Food & Beverages as Gifts

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Originally Posted by Kathleen

Please move to my neighborhood!

Better yet, move out West. We've got a mild 4 seasons,
and the house down the street is for sale.
Neither DH nor I are big fans of the Mid-Atlantic

[Katie H]

I gave out little mini bread pans (ceramic with holiday motifs on the sides) of homemade pear bread to my mail lady, UPS man, FedEx lady and some friends. They all loved it.

[Kathleen]

Originally Posted by Kaneohegirlinaz

Better yet, move out West. We've got a mild 4 seasons,
and the house down the street is for sale.
Neither DH nor I are big fans of the Mid-Atlantic

So, after college, I moved 9 times in 11 years figuring that I never would find a place to settle. (My family had seven generations buried in a cemetery in my hometown, so no idea from where the love of wandering came.) Southern California was one of the locations where I lived. I found that I HAD to have seasons. Real seasons. So moved here intending to stay a few years, and 30+ years later, here I am.

I want a full 3 months of each winter, spring, summer and fall. I usually get it. I love that I can be in a city, on the ocean, in the country or even mountains within 1.5 hours. But best of all, I love sailing and we have the bay that allows me to float about from roughly April 15 to Nov 15.

Besides, if anyone wanted me to move, they should have spoken before this kitchen remodel. You move here. To tempt you, keep in mind that our boat has on-board sanitation, hot/cold water, and a small china cabinet.

Originally Posted by Katie H

I gave out little mini bread pans (ceramic with holiday motifs on the sides) of homemade pear bread to my mail lady, UPS man, FedEx lady and some friends. They all loved it.

I'm sure they did! Those kinds of gifts are always special.

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

In our Green Grocer, they've been selling the Jumbo Sized
Fresh Strawberries, but I couldn't get past the price ...
until today. They reduced the price by three or four bucks
I think it was, so Dipped Berries it is.
Shari's Berries ain't got nothin' on me
(well, her's look a little prettier )

[dragnlaw]

you can gift those to me! I'll take the ugly ones,

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Originally Posted by dragnlaw

you can gift those to me! I'll take the ugly ones,

When it comes to Chocolate Dipped Strawberries,
I don't know if there are any ugly ones dragn

[dragnlaw]

tarnation! caught me!

of course there are no ugly ones! but I was hoping

[Bitser]

Some years I get lots of tomatoes, so I sun-dry them.



It takes about three days in the greenhouse.



Bagged, in nice tins or in small mason jars, they make good holiday gifts for the cooks on my list.

[Kathleen]

Originally Posted by Bitser

Some years I get lots of tomatoes, so I sun-dry them.



It takes about three days in the greenhouse.



Bagged, in nice tins or in small mason jars, they make good holiday gifts for the cooks on my list.

Beautiful!!!!!

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Bitser, that is a VERY thoughtful gift!

And theirs barely an cost to you, outside of the packaging,
which I would love to see that.

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I took a dish of Lemon & Poppy Seed Scones next door to share and both Mister and Missus Neighbor were over the Moon. I didn't know that they too love Scones as my Mother does.

Mister asked me to stay and have a glass of Wine with them, and who could say no?

We chatted for a bit about this and that when ...
Mr. Neighbor: So what else have been cookin'?
Moi: Oh, ... (some small details)
Mr. Neighbor: Well gee, I guess Mom is a healthy eater and you haven't had any leftovers to pass along this way then?

(I always have too much and take some over to them to taste-test)
Moi: Well, we'll need to change that! How about some Hawaiian Food later this week?
Mr. Neighbor: YOU KNOW!!!

(He loves my Poke Bowls and Mixed Hawaiian Plate of Kalua Pork, Teriyaki Chicken and Spam Fried Rice on the side.

[dragnlaw]

Sounds like he is a wee bit jealous of your mom! LOL As am I!

[GinnyPNW]

I'm gifting 3 of Genovese Basil plants that I grew in my hydroponic garden. They've been transplanted to a planter and will go to my nail tech in a few days. I've been watching and waiting just to make sure there are no issues with the move to a pot. He likes to cook as much as I do and I think he'll make good use of the basil.

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I did a test run today of the Copycat Moose Munch I want
to give my Neighborhood Gal Pals for Christmas.



Not super happy with the way it came out.



I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers.
It didn't drizzle the way I wanted it to.



Now the Milk Chocolate was a little better, but ...

Geez, you think maybe I should have followed the
recipe when it said to use Chocolate Chips & Shortening?
*face plant*

Well, as I said, this was a test run so this batch is for our house

[GinnyPNW]

Good thing it is a trial run, K-Girl! Good thinking!

Do you ever make White Chocolate/Peppermint popcorn? I make that for hostess gifts at the holidays.

Third time is the charm! Fingers and paws crossed!

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Round Two:





I'm much happier with this attempt.
Two things I did differently:
1) Spread the Caramel Corn out on TWO sheet pans for more Chocolate coverage

2) I followed the recipe and used 1 C. Dark Choco Chips & 1 1/2 tsp. Shortening - the drizz is so much better!

I have to say that the first batch looked like pooh had just been blopped on top
DH says, "Oh great! So you give that one to your family!"

I made up a small baggie to give to my Aesthetician, whom I have an appointment with tomorrow!



I didn't have any Christmas paper or gift bags, I had purged everything to make room for Mom ... so Dollar Tree Brown Totes to the rescue!
Add some festive tissue paper and ribbon and Bob's your uncle!

I have cute Christmas-themed tins to put the Gal Pal's treats into later.

[GinnyPNW]

It looks quite pretty to me!!

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

For the Gals



For our neighbor down the street



I'd much rather make gifts then buy something that the person wouldn't even like. I mean, who doesn't like Caramel Popcorn draped in Dark Chocolate?

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Last one!