Edible Christmas Presents
Give the Gift of Food or Drink This Holiday Season
Everyone loves a gift they can eat or drink. It may seem like Christmas is not the right time to be bringing over yet more goodies to add the already insane amount of food on the table, but if you choose the right kind of edible gift, the recipients can save it for once the Christmas treats have been gobbled up.
Sweet Treats
Avoid bringing chocolates, cookies or other sweets since there will be plenty of these around to begin with, unless, of course, you’re making them yourself. A batch of your favourite homemade cookies in a decorative tin shows that you put some effort into creating the gift, which is sure to be appreciated. If you must bring chocolates or sweets, try to find some that are made in your hometown to add a little personalization.
Festive Spirits
Before choosing anything alcoholic for a Christmas gift check with someone in the know to be sure that the intended recipients are drinkers. You do not want to give an expensive bottle of spirits to your spouse’s dad who is a recovering alcoholic. If you’re relatively sure that the recipient does enjoy a good bottle of wine every once in a while, try to find something a little more special than the $10 bottle you’d buy for yourself. Search for a wine or spirit that is made locally or choose something interesting like ice wine.
Cheese, Crackers and Meats
Unless a cheese, cracker and meat platter or gift basket is made by a local company using only fresh ingredients, avoid this gift at all costs. This generic gift is the kind that teachers expect to get from their students. Most often, the food in these baskets is sub-par at best and most of it will end up getting thrown away. If there is a specialty cheese store in your city (Saskatoon has a locally owned shop called The Bulk Cheese Warehouse, for example), asking them to create a platter containing unusual cheeses is a much more appealing idea than getting the standard cellophane wrapped basket from a kiosk in the mall.
Locally Grown
If you’re going out of town for Christmas, you might consider bringing edible gifts grown in your area for the people you’re going to visit. These are usually easy enough to find and, although they may be touristy and kitschy in your neck of the woods, for someone who has never been to your hometown, province or country, they can be a special treat. Bring maple syrup to non-Canadians, fish from the West Coast for Prairie dwellers or Saskatoon berry products from Saskatchewan to your cousins in Texas. Just make sure that if you’re travelling internationally, the food products you’ve chosen will be allowed into your destination country.
Christmas Cookies
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