Gift Giving ideas that are thoughtful, fun, affordable and easily put together for a wide range of friends and family; cook, novice or Junior Baker!
Who Loves Fun and Affordable Gift Giving Ideas?
If you are a Food Aficionado, Food Blogger or simply someone who loves to dog-ear good recipes, THIS is a fabulously fun way to give gifts.
And please, don’t just limit this idea to holiday season. I love to give this gift all year long; birthdays, invitations to a dinner party, every imaginable reason to give a gift.
First Choose The Cookbook For Gift Giving
I have published two cookbooks that are very different from each other:
- The World On My Plate- for tapas size plates and Mediterranean food for entertaining. Simply put, recipes from my international repertoire of recipes, leaning most heavily on Mediterranean food.
- My Muffin Madness– Muffin recipes unlike any other muffin cookbook on the planet! 52 recipes of both sweet or savory, but that’s only where the whimsy begins.
Once you’ve chosen the type of book you want to gift, then the fun part begins!
Recipe and Equipment Gift Giving
It can be sweet or savory – If, for example, it is a quick bread recipe or cake recipe, purchase a baking pan or muffin tins, measuring spoons, a whisk or something fun for baking.
Often times dried fruits bring a sweetness to the recipe or a jar of honey, of which these sweet elements are easy to add to a gift bag.
Instead, if it is savory – Purchase a beautiful charcuterie board with serving forks and knives, or some kabob sticks with a favorite dry rub you can purchase or assemble in a jar yourself.
Print out the recipe with a photo or put a bookmaker in one of my cookbooks, indicating the recipe you are supplying for.
Gift Ideas Made Fun
For a really special item in the gift bag (these bags are perfectly sized for my cookbooks and ingredients), one with a bit more price, include a small grinder for nuts, seeds and spices.
Often in my recipes I prefer healthier flour and so I suggest to grind nuts or seeds. Not everyone has a food processor so this could be a very useful gift in and of itself, and it is very affordable!
Practical Gift Giving Ideas
Perhaps you don’t want to choose a recipe, just want to give the cookbook and let them make the choice.
Aprons, kitchen towels and a pot holder is always welcome no matter what the recipe calls for and it’s great for anyone who spends time in the kitchen!
And let’s not forget our Junior Chefs now cooking up a storm, what a perfect gift to either supply them with their personalized apron or inspire them!
Holidays Aren’t The Only Gift Giving Times
Surely Christmas and Hanukkah are the easy holidays to gather fun things for gift giving but birthdays, back-to-school or ‘just because’ times call for a special gift.
Let’s not forget ‘Boxing Day’ the day after Christmas originating out of the Victorian Era of Britain, as a way of offering gratitude to all those in our lives that make our life extra special:
- Mail person – often one specific person has been assigned your home or workplace for years of delivery.
- Hair person – not only is there the actual hair person but the receptionist that makes sure you are looked after, the shampoo people that keep your stylist on schedule.
- Nail person – they work long hours making sure your hands look as though you have full-time staff working for you!
- House cleaning person – you trust these folks in your personal space and with your personal things, give them something special as a thank you.
- Childcare person – perhaps this person could even be the carpool person that often takes your shift because you are not able to.
- The list is endless as to those people who come alongside our lives and make them a bit easier
Then there are those gift giving times, throughout the year, that are simply to let someone know you are thinking of them.
A simple gift that brings a smile to someone’s face is like a hug that lingers.
A Muffin Cookbook Gift And Accessories
Let me just tell you why giving My Muffin Madness cookbook is a great idea in a gift bag with accessories.
There’s a good reason I created 52 muffins, in My Muffin Madness cookbook; as a single mom of four, I needed a ‘make-ahead breakfast’ for those insanely busy years.
Not just any ole store bought muffin or boxed muffin, but healthy muffin recipes with less sugar, wholesome ingredients, whether savory muffins or seasonal flavor muffins; like the beloved pumpkin muffin.
Want to know what the best part of this collection of muffin recipes is?
These easy recipe muffins could be (and were), made by the kids (taking turns of course, so no bickering), making my job as a single mom a tad easier.
Filling a gift bag with a few tools or ingredients provides all the inspiration the gift receiver will need!
Need More Gift Giving Inspiration?
I am going to tease you with just a few recipes you will find in My Muffin Madness cookbook, so you won’t need to look further for this year’s gift giving!
- Healthy Muffins made of Homemade Breakfast Granola – with oats, bran, spelt, nuts, dried fruits and maple syrup or molasses, is packed with nutrition and no added sugar.
- Best Blueberry muffins – are a smoothie bowl To-Go, baked with oats, yogurt, plump blueberries, cardamom, more practical than a bowl!
- Oatmeal Muffins – healthy overnight oat muffins with ginger for our tummy, molasses for bones, oats for everything and cardamom, a cholesterol aid, are muffins for all.
- Sweet Potato Muffins – while this recipe was created around an AB Blood type, and can only be found in my cookbook, its concept was designed from my Sweet Potato Pie.
- Spanakopita muffins – all the yummy spinach, feta, lemon, fresh oregano and eggs found in spanakopita, made into a muffin, without phyllo!
- Cheeseburger muffins – All your favorite burger ingredients in a muffin batter with another mini cheeseburger on top, pickles and tomatoes!
Gift Giving Ideas That Keep On Giving
From the time we are little kids, we might love receiving cloths, shoes or something to wear at gift receiving time.
But you know darn well our favorite gifts are those we get to ‘play’ with after all gifts have been opened.
THIS is one of those types of gifts! Be creative, have fun and you can be certain your gift will be enjoyed above all the others!
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.