Best Consumable Gifts

[afan]

#truth too many wonderful things to eat during the holiday season to waste the calories on the Hershey's/Whitman's etc

I'm the crazy person that prefers hershey and m&m's to the others but I'd rather have those. The one exception is mint frango's, but I bought some last week since they were on sale. The ones sold in the PNW, not the ones Marshall Fields does which came after ours after Marshall Fields bought F&N.

 

[MomToOne]

ROFL- didn't read the comments before I posted fellow See's lover!

LOL I am slowly converting the South too, one person at a time. That's where my family is. They now demand I bring boxes with me when I come.

The only one that beats See's for me is Leonidas, which is a Belgian chocolate. They are available in the US, but very expensive.

 

[mommajo143]

Depends on the person... we still personalize the gift to the person...
I give homemade red plum jam and homemade sweet & hot pickles to a few people I know who love them. As a general gift I’ve given an inexpensive diffuser with a nice essential oil blend, a nice pen set, a box of pecans, homemade pralines...we’ve sent some specialty Louisiana products to friends / family who moved away, and we’ve given tickets to the symphony, theater and other “experiences” (esp good for younger couples or young families who may not have $ for these type things).

ETA: I gifted an audibel Membership once as well for a friend who was laid off & had to take a job that involved a long commute, after she was saying how much time she wasted driving and how she didn’t have time to read yada yada

 

[la79al]

My dad just gives us a big tote or laundry basket full of groceries that we don't normally buy. I don't know if he coupons to get it or not but stuff like fancy snack mix and beef jerky is much more appreciated by all of us than more homemade cookies or another candle would be.

 

[tasha99]

Hmm . . . well, for this year I'm going to make some sauerkraut and kimchi to give as gifts. I do a lot of fermenting, so that makes sense for family gifts (not sure an acquaintance would want my home fermented pickles, no matter how fabulous they are.) If I were making a basket of foods for my kids of things they like but would never buy, one thing I'd consider putting in is jarred Toninno Tuna Ventresca. It's delicious and wonderful on salads, but at $7-$8 per jar, not the kind of tuna they would usually buy. Various cheeses would be good, too. And pecans, especially candied or flavored such as praline pecans or key lime pecans.

Alcohol would work for some gifts. Last year I considered making a basket of "nasty booze" including Malort (a Chicago wormwood drink that's pretty awful), Insamchu (Korean ginseng alcohol), and some neon green Midori liqueur). I decided that was too expensive for a gag gift, but we did pass around a bottle of Malort.

The best consumable gift I've every received was a little tower of salt. It was a cylindrical container with modular parts that screwed off. My friend had put different salts in each section--nine kinds in all (black salt of different coarseness, pink salt, smoked salt, fleur de sel etc). It was really awesome and fun, I thought.

 

[Bree]

See’s chocolates are soooooooooooo good (and I don’t eat much chocolate!). I had no idea it originated in CA! The first time I saw it was when I moved to south Florida. I though it was a NY/NJ thing because of all the people that have relocated from those states. I’m in central FL now and they sell it at the Mall of Millenia. I also saw it at the airport in Boston yesterday.

I would never turn down snacks from Harry & David or The Popcorn Factory! I’ve always wanted someone to gift me the Harry & David pears.

 

[MrsPete]

Leaving the beaten path of chocolate ...

- Postage stamps and blank cards
- Membership to an online game or Netflix
- Tickets to a play or concert
- A pretty calendar for the next year -- lots of styles: a planning calendar or a word-of-the-day
- Good quality ink pens
- Office supplies: post it notes, memo pads
- Set of pretty paper plates /napkins suitable for a party
- A class -- could be something crafty or a fitness class or music lessons
- Membership to a museum, zoo, aquarium
- Homemade laundry detergent (or other cleaners, accompanied by a pack of microfiber cleaning cloths)
- Nice lotions or body wash

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My inlaws love to make breakfast. So I found a place here in Georgia that mills their own pancake mix. I buy a couple of bags of that from them and then buy some syrup from the Vermont Country Store to go with it. I usually add a Christmas kitchen towel or oven mitt as well since my Step Mother in law usually replaces them every year.

I do the same thing for my parents except I add in my Dad's favorite cookies that make. My husbands Aunt we usually send her either some sort of pretty scentless candles since she does burn candles - this year I found someone who made Christmas tree ones - or a couple of years ago I gave her a new scarf and glove set since I noticed the one she was using was very worn. And she also likes Bath and Body Works stuff so sometimes I'll buy her that instead.
That's it for the older folks in our families.

 

[scrapquitler]

But in all seriousness, I would love to give people ideas for gifts that are consumable that are NOT gift cards because it seems like some people just can't bring themselves to give gift cards because they think they're not thoughtful enough? Any ideas?

I would rather get a gift card that allowed me to choose something I would like or would find useful than a generic box of candy, bottle of wine, or other gift that doesn't involve any more thought than the gift card.

 

[LovesTimone]

With a food allergy in my family, I am very sensitive with this type of gift giving, and without knowing every ingredient I can't safely eat it...
But I have given in the past... Homemade Chex mix has served me well in the past... there are recipes on line for different flavors which I have used and overall have been received very well...The BBQ, and Sweet one gets the best reviews and I have been asked to repeat the gift several times... You can make a boat load of this stuff for the office party in a large bowl or used the individual portions or family size bags, and its not to terrible expensive to make...I am making traditional and sweet for my DH's office party next month.

 

[Soulsearching]

So this thread is inspired by the "what don't you want to get as gifts thread". It seems like a lot of people don't want to get knick knacks and "stuff" that they just won't use. So as some of us get older and can afford to purchase the things that we really want and so we don't really Need anything - what are great consumable gift ideas to give?

My husband is in a job where he receives a lot of small gifts - and I swear if he gets one more box of chocolates I might cry, he doesn't eat them - and then I do.

But in all seriousness, I would love to give people ideas for gifts that are consumable that are NOT gift cards because it seems like some people just can't bring themselves to give gift cards because they think they're not thoughtful enough? Any ideas?[/QUOT

 

[Soulsearching]

I have given these, the ones you won't spend that extra dollar or two for yourself. lol Tjmaxx has some, but specialty delis have a great selection.

I usually will bunch three together and make it a gift. For example : Three different flavored coffees.

1. Coffees
2. Teas
3. Hot Chocolates
4. Stuffed Olives in Jars, Roasted Red Peppers, Sun dried Tomatoes
5. Assorted homemade dried Pastas
6. Assorted Spices
7. Infused Olive Oil
8. Vinegars
9. Dessert Wines
10. Beers from around the World
11. Hard Ciders
12. Drink Mixers
13. Pancake mixes
14. Maples Syrups
15. Jellies or Jams

 

[SandyinMonterey]

So this thread is inspired by the "what don't you want to get as gifts thread". It seems like a lot of people don't want to get knick knacks and "stuff" that they just won't use. So as some of us get older and can afford to purchase the things that we really want and so we don't really Need anything - what are great consumable gift ideas to give?

My husband is in a job where he receives a lot of small gifts - and I swear if he gets one more box of chocolates I might cry, he doesn't eat them - and then I do.

But in all seriousness, I would love to give people ideas for gifts that are consumable that are NOT gift cards because it seems like some people just can't bring themselves to give gift cards because they think they're not thoughtful enough? Any ideas?

I send food gifts a lot. And receive some, too! I like to order from Wolvermans, Omaha Steaks, and QVC. From Wolvermans I order the English muffins and breads. From, usually steaks that also have a potato with them. From QVC, Mrs. Prindables apples, Cheryl's cookies.

 

[tvguy]

I like boxes of GOOD chocolate. But I'm not a big Godiva fan - See's is my favorite to receive (and give)!

Coffee and/or tea assortments can be good, but you really need to know the person to pull that sort of thing off. For example, I generally don't drink coffee but do drink tea. But only real tea, not herbal.

Good cakes, cookies, fruit, etc are good too - but quality is the key.

See's candy rocks.

 

[tcufrog]

My sister last year gifted me two boxes from Graze. It’s a snack delivery service that sends small portioned control sizes of different snacks that are perfect for eating at work discretely or on the go. You can customize your subscription and they tons of different recipes including seasonal ones. I was pretty skeptical until I started it. Graze snacks have helped me break my drive thru habit and because of that and a few other small lifestyle changes I’ve lost 25 pounds so far.

I gave my dh an Audible susbscription a few years ago. He didn’t like it when he got it but now he’s hooked.

So far I’ve gifted:
-Magazine subscriptions
-Gift baskets made of different sample size consumables from World Market which has a great selection.
-hot sauce of the month
-make your own hot sauce
- brew your beer
-science activity kits (the stuff included for experiments was consumable.)
-Penzy’s spices
-gift certificate for two rounds at a municipal golf course
-make your own sushi kits
-Christmas crackers
- money candle. You get a random amount of money at the bottom of the candle
-Lush bath bombs
-theater/concert tickets
-colored hair chalk
-bathtub soap crayons
-gift an animal via Heifer Project. You choose the animal or plant which is given to a person/family in need. They are supposed to gift one of the offspring to someone in need so it’s a gift that keeps on gift. In the Bible Jesus said to teach a man to fish which is what this gift does in a manner of speaking.

 

[shh]

Have you ever done any fruit of the month type deals?

"

This question made me laugh - was remembering the Everybody Loves Raymond episode when he tried to buy that as a gift for his parents and they were horrified. "What in the world do we do with all this fruit? WHAT? There's more coming???""

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

-gift an animal via Heifer Project. You choose the animal or plant which is given to a person/family in need. They are supposed to gift one of the offspring to someone in need so it’s a gift that keeps on gift. In the Bible Jesus said to teach a man to fish which is what this gift does in a manner of speaking.

I gave my Dad a flock of chickens through Heifer Project one year. He got so mad at me thinking I had given him an actual flock of chickens and what on earth did I think he was going to do with chickens. He liked the idea a whole lot better once he calmed down and I got him to understand that the chickens were not going to be actually delivered to his door, that they were for someone else from him.

This has been my go-to gift for a while now for people that have everything and need or want nothing but still expect something. I'm not too fond of giving food or bath/beauty products unless it's to someone that I know well enough to know what they like or use.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

The giant tin of really good popcorn that's three kinds ( plain, cheese, caramel ) in one.

Not the cheap kind. They really good kind.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

So this thread is inspired by the "what don't you want to get as gifts thread". It seems like a lot of people don't want to get knick knacks and "stuff" that they just won't use. So as some of us get older and can afford to purchase the things that we really want and so we don't really Need anything - what are great consumable gift ideas to give?

My husband is in a job where he receives a lot of small gifts - and I swear if he gets one more box of chocolates I might cry, he doesn't eat them - and then I do.

But in all seriousness, I would love to give people ideas for gifts that are consumable that are NOT gift cards because it seems like some people just can't bring themselves to give gift cards because they think they're not thoughtful enough? Any ideas?

Please, please consider this if you really have too much chocolate. Drop a few boxes at a senior living center. Lots of seniors would LOVE to have some choc passed around so they could have a piece. It might be a highlight of their day - you never know!!

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

There are some good ideas here! I do Shutterfly calendars and photo books. I was very distracted this year when I did them, so they are not as good as usual, but will still be enjoyed! I would love to do a total consumable/handmade christmas one of these years...