win. Cheese straws and good olives and gin martinis. Sounds good right now and it's only noon here! Good too of course with a clementine shrub! Cheers!

 

Much nicer than the overload of cookies that everyone suffers through. My intake of sweets has increased with the pandemic and now I'm pretty sick of them. I made a very nice apple cake recently and realized I just wasn't interested in eating much of it. 

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Even though County policy is clear that we as County employees may not accept any emoluments at all, in pre-COVID times cookies and banana breads would magically appear.  Yesterday our manager sent out a well considered email that, particularly since we could no longer accept donations to the local foodbank, we were not to accept any food gifts for the staff.

 

Today I noticed them piled up.

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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I just give myself food gifts (in past times, I bring cookie assortments to our favorite restaurants - they love that stuff).

 

For staff here, lottery tickets (scratch offs) in lieu of $$. Most of them just buy lottery tix with the money anyway. And I'm talking like 30 people in the building, the garage guys, etc. etc.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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We got our annual gigantic tin of Danish butter cookies from the office cleaners. One of our vendors sent some kind of cookies, my Admin put them in the freezer at the office so I never saw them. Like Mitch, I would treat myself to some treats most years, but shipping being the nightmare that it is this year, I am taking a pass. I buy Prosecco for my hairdresser and a nice bottle of red wine for our golf instructor. I will miss the tray of homemade cookies my coworker’s wife used to make each year.

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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My wife just got this from some people she knows from work

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I've never had a Panettone before. I imagine it will be quite some time before I have it again.... I don't understand why someone would ruin a perfectly good challah with candied citrus peels and other macerated fruit.

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17 minutes ago, KennethT said:

My wife just got this from some people she knows from work

 

I've never had a Panettone before. I imagine it will be quite some time before I have it again.... I don't understand why someone would ruin a perfectly good challah with candied citrus peels and other macerated fruit.

 

 

Oh man, you have to have a great panettone some day. They’re here for a different reason than tearing off a piece and saying a brucha.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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15 minutes ago, KennethT said:

My wife just got this from some people she knows from work

20201222_202409.thumb.jpg.40244e96c928176d3b0ad852cef69445.jpg

 

I've never had a Panettone before. I imagine it will be quite some time before I have it again.... I don't understand why someone would ruin a perfectly good challah with candied citrus peels and other macerated fruit.

One of those "ya had to be there" taste memories maybe . Not mine. Plus panettones are generally denser in my experience.  I have had high end nd drug store.  I was at a CVS or Rite Aid one year and the elegantly dressed couple in front of me had a loaded cart of them. I looked with tilted head at the guy and he said "she loves them - we are gifting and stocking up" https://www.instacart.com/landing?

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Right - as I said, I've never had one before, so I can't say if the one we were sent was a really good one or not.  I will say that while it seemed well executed (the bread was moist - not dried out, good crumb and texture) I think it's just not my thing...

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12 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Mediocre panettone is awfully easy to come by. It benefits from being toasted and buttered. If it needs further disguise you can make French toast or bread pudding. Yes, it's sweet. Yes, kids will like it. 

Yes, went the French Toast route with mine. Works well for a holiday-themed breakfast.

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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Stepmother's banker sent what must be See's chocolates based on shape and weight. UPS Next Day which the driver conveniently left at the bottom of steep driveway that I would never have seen. Sweet pool guy brought it to me. She won't eat it, I won't be offered, so really! When gifts are more burden than thoughtfulness - especially these days when you know it was just a click by a secretary.  My sweet neighbor who usually gifts excellent peanuts said he was just not up to it so our long phone chat was gift enough. Their kids got them meal deliveries as a gift. I told my usual cookie giftees we'd postpone until later.

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12 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Mediocre panettone is awfully easy to come by. It benefits from being toasted and buttered. If it needs further disguise you can make French toast or bread pudding. Yes, it's sweet. Yes, kids will like it. 

We were gifted the low end panettone a couple years ago.  I normally won't eat it, but I experimented and made croutons out of it for salads.  It was great that way.   Kinda hoping for another low end panettone this year for more croutons...............🙃

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