Paper Doll’s Holiday Gift List: Warm Their Hearts and Fill Their Tummies
Happy almost-holidays. Maybe you forgot to get someone a gift for Hanukkah. (It’s been over for a week.) Perhaps you’re still trying to figure out what to get that special someone for Christmas. Either way, it’s the middle of December, and while some things are easily delivered by Santa’s elves at UPS, other orders seem to be flummoxed by the global supply chain troubles. (FYI, though, that cream cheese shortage that filled the news last week? Turns out cyberattacks and not worker shortages or cargo ship kerfuffles played the major role.)
Last week, we looked at Paper Doll’s Holiday Gift List: The Useful and the Beautiful. Those were tangible but clutter-free (or clutter-reducing) options. Maybe it warmed you up to look beyond tangible gifts that have to be wrapped, dusted or dry-cleaned, and carefully stored.
Are you ready to think bigger (no, not in terms of gift box sizes) and brighter? How about gifts that make people’s lives better and bolder without fear of generating clutter?
Today, we’re looking at holiday gifts your loved ones can enjoy all year. These gifts can help warm their hearts (and the hearts of their family members) and fill their stomachs.
GIFTS OF FAMILY LEGACY
How much do you know about your family history? Do you think your friends and family members are curious (or might become curious) about theirs? After interviewing my colleagues for Paper Doll Interviews the Genealogy Organizers earlier this year, I found many readers and clients were intrigued about how they could learn more about who they “are” — genealogically as well as genetically.
If family history appeals to your gift recipients, you can definitely hire the services of a professional genealogist. If your loved ones like doing the DIY thing but are drowning in research and need to make sense of it, be sure to follow the links in the post above, to get to know some genealogical organizers (like Jennifer Lava, Janine Adams, and Hazel Thornton, whom I interviewed for the above post).
For other holiday gifts for those into the whole family legacy experience, consider these options:
AncestryDNA family kits — I jokingly call these “spit and polish” because you start by sending back a small sample of your saliva and then you get to see the sparkly silver and gold of your family history. Ancestry combines information from millions of people in the AncestryDNA network with billions of distinct historical records and millions of family trees.
Once the DNA is processed and you set up an account, you get to log in, learn (and maybe be surprised by) your ethnic background, find relatives you didn’t know you had, build your family tree, and more. Buy someone a test kit, and once they’re in the system, you could also give a gift membership for a deeper dive into genealogy. Until the end of the year, Ancestry is running a 30%-off sale for 6- and 12-month memberships at the US, World, and All-Access levels.
Ancestry’s not the only game in town, of course. If the personalized reports about genetic traits are more interesting to you than the ethnic and geographic history, there’s 23andMe, which has kits for a Health & Ancestry Service as well as an Ancestry & Traits Service.
What if “pedigree charts” and family trees just don’t excite you, but you do want to know more about the rich tapestry of the lives of people you love? Maybe your recipients would like a fun way to collect and preserve family stories? But saying, “Grandma, tell me about your life growing up” usually leads to hearing the same set of stories over and over, or an exasperated Grandma, frustrated with the vague question, mildly cursing you in the language of the Old Country.
Storyworth is a subscription-based service designed to provide a weekly email prompt, asking loved ones questions about their lives. Storyworth has a database of “tell me about your life” prompts from which you can select questions, or you can provide your own. At the end of the year, all of those responses to the prompts are bound into a book!
A standard package includes a year’s worth of story prompts to help you interview one “storyteller,” access for an unlimited number of recipients (the people with whom the storyteller gets to share the stories via email), and one 6″ x 9″ hardcover book with a black & white interior and a full color cover. (You can order extra books for an additional cost. You can’t do any formatting, but books can include photos.)
A package normally runs $99 for the year, but Storyworth is offering a $10 discount right now.
Maybe your recipient has a lot of family photos but no clue about what’s going on in them and now way to figure out how to weave a legacy from snapshots and snippets of memories? In that case, check out Hazel Thornton’s new What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy.
Hazel offers up warm, wise advice, from how you can tell family stories to making sure you leave a legacy rather than a burden of photo and genealogical clutter. Her guidance will inspire you to solve photo mysteries and investigate family histories (and tell them from counterfactual bubba meisas, Yiddish for “grandmothers’ tales”).
The book works on three levels: low effort (what she calls, “Do this, if nothing else.”), medium effort (“Your family will thank you.”), and high effort (but with suggestions for asking for help if you need it), and is available in paperback and for Kindle. Rather than a step by step genealogical guide that would likely overwhelm you, it’s more like having a good friend anticipate your concerns and walk you through how to create your family legacy (at any of those three levels) without losing your mind.
And if your recipients already know all about their family history or don’t care as much about it as as they do about the family pup? There’s always Embark Dog DNA Test.
As with the human tests, you get a saliva/swab kit to send in to Embark, and they’ll evaluate it for 220,000 genetic markers. (Who knew doggies had so much going on?) Embark claims to be the most advanced dog DNA test on the market — not that I knew there were any — and while I’m always dubious of companies calling themselves “the best,” Embark is affiliated with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and I am a Cornellian. (So…Go Big Red!)
There are different test types, including ones for breed identification and health, a purebred kit (with elements for family and health), and a breed ID kit for tracking your doggie’s family tree. Kits are regularly $129-$199, but right now you can save $50 with the code HARK.
Is your year feeling warmer already?
FOOD AND DINING GIFTS
Your family history sometimes determines the foods you most often eat, so with that, we turn to gives of food. Yes, these kinds of gifts are tangible, but assuming they like what you send, your recipients won’t have to dust or dry clean it, won’t have to vacuum around it, or and won’t have to worry about storing it. For gifts of food consumables to make your recipient’s heart sing (and tummy stop rumbling), read on.
Let’s start with restaurants. Last year, those were (if you’ll pardon the pun) mostly off the table, but if they’re vaxxed and boosted, your recipients may be venturing out to restaurants. Imagine how much more they’d enjoy dining if you picked up the tab!
Just about every supermarket and “big box” store has a display of gift cards for chain restaurants from Applebee’s to the Cheesecake Factory, Dunkin’ Donuts to PF Chang’s, or you can Google the restaurant chain and order a card online. If you know your giftee loves a particular restaurant chain, you’re all set. (Maybe they’ll even invite you along!)
But I encourage you to think about buying a gift certificate from a local restaurant or coffee house rather than a chain. Family-run and local restaurants have really struggled during the pandemic, and supporting them means supporting your community and the people who live and work there.
Yes, it might take an extra step to check their website for how to buy a gift certificate. (If they don’t have anything listed, try calling in the mid-afternoon, between the lunch and dinner rushes, and ask how you can buy one. Almost all restaurant owners, even if they don’t have a formal certificate program, are happy to create something if it brings a diner through the door.)
You can also buy delivery service for food. Let’s say you’re getting a gift for your spouse’s Great Aunt Tilly. You don’t know her food tastes, but you’ve been informed she’s gotten handy with the restaurant-ordering apps. Consider a gift card for Door Dash, Grub Hub, or Uber Eats. Tilly can have a festival of favorite flavors, and neither of you will have had to leave your house to make any of it happen!
Perhaps you want to get more specific with the kind of food you send? The internet will give you access to a bevy of options for one-time or subscription food gifts for almost every culinary type you can imagine.
Paper Mommy has super-helpful neighbors; she gets them an annual gift of Omaha Steaks. My sister was missing home and gifted herself (via Goldbelly, which lets you search by city and ship local restaurant delights to anywhere in the country) a Buffalo-based meal. From Anderson’s, a suburban Buffalo favorite, she ordered Beef on Weck (roast beef on a kimmelweck rolls) and frozen custard.
Speaking of Goldbelly, you can shop through their gift guide, pick a city or a region of the country (so, North Carolina BBQ or Maine lobsters), or search for specific foods. (Paper Doll often searches for gifts of cheese and of bagels. Because I really love cheese. And bagels.)
Some other fabulous food provider options (which you can buy directly from their sites or, often, from Goldbelly), whether you’re selecting a one-time gift or a subscription, include:
Zingerman’s — breads, pastries, meats, fish, cheeses, and all variety of deliciousness
Russ & Daughters —traditional New York deli selections
Harry & David — fruits, nuts, cheeses, cookies, gift baskets, as well as flowers and plants
American Spoon — artisanal preserves, fruits, nut butters and snacks
Eataly — Got a gourmet on your list? From truffles, meat, and caviar to cheeses and sweets, this place is seriously fancy-pants!
Know a great home cook but puzzling as to what kind of food to get them? How about a gift of ingredients, like spices from Penzeys, a collection of East Asian pantry staples from UmamiCart, or hot sauce gift boxes from Fuegobox?
Still not enough ideas? Check out The Kitchn’s whole other WOW of offerings in their 32 Food Gifts for 2021 (Perfect for Anyone Who Loves to Eat). I hadn’t even made it all the way through that foodie list when a sidebar for their 20 Gifts for Cheese Lovers caught my eye, and I’ve been busy coveting this Petite Sustainable Cheese Storage Vault from Goldune!
Yes, it’s tangible, but it’s for CHEESE!
Today’s gift suggestions should warm the cockles* of your recipient’s legacy-leaning hearts and fill their ravenous bellies. These need a little lead time if you want something to arrive by the 25th. However, our final installment, next week, is full of options that you can order almost at the last minute, because they’ll be experiences your giftees can enjoy after the holidays and onward through 2022.
*Oh, and cockles? Did you know those are the ventricles of the heart? These could be the kinds of things your recipients will learn next week, as a result of gifts I’ll tell you about in the section on gifts of learning. We’ll also look at gifts of entertainment, adventure, and more. See you next time!
Paper Doll Post:
I love gifts that are edible. =) Thanks for sharing gift ideas.
I should have known better than to write this on an empty stomach. 😉
It warms my heart for my new book to have made its way to a Paper Doll Holiday Gift List! I’m so glad you liked it, Julie. And so many other great and yummy ideas here, too!
Awwww, I’m happy to share your brilliance with readers. Legacy-related gifts is a new holiday gift category for me, but once I thought of it, I knew you’d have to take the stage.
These are all so great, and nice to see Hazel’s book featured here!
I think gifts of food almost always go over well. They also make nice hostess gifts, especially if you are staying overnight.
I received a box from my cousin from LLBean called a “breakfast box.” Came with two flavors of pancake mix, “real” maple syrup and blueberry jam. So fun!
Oooh, that breakfast box is a KIT. Anything sounds more gift-like when it’s a kit! Thanks for reading (and yes, Hazel’s book is fabulous and deserves lots of press)!
This post reminded me of how my dad, in his later years, always got me to order Harry and David for other members of the family – he never owned a computer and couldn’t hear well, so I made the choices and arranged for things to be sent on his behalf. He always said, “And be sure to get yourself a little something!” I kind of miss my “little something” from Dad/Harry and David – might just go order it for myself :). Anyway, everyone always appreciated the gift.
Really great post here, Julie, as always. And now I know what cockles are!
Oh, Sara, yes. Your dad definitely wants you to get yourself a little something from Harry & David. Maybe even a something-of-the-month to brighten the winter season.
I’m glad I could warm the cockles of your heart! 😉
I love to receive a restaurant gift card, so great idea, and buying local is even better. I love Penzy Spices. They even have a retail store in my area. I don’t go often because I spend too much when I do go.
I don’t really cook, so I rarely buy spices except for really ordinary ones (salt, pepper, garlic powder, dill weed), but when I look at the Penzey’s site, I get serious spice envy! I find it cool that they have so many sample bags.
I like restaurant gift cards, too; I’m still waiting to use some I got pre-pandemic!
Oh, Julie! I know you warned us not to read this if you were hungry. And honestly, I did finish my snack. But somehow, now I can’t get thoughts of Russ & Daughters smoked salmon out of my mind. You might think, what’s so great about their lox? That’s what I thought until I tried it. It’s amazing!
Anyway, I digress. What an incredible collection of gifts! I heard about the cream cheese shortage, which must have happened AFTER I bought a container of cream cheese. Yikes! But just yesterday, our favorite bread (Dave’s) was nowhere to be seen. What will be next?
I’m cracking up about the doggie DNA testing. The other day when Steve and I walked in the woods, we passed an owner with his dog. He said something about “waiting for the results” to see about his dog’s background. I didn’t really understand what he meant, but now I know. What a great gift for a dog owner who wants to be in the know!
And lastly, you mentioned American Spoon. My dad LOVED to order from there. His favorite was the Sour Cherry preserves. He ordered in bulk. So when I’d visit, he’d gift me with a jar. He’s been gone for many years. But guess what? I keep it stocked in my pantry and gift it to those that want a jar. The Sour Cherry is DELICIOUS. And it always makes me think of my dad.
Linda, I learned about American Spoon from you! I’m not a preserves person, but you spoke so glowingly about it one year that I just had to be sure to add it. And though I’ve never had Russ & Daughter’s lox, it sure is photogenic! (There are no “real” bagels here; I have to go to Atlanta when I want a real lox & schmear. I sometimes joke that since other sites use “buy me a coffee” I should put a “buy me a bagel” tip jar on the blog. 😉
Thanks for the kind words about the post. There’s one more holiday one, and then it’s all about looking forward to next year!