food gift ideas

[dfunk98]

my grandparents are elderly and do not leave the house much. in previous years, we have given the git certificates for restaurants for the holidays. last year, i wanted to make them some different types of foods they could freeze or something and eat later on. my mother discouraged me from doing this. this year i am determined!! things i have made and sent to them in the past, that they have enjoyed have been:
*red lentil soup
*blueberry bread
*muffins

many more, but i'm drawing a blank. a few specifics-they are italian, so pretty much any italian food is out, since grandma can cook me under the table any day, they cannot have anything spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg or oregano. and i try to stay away from things that are too sweet, bc my grandmother is borderline diabetic. oh-and i'm vegetarian, so i don't cook anything with meat

ok, so that's it. any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

[ollyoxenfree]

A lot of my food gifts are sweet, so I don't have a lot of suggestions. My first thought was candied orange peel because its festive but it has a lot of sugar.

I like to make spiced mixed nuts with cashews, almonds and pecans. My recipe uses cinnamon so I won't offer it, but there are savoury recipes for curried or BBQ or rosemary herbed nuts.

They may also like some preserves too eg. relish or salsas or sauces that they can use to dress up meals.

For meals, how about a variety of soups? Lentil sounds wonderful. You can try vegetarian chili, chickpea stew, butternut squash soup, whatever they might enjoy... You could also make some seed crackers to go along with them.

[Sol_y_Paz]

Soups are nice. You could always make some corn bread, biscuits, or some other type of bread to go along with the soup to round out the meal.

[Caryliz]

I think this is a great idea! I second the idea of soups, especially if you pack them in small portions so they can heat only as much as they need.

Quick breads are also lovely. I use very little sugar in mine (though there is usually *some*) and although I know nothing about cooking for diabetics I'm sure if you read through some guidelines you could easily modify your recipes accordingly. Also, I've found that baking quick breads in little pans (half-loaf size) makes for great gfts. MY ILs are Italian, and DH's entire extended family is, though loaded with good cooks, constantly impressed at my ability to turn out baked goods. (I think this is because in the Italian tradition, at least in terms of DH's family, baked goods are pastries and they come from a bakery. For the most part, people don't bake them at home.) I gave my MIL some frozen quick breads once with the instructions to just take one out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge, and then put it out on the counter before she left for novena, and it would be ready for her coffee when she got home from church. Well, I don't believe anything I have ever done, including produce her first grandchildren, has impressed her as much! LOL.

Also wanted to add that MIL and her friends seem to prefer the less-sweet quickbreads...your grandparents may be much the same way, if they are from a really traditional background.