Gee Thanks... holiday gift no-no's

[Walt34]

How about a life-size ceramic armadillo? I'd have been happier if that one had been left at the store.

Better than that was the life-size ceramic cobra, coiled and ready to strike, that I was given. Once the initial surprise was over it did look kinda cool.

I put it in a kitchen cabinet to surprise guests. At least until I got married and then DW wanted it out of there. Women have no sense of humor.

 

[gettingthere]

Cobra definitely trumps armadillo!

 

[Amethyst]

She put so much booze in that fruitcake that I think it was the main ingredient! I think she put a lot of rum in it. That, plus imported candied fruits of dozens of kinds and in all sorts of pretty colors, but they didn't seem to go with the booze.

There, that could have been the problem--the colored fruitoids. Even I think the green and yellow ones taste weird My fruitcake is modeled after the ones the Trappist monks sell by mail for around $40. Made out of dried apricots, raisins, cherries and pecans, home-candied orange and lemon peel, a little butter and flour, lots of spices, and plenty of good brandy. Rum, I consider a bit harsh, but brandy is basically fermented rotten fruit, so it goes great

Those who like it, consider it a very desirable gift and ask for it every year. The diehard "fruitcake-haters" on the other hand, probably wouldn't even taste it. I wouldn't waste any of my handmade gifts on people who won't appreciate them. I knew a lady who made a gorgeous patchwork bedspread for her son and daughter-in-law, and the next time she saw her quilt, it was on the back seat of their pickup truck with their dog sleeping on it. If she'd given me that quilt, I would have treasured it.

Seems to me that's the trouble behind bad gifting--not getting to know the recipient well enough to understand what they'd really like.
Odd as it may seem, I know someone who enjoys collecting Chia pets, and would probably like the ceramic armadillo (no, please don't send it to me so I can give it to them ).
Not sure I know anybody who'd want a scale that will announce their weight on Twitter. Then again, we have many respectable Forum members who share their weekly weight loss and gain, so who knows.

A.

 

[Orchidflower]

Amethyst: I'd sure like that recipe or where to get it. I love a good fruitcake myself...and the more booze the better.
My mother used to make one with Vanilla Wafers by Nabisco and butter, fruit and nuts and brandy (I think or rum?). It was THE best ever.

 

[FinanceDude]

Years ago we had a holiday party and one of my friends was unhappy with her gift . It was a chandelier and pretty ugly . Well since the party was at my house I gave her my present and kept the ugly chandelier . It would then show up at all the following parties as a gift .Sometimes embellished . We got a lot of fun out of that present . I still chuckle at the memory !

I wanna party with you.........

 

[FinanceDude]

There, that could have been the problem--the colored fruitoids. Even I think the green and yellow ones taste weird My fruitcake is modeled after the ones the Trappist monks sell by mail for around $40. Made out of dried apricots, raisins, cherries and pecans, home-candied orange and lemon peel, a little butter and flour, lots of spices, and plenty of good brandy. Rum, I consider a bit harsh, but brandy is basically fermented rotten fruit, so it goes great

Those who like it, consider it a very desirable gift and ask for it every year. The diehard "fruitcake-haters" on the other hand, probably wouldn't even taste it. I wouldn't waste any of my handmade gifts on people who won't appreciate them. I knew a lady who made a gorgeous patchwork bedspread for her son and daughter-in-law, and the next time she saw her quilt, it was on the back seat of their pickup truck with their dog sleeping on it. If she'd given me that quilt, I would have treasured it.

Seems to me that's the trouble behind bad gifting--not getting to know the recipient well enough to understand what they'd really like.
Odd as it may seem, I know someone who enjoys collecting Chia pets, and would probably like the ceramic armadillo (no, please don't send it to me so I can give it to them ).
Not sure I know anybody who'd want a scale that will announce their weight on Twitter. Then again, we have many respectable Forum members who share their weekly weight loss and gain, so who knows.

A.

Never got into the fruitcake thing. My mom makes wicked brandied fruit though, in a glass jar on the counter. It would ferment over time and she would add brandy and sugar to it over a period of several weeks, and then when it was done serve it over ice cream and stuff. My parents were in good moods all the time until the brandied fruit ran out....so us kids would wait for the holiday times to ask for things that my parents would say no to any other time of the year..........

 

[Amethyst]

Amethyst: I'd sure like that recipe or where to get it. I love a good fruitcake myself...and the more booze the better..

I'll PM you so this doesn't turn into a recipe threadjack

 

[freebird5825]

Gentlemen..and I use that term loosely ..the mother of all unwanted xmas gifts...NEVER EVER buy your missus a vacuum cleaner or iron for xmas.

 

[calmloki]

Many years ago i went with a food processor that had bin-filling clattering piles of plastic containers and grater blades and pushers and knife blades and spout thingies and salad squirters and juicer centrifuges and such. it has been referred to off and on over the decades. won't do that again! this year i'm going with a tasteful stainless pressure cooker. To paraphrase, I'm a man, I can learn. if I have too. I guess.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Speaking of gifts and fruitcakes...read Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory". I think of Aunt Sook every time I take a bite of fruitcake. My favorite Christmas story is O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi". I can't keep a dry eye whenever I read it and it has everything to do with what is most important in any relationship. I think a beautifully bound copy would make an excellent wedding gift. But that's the librarian in me speaking.

 

[Rambler]

Gentlemen..and I use that term loosely ..the mother of all unwanted xmas gifts...NEVER EVER buy your missus a vacuum cleaner or iron for xmas.

DW has been asking for a Roomba for Christmas...thats a vacuum robot. Still a bad idea?

R

 

[Orchidflower]

Our old housekeeper got a shiny, new super-vacuum for Xmas one year. From her husband. Who stays home. And sits on his can. While she works like a dog. (My mother and I thought she was dumb to be happy about it as a "gift." But she would never catch on, so....happy she is.)

Rambler: I'd like a Roomba myself, so, yeah, I should think DW would love it for Xmas. Little different than the above posted.

 

[ERD50]

DW has been asking for a Roomba for Christmas...thats a vacuum robot. Still a bad idea?

R

You might want to search the forum, or check other reviews. We got one (gift), worse than useless IMO. Entertaining for 32 seconds, never used after that. I assume DW gave it to Good Will or something, don't know.

The instructions even tell you to occasionally vacuum the rug with a regular vacuum as the Roomba does not do a 'deep clean'. Great.

I can sweep the floor in less time than it takes to get that thing out, set up the barriers, and clear the room of stuff that makes it stop or get hung up.

Maybe some people like it for specific uses, but in general I think it is a huge waste of resources.


-ERD50

 

[Moemg]

DW has been asking for a Roomba for Christmas...thats a vacuum robot. Still a bad idea?

R

If she wants one it is a good idea but just to be sure I'd add a bottle of her favorite perfume or some jewelry .

 

[ls99]

DW's large family likes to do Chinese auctions. One year I had no idea what to put in there. One of her sisters said, of all the wild stuff you have in your workshop and office surely there is something you can come up with.

Ergo, the original 8 bit video board from my first XT computer. Wrapped finely and decorated with a nice ribbon.

The look of disgust on that same sisters face when she picked it out of the pile at random, priceless.

She held it up high between two fingers, with the proper disdain as only women can do, for all to see. The laughter went on for a good bit of time. Some actually had to ask, what is that thing?

Needless to say I got it back may years later as a stocking stuffer. This after it went around a few times in the clan.

Not to be outdone, DW painted the ICs pretty colors, painted some Xmas motifs in pretty colors, we had it framed. It is now hanging on the wall in the sister's home's bar.

The story as told by her DH is enough to have everyone rolling on the floor.

 

[Meadbh]

Many years ago i went with a food processor that had bin-filling clattering piles of plastic containers and grater blades and pushers and knife blades and spout thingies and salad squirters and juicer centrifuges and such. it has been referred to off and on over the decades. won't do that again! this year i'm going with a tasteful stainless pressure cooker. To paraphrase, I'm a man, I can learn. if I have too. I guess.

For some women, any household appliance is a no-no.

 

[vicente solano]

For some women, any household appliance is a no-no.

For most of men, too

 

[bbbamI]

DW has been asking for a Roomba for Christmas...thats a vacuum robot. Still a bad idea?

R

After bookoo years of marriage (like yours truly), gift ideas can start running thin. I think it's fine if an appliance/tool is purchased for Christmas if it is requested.

One year I mentioned a Dremmel and I got one. I love it! There are plenty of other occasions to get the sparkly stuff...birthday, anniversary and Valentine's Day.............

 

[Amethyst]

Gentlemen..NEVER EVER buy your missus a vacuum cleaner for xmas.

It's one gift that really sucks!

Meanwhile...several people have PM'd me for my fruitcake recipe, and one member would like to know how to make candied fruit peel. I'm delighted to find others out there who appreciate a good fruitcake!

The recipe is rather long, so when I've typed it up, I'll post to the ER Cookbook.

Candied fruit peel instructions abound on the Web - here is one:
http://www.villageharvest.org/documents/Candied Citrus Peel.pdf
Note: Be sure to remove as much of the white inside pith from the peel as possible, as it is bitter-tasting. We have to make the candied peel just before the fruitcake, because otherwise we'd eat it all up. Yum!

(The fruitcake in the Truman Capote Christmas story was made with whiskey, which I personally dislike. But you can use whatever poison you prefer )

A.

 

[Amethyst]

Many years ago i went with a food processor that had bin-filling clattering piles of plastic containers and grater blades and pushers and knife blades and spout thingies and salad squirters and juicer centrifuges and such. it has been referred to off and on over the decades. won't do that again! this year i'm going with a tasteful stainless pressure cooker. To paraphrase, I'm a man, I can learn. if I have too. I guess.

Calmloki, I think we must have bought the same overhyped monstrosity. It was used once and put away forever, in favor of a set of top-quality chef's knives. Moral: Never buy yourself, or anyone else, any appliance that requires you to watch a one-hour video before you can use it, or one that has many highly lose-able essential parts.

(Please note that none of the above problems applies to jewelry, and in addition, jewelry does not suck )

Amethyst

 

[Rambler]

If she wants one it is a good idea but just to be sure I'd add a bottle of her favorite perfume or some jewelry .

For good measure I'm adding both...a necklace from Tiffany's she's been looking at, and one of her fave perfumes (and trying to help stimulate the economy at the same time...)

R

 

[REWahoo]

I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure out what to get DW. What do you buy for a woman who already has me?

 

[ls99]

Try for Jack Bennie's and Gisele MacKenzie's violins.

 

[Walt34]

Plastic pink flamingos with wire legs to plant in the front yard.

Glass reflective balls with a stand.

Painted used car tire cut in half to use as a planter.

 

[REWahoo]

Plastic pink flamingos with wire legs to plant in the front yard.

Glass reflective balls with a stand.

Thanks, but she thinks things like that are tacky.

Painted used car tire cut in half to use as a planter.

Hey, you might be on to something. I gave her a planter last year and she seemed to really like it: