Thanks! What a good idea! I will look into those kits.
I have bought this Uncle gifts from GoldBelly. I find most GoldBelly items are $80 USD or more- and the amount of food is often too much for someone living alone.
I’ve also used Mouth. I like the items offered through Mouth a little better.
I have done the nostalgia thing with my 60something cousin and her 70something husband, which has gone over well. What they can’t use right away, they freeze or share. So far, I’ve done an adventurer 3 month package from Zingermans, another 3 month gift which included lobster rolls one month and a Juniors Cheesecake another month, a gift box with salmon from Zabars, another from Russ & daughters, last years’ gift from a place with bagels and smoked salmon in Berkeley.
Thanks for mentioning GoldBelly- there are some new Ina items this season. They changed the spelling on the site from GoldBely to GoldBelly a year or 2 ago. Same business, new spelling. https://www.goldbelly.com/ina-gartens-barefoot-contessa
Oh yeah we did Zingermans too - I’ve been to the original, but the shipped goods were kind of meh.
With Goldbelly I think items that can be frozen to be enjoyed over time are a better deal. So the bagels - we sliced & froze & ate over a couple of months. I’m not a big fan of the single-meal things (like Momofuku’s bo ssam kit) but I can see how they would appeal to people looking for an exciting group or family meal.
The meal kits seem an odd gift at first blush, but my aunt really loved them.
My SIL on the other hand - not so much (someone gave her a few they weren’t going to be able to use). Different demographic though - she has kids and not a lot of time and she found the instructions / assembly thing stressful.
Another idea I may have mentioned elsewhere is D’Artagnan - their stuff comes vacuum sealed, so someone could pop it right into the freezer. Could do an assortment of specialty meats (duck, quail), sausages, truffle items, wild mushrooms - they have a really wide range, and also frequent sales.
I found it stressful when my cousin sent some mainland Chinese ingredients I’m not familiar with. I felt like there was pressure to use them and tell her what I made with them. I’m going to regift what I haven’t used this month. The only thing I used was the fermented bean paste, and Szechuan peppercorns. Nice thought, but came across as a micromanage-y gift.
The D’Artagnan sounds like a good idea. I had looked at some charcuterie and salami gifts for my uncle last year. Also had looked into local Italian delis that might deliver or have gift boxes, in his city.
I participate in a Secret Santa gift exchange organized by one of my FB cooking group members. I don’t generally have the time to prepare things myself, but pick up local products. It’s always fun.
I have nice recipe cards from the source. I am more focused on other cuisines right now, so just not for me. I have been making more Japanese, Vietnamese and Burmese food, and some new Cantonese dishes over the past year. I just am not that interested in making Szechuan and other mainland stuff in my cramped kitchen. I’m also burnt out from cooking maybe 25 dinners a month for the past 21 months. I was trying a lot of new things the first year of the pandemic.
I like WoksOfLife and RasaMalaysia a lot, for the recipes. I lean towards the Cantonese, Malaysian, Taiwanese preparations.
Looking at Murray’s Cheese now. I like that they have a number of holiday options under $100.
I think I will probably buy my uncle the $100 Holiday Feast.
Greek baking starts today for gifting pastries; skipped this last year due to the damn pandemic, and stuck with gifting homemade jams, coffee, nuts, and things like that. Will post pics later. On the go is baklava and koularakia.
We’ll send some prepared, frozen meals from a local shop to my husband’s daughter who lives 2 hrs away. And gifted a gin advent calendar to the other daughter who is only 45 min away.
For my kids who live on other continents, I send the milk chocolate of their childhood, and sometimes baking ingredients “from home”.
Throughout the year, I make preserves in tiny jars, and have them at the ready for host gifts and other occasions.
So far I’ve sent friends peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (added mini chips to Saveur’s “best” recipe) and matcha green tea sugar cookies (adapted this month’s recipe from Food & Wine.) A month or so back I sent the same folks brown butter nutmeg pound cake and blondie bars. They went over well. Matcha green tea is an acquired taste, but if they don’t like them, they can always regift them. With grieving folks, I figure it’s the gesture that they’re thought of that counts most.
I think I’ll also send my brother some of the gingerbread and chocolate chip cookies my kiddo and I will bake for Santa. I’ll probably send Liberty Tavern gingerbread loaves to a few different friends - assuming I can get them out of the pan intact!
If postage from Canada didn’t cost so much, I’d mail it! It would cost at least $50 to mail these year old ingredients that cost around $100 when they were new!
I run a cooking group over on Fb, and one of our members has taken it upon them to organize a Secret Santa every year. I’ll be picking up some local treats in Philly and from my town.
