Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great gifts for cold climates
Car battery jump starter
Car ice scraper/brush
Portable snow shovel for the car

Handy gifts
Set of Allen wrenches
Jeweler’s screwdriver set
Nonstandard batteries that fit smoke alarms
Multi tool that cuts through thick plastic blister packaging
Label maker
Duct tape of different colors

Random entertaining stuff that is good to have on hand, but does not occur to people to buy
pie server
cheese knives
serving tongs
big platters and serving bowls
tiny spoons and forks for charcuterie
cocktail napkins and holder
Large serving utensils
Wine chiller

these are great ideas! actually even better if in not-so-snowy climes--you never know when you might need the snow scraper!

Speaking of cheese knives, has anyone ever bought/used a butter spreader with the little holes (Williams Sonoma has one). Looks cute but wonder if it's useful and also I hate to say many people nowadays buy tubs of whatever is not actually butter...

A few years ago, I just gave up on the whole cold-butter struggle and started keeping my butter in a butter dish on the counter. (Used one of those butter bells with the water as a first half-measure, but I hated it.) I usually slice off a reasonable amount, but I’ve put out a whole stick before and taken up to a month to use it, and no problems so far. I do prefer salted butter for toast, which may factor in a little to the longevity.

My idea gift, which doesn't exist AFAIK (a company was selling them in the UK some years ago but had problems with their roll out product and stopped) is a butter keeper that keeps it spreadable in hot AND cold temps. I have an old house, the kitchen is the coldest part (luckily small, so it warms up if I'm cooking or baking and does not have eat in space). I use a DIY version of the water bell in summer (but only keep a small amount out at a time), in the winter I sometimes put on the radiator with a folded towel underneath (so it doesn'tactually melt) or else just nuke a small piece for a few seconds, but a precision butter temp maintainer thing is the single use appliance I dream of.

Can you just use one of those little zester kind of knives that make the little strips?

I'll do that with a sharp paring knife but its, what's the word?--futzy? (fussy but more so)? I still yearn for the perfect butter keeper.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my brother and his family moved into a new house I gave them flashlights and batteries. Two huge flashlights, and one for each of the kids for their bedrooms. In a weird coincidence, their power went out the night after I gave them. Thank goodness I gave batteries too!

Love this.
Any kind of random household tools and supplies.

When I'm stuck for ideas, I wander the isles of Ace Hardware.

Same here! I liked my local Ace better when you cloud still buy grass seed (several varieties) by filling paper bags from a dispenser, and when they were still selling nails and screws and such in little paper bags, but I still do like it.
Someone mentioned tool kits--I would sooner go for a kit from a hardware store, or a small toolbox and stock it with a variety. Same thing with first aid kits, the ones you buy often have stuff you don't want or need, crappy bandages, and not enough of the practical sizes of bandages.

What about an assortment of tape? Buy a nice bamboo storage box (they can use for other stuff if they want) and add in duct tape in different colors, masking, freezer, cellophane, electrical. --PS when our son was little he liked to tape his little cars and trucks together in sort of a train. We talked about, but never get around to it, giving him a box with every kind of tape we could find. I know he would have gone wild for it at that age.

Also, we built him a kid size workbench when he was 5, also mounted a small vise on it. His aunt and uncle gave him a small toolbox filled with small versions of real tools--an 8 inch crowbar, tack hammer, small screwdrivers with fat handles, and so on. So what if he put little cars in the vise and pounded them with his hammer. . . .

Anonymous wrote:Professional home deep cleaning

I am not easily offended, but this would do the trick.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great gifts for cold climates
Car battery jump starter
Car ice scraper/brush
Portable snow shovel for the car

Handy gifts
Set of Allen wrenches
Jeweler’s screwdriver set
Nonstandard batteries that fit smoke alarms
Multi tool that cuts through thick plastic blister packaging
Label maker
Duct tape of different colors

Random entertaining stuff that is good to have on hand, but does not occur to people to buy
pie server
cheese knives
serving tongs
big platters and serving bowls
tiny spoons and forks for charcuterie
cocktail napkins and holder
Large serving utensils
Wine chiller

these are great ideas! actually even better if in not-so-snowy climes--you never know when you might need the snow scraper!

Speaking of cheese knives, has anyone ever bought/used a butter spreader with the little holes (Williams Sonoma has one). Looks cute but wonder if it's useful and also I hate to say many people nowadays buy tubs of whatever is not actually butter...

A few years ago, I just gave up on the whole cold-butter struggle and started keeping my butter in a butter dish on the counter. (Used one of those butter bells with the water as a first half-measure, but I hated it.) I usually slice off a reasonable amount, but I’ve put out a whole stick before and taken up to a month to use it, and no problems so far. I do prefer salted butter for toast, which may factor in a little to the longevity.

My idea gift, which doesn't exist AFAIK (a company was selling them in the UK some years ago but had problems with their roll out product and stopped) is a butter keeper that keeps it spreadable in hot AND cold temps. I have an old house, the kitchen is the coldest part (luckily small, so it warms up if I'm cooking or baking and does not have eat in space). I use a DIY version of the water bell in summer (but only keep a small amount out at a time), in the winter I sometimes put on the radiator with a folded towel underneath (so it doesn'tactually melt) or else just nuke a small piece for a few seconds, but a precision butter temp maintainer thing is the single use appliance I dream of.

Can you just use one of those little zester kind of knives that make the little strips?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great gifts for cold climates
Car battery jump starter
Car ice scraper/brush
Portable snow shovel for the car

Handy gifts
Set of Allen wrenches
Jeweler’s screwdriver set
Nonstandard batteries that fit smoke alarms
Multi tool that cuts through thick plastic blister packaging
Label maker
Duct tape of different colors

Random entertaining stuff that is good to have on hand, but does not occur to people to buy
pie server
cheese knives
serving tongs
big platters and serving bowls
tiny spoons and forks for charcuterie
cocktail napkins and holder
Large serving utensils
Wine chiller

these are great ideas! actually even better if in not-so-snowy climes--you never know when you might need the snow scraper!

Speaking of cheese knives, has anyone ever bought/used a butter spreader with the little holes (Williams Sonoma has one). Looks cute but wonder if it's useful and also I hate to say many people nowadays buy tubs of whatever is not actually butter...

A few years ago, I just gave up on the whole cold-butter struggle and started keeping my butter in a butter dish on the counter. (Used one of those butter bells with the water as a first half-measure, but I hated it.) I usually slice off a reasonable amount, but I’ve put out a whole stick before and taken up to a month to use it, and no problems so far. I do prefer salted butter for toast, which may factor in a little to the longevity.

My idea gift, which doesn't exist AFAIK (a company was selling them in the UK some years ago but had problems with their roll out product and stopped) is a butter keeper that keeps it spreadable in hot AND cold temps. I have an old house, the kitchen is the coldest part (luckily small, so it warms up if I'm cooking or baking and does not have eat in space). I use a DIY version of the water bell in summer (but only keep a small amount out at a time), in the winter I sometimes put on the radiator with a folded towel underneath (so it doesn'tactually melt) or else just nuke a small piece for a few seconds, but a precision butter temp maintainer thing is the single use appliance I dream of.