Gift Giving Guy: Gift Ideas & Advice » for hosts

Birthday Gifts for the Entertaining Hostess

Gift Giving Guy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:01:00 +0000

In our home, my wife is the hostess-in-chief. If I were running hospitality, I’d be tempted to follow the advice of comedienne/actress Amy Sedaris: fill the medicine cabinet with marbles. (“Nothing announces a nosey guest better than an avalanche of marbles hitting a porcelain sink,” Sedaris suggests.) So for my wife’s birthday, I gave her gifts that affirm her as the entertaining hostess.

		Any event needs a plan. Notepad maker Knock Knock packages a menu list, a shopping list and a cooking prep list in The Chef’s Planning Kit.

		Two of my wife’s favorite crooners are Michael Bublé and Harry Connick, Jr. I gave her their new albums (Crazy Love and Your Songs respectively) as lively music for our party prep.

		Instead of pitchers, we’ll be serving from Artland Simplicity Eight-Piece Punch Bowl Set. The bowl and set of six cups have clean lines. And my wife likes the the ladle is crafted from glass, not acrylic.

		I think her favorite is the Waring Professional Buffet Server and Warming Tray. She loves to host brunch, and now the food will stay piping hot.

Give Thanks with a Gift Basket from igourmet.com

Gift Giving Guy — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:06:00 +0000

Tomorrow my wife and I are hosting a surprise birthday party with 20 guests attending. Unfortunately, the seating math didn’t add up. Our patio set seats six. Add in a small table with four chairs, and we would have half our guests standing. Fortunately, our next-door neighbors balanced the seating equation, lending two of their patio table sets. To thank them, we are sending a gift basket from igourmet.com.

The Gourmet Thank You Gift Basket features many epicurean goodies:

Asiago Pressato Cheese
Black Kassel Sliced Salami
Mini Toasts for the cheese and salami
Beemster Gouda Cheese with Mustard Seeds
Grab an “O” Olives
Dolmas (Greek stuffed grape leaves)
Trouvillais by Biscuiterie de l’Abbaye (French shortbread cookies)
A Dancing Deer Brownie

Father’s Day 2009

Gift Giving Guy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:35:00 +0000

Happy Father’s Day! I hope Dads enjoyed gifts and time with their children today. I sent my dad a Cheryl&Co. bakery gift tower tied with a blue Happy Father’s Day ribbon. The four-tiered baked goods ensemble includes:

18 assorted cookies
crunchy chocolate chip cookies
fudge brownie minis
confection pretzel clusters
four slices of cake

Check out Cheryl&Co.’s different bakery gift towers for your next delicious delivered gift.

Host and Guest Gifts

Gift Giving Guy — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:17:00 +0000

The ancient Greeks called it xenia — the sacred duty of hospitality — often met with an exchange of gifts. Nearly 3,000 years later, this gift exchange is still alive and well in Excelsior, Minnesota. That’s where my wife and I recently stayed with relatives. On our arrival, my sister-in-law gave us a decorative ceramic spoon designed by Rae Dunn. In the guest room, we found a package of Gemmies, chocolate-coated sunflower seeds in 16 brilliant colors from Gourmet Gems.

In thanks for the hospitality, we brought her family a four-jar set of Ethnic Milwaukee spices from Penzeys Spices, which includes:

Old World Seasoning (an all-purpose seasoning salt)
Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle (a garlic-cheese blend for pasta and garlic bread)
Galena Street Rub (a Southern-style rub for chicken and ribs)
Fox Point Seasoning (a mix of shallots, chives and scallions for poultry, eggs and vegetables).

We also found gifts for our niece and nephew, but I’ll save that for another post.

The Gift of Omaha Steaks

Gift Giving Guy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:35:00 +0000

With the grand opening of an Omaha Steaks store nearby, we treated ourselves to filet mignon this weekend. We selected four six-ounce beef tenderloin steaks for grilling. Omaha packages the steaks in a sturdy box for up to three months of storage in the freezer. Ideally, you allow them to defrost in the fridge overnight. Otherwise, you can defrost the vacuum-sealed steaks in cold water for 45 minutes.

I liked the easy-open packaging for each steak. The grilling instructions were also simple. Based on the steak’s 1.5 inch thickness, I grilled on high heat for nine minutes. Then I flipped the steak for another seven minutes. Finally, I took them off the grill and let the steaks “rest” a few minutes, so the juice flow to the center. Our first two steaks were juicy and delicious, served with a mustard sauce on the side.

These premium steaks make a great present to ship to your non-vegetarian giftees. To order online, visit OmahaSteaks.com or purchase from Amazon.com (not eligible for Amazon Prime shipping).

10 Gifts that Fuel Fireplaces

Gift Giving Guy — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 04:29:00 +0000

When house hunting, my wife and I had one ironclad rule: our home must have a fireplace. So it’s no surprise that a wood-burning fireplace warms the living room in our two-story colonial. I’m writing near the fireplace now, and the once roaring fire is now just glowing embers and faint crackles. The fireplace can inspire presents or host gifts to warm those cold days or nights. Here are ten of my favorite fireplace gifts.

Woodfield popcorn popper from Amazon ($34)
Canvas log carrier from Plow & Hearth ($20) with Long Cuff Fire Resistant Gloves ($20)
Newspaper fireplace brick maker from Harriet Carter ($30)
Fireside cooking irons from Plow & Hearth ($25)
Two-prong roasting forks from Plow & Hearth ($30)
Warm ash vacuum from Plow & Hearth ($230)
Wood fireplace bellows from Frontgate ($39)
Fatwood fire starters from Plow & Hearth ($13 for 10 lbs. to $36 for 35 lbs.)
Fire starter oak crate gift set from Woodland Direct ($49)
Pyreness wood block with 100 matches from Fitzsu Society ($42)

GiftTRAP: 2007 Game of the Year

Gift Giving Guy — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 06:19:00 +0000

While I have not played GiftTRAP ($37 at Amazon), I want to. And not just because the board game earned a prestigious 2007 Game of the Year award from Bruno Faidutti this month. It’s because this social game tests your gift giving savvy and intuition with people you know (three to eight players).

To start, cards are dealt at random, revealing pictures of different presents (e.g., Japanese herbal teas, a Stratocaster electric guitar, skydiving lessons, a hammock, steel drum lessons, hair extensions, a new driveway). From the ideas shown, you match gifts to other players and give them using tokens. While these gift tokens are still “wrapped,” you secretly rate the gifts you like and dislike using Great, Good, OK and No Way. Now you show the players what you wanted, then open your gifts.

If the giver matches your preferences, she scores giving points. And as a recipient, if people know want you want, you score getting points. If you do not guess gifts well, both you the giver and your recipient lose giving and getting points respectively. (“Sorry about those skydiving lessons. I didn’t know were afraid of heights!”) To win, players seek both giving and getting points to move across the board to the “Gifted” winner’s area. (Click the board game image above to enlarge it.) To advance more quickly, you can make bets on gift outcomes to earn more points (or lose points if you’re wrong). GiftTRAP looks like it could lead to laughs, stimulate great discussion and improve your gift sense.

Recipient Recommendations
This game is ideal for people who enjoy party games with close friends and family. From the GiftTRAP web site, I can see there are some racy gift idea cards in the deck (e.g., adult TV subscription). GiftTRAP comes with an envelope to hide these cards when children are playing.

4th of July Gifts

Gift Giving Guy — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:38:00 +0000

Happy Independence Day 2007! For those celebrating the Fourth by joining a barbecue with friends, consider a gift for your hosts. While guests are never obligated, a host gift shows your appreciation for their hospitality. A good bottle of wine is the simple, classic host gift. Add a bow around the neck or slip the bottle into a wine bag to complete the gift.

When giving flowers as a host gift, keeping it easy for the host is key. Festive arrangements and potted plants are ready to place. Avoid bringing fresh-cut flowers. That gift will send your host searching for a vase and scrambling to arrange flowers.

As I’m writing this entry on my patio, the park across the street from my home is still bustling with jazz music, chatter and cheers from the village-wide, post-parade celebration. My wife and I were there an hour or so ago, enjoying chocolate ice cream with neighbors.

The door bell rings. A neighbor asks if she can refill the dunk tank in the park with my water. Absolutely, I say. I direct her to the water spigot on the side of the house. So it looks like I’m giving the gift of water this Independence Day.

Erie-sistible Gifts

Gift Giving Guy — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 04:48:00 +0000

Last weekend, we visited Erie, Pennsylvania to surprise my in-laws, who were attending a 50th-year high school reunion for my father-in-law. June 2nd also marked their 45th wedding anniversary. My wife’s aunt and uncle planned a dinner, and all of the daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren secretly flew out to surprise my in-laws.

The day before we left, we had a vase of purple dendrobium orchids delivered from ProFlowers.com as a gift and a “wish we were there” decoy.

One of my sister-in-laws sent a “floral” fruit arrangement from EdibleArrangements.com with massive strawberries as roses and pineapples cut to resemble daisies. Another created a clever family photo memory DVD using Microsoft Movie Maker, which we watched after the surprise dinner.

My wife’s aunt and uncle were great hosts, offering two cook-outs in addition to the surprise dinner. While in Erie, we brainstormed thank you gifts for our hosts. Her aunt introduced us to beach combing Lake Erie for sea glass. I suggested one gift could be sea glass jewelry — that is, until we discovered her aunt now makes and sells this jewelry.

So we listened for gift hints. You would be surprised how often hints come up in everyday conversation as people describe their interests and favorite things. Her uncle recommended we try breakfast at Bob Evans restaurant, their favorite morning spot. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast there and picked up a Bob Evans gift card.

And her aunt swears by Dunkin Donuts coffee, because other coffees are just too strong. Erie doesn’t have a Dunkin Donuts, so I picked up two pounds today at the shop near work. We’ll send out the thank you package with a card tomorrow.

Gifts for Your BBQ Host

Gift Giving Guy — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:59:00 +0000

Friends fired up the grill this Memorial Day weekend and invited us to a barbecue. Of course, guests are under no obligation to bring a gift for the host/hostess — after all, “your presence is your present” — but it’s a thoughtful gesture to do so. My wife and I picked out a nice Riesling and slipped the bottle into a colorful, striped wine bag from the arts and crafts store, Michaels.

While wine is a simple, traditional host gift, my wife suggested that we add some spice, quite literally, to follow the grilling theme. Before the barbecue, we stopped at Penzey’s Spices and added three of their grilling spices to the host gift:

Our host and hostess kindly thanked us for the gift and pulled off a great event to start the summer.