Something to try for those that may be thinking of Christmas gifts....

While placing my order for just five things I'm out of, I thought about
a soon to be family member that's a learning chef. He's recently moved
into his own place and often runs to prospective mother-in-law to
snatch bits of spicesseasonings/herbs for his infrequent home cooking.
I checked out all of the gift packs. and saw the pack-it-yourself boxes
designed to hold eight 1/2 cup bottles offered. So I started a list
that could somewhat give him all of the kitchen basics, instead of too
much that he would not care about. While doing this I decided the 1/4
cup sizes would be best for two reasons: he could retain best
freshness by the smaller sizes needing replacement more often, and I
could also gift-pack two per one for a wider selection, instead of just
the eight half-cuppers per the two boxes I'll pack myself.

What fun! I called his bride-to-be for her advice on what I'd picked,
as to what he probably may not care about or use, and ended up with 5
half-cups and 22 quarter-cuppers, plus the "Pepper Lovers" three
half-cup set with the smaller pepper mill included. Overall I spent a
good deal less than the "21 (1/2 cup) Piece American Kitchen" plus the
Pepper Lovers would have been, and he'll have a very usable, good
starter set that we are sure he'll love being surprised with.

....Picky

PickyJaz wrote:
> Something to try for those that may be thinking of Christmas gifts....
>
> While placing my order for just five things I'm out of, I thought about
> a soon to be family member that's a learning chef. He's recently moved
> into his own place and often runs to prospective mother-in-law to
> snatch bits of spicesseasonings/herbs for his infrequent home cooking.
> I checked out all of the gift packs. and saw the pack-it-yourself boxes
> designed to hold eight 1/2 cup bottles offered. So I started a list
> that could somewhat give him all of the kitchen basics, instead of too
> much that he would not care about. While doing this I decided the 1/4
> cup sizes would be best for two reasons: he could retain best
> freshness by the smaller sizes needing replacement more often, and I
> could also gift-pack two per one for a wider selection, instead of just
> the eight half-cuppers per the two boxes I'll pack myself.
>
> What fun! I called his bride-to-be for her advice on what I'd picked,
> as to what he probably may not care about or use, and ended up with 5
> half-cups and 22 quarter-cuppers, plus the "Pepper Lovers" three
> half-cup set with the smaller pepper mill included. Overall I spent a
> good deal less than the "21 (1/2 cup) Piece American Kitchen" plus the
> Pepper Lovers would have been, and he'll have a very usable, good
> starter set that we are sure he'll love being surprised with.
>
> ...Picky
Hi- I received the Mexican set of 8 for Xmas last year, and had never
used Penzeys before- what a difference. That is a very thoughtful gift,
and I'm sure it will be much appreciated

PickyJaz wrote:

> While placing my order for just five things I'm out of, I thought about
> a soon to be family member that's a learning chef. He's recently moved
> into his own place and often runs to prospective mother-in-law to
> snatch bits of spicesseasonings/herbs for his infrequent home cooking.
> I checked out all of the gift packs. and saw the pack-it-yourself boxes
> designed to hold eight 1/2 cup bottles offered. So I started a list
> that could somewhat give him all of the kitchen basics, instead of too
> much that he would not care about. While doing this I decided the 1/4
> cup sizes would be best for two reasons: he could retain best
> freshness by the smaller sizes needing replacement more often, and I
> could also gift-pack two per one for a wider selection, instead of just
> the eight half-cuppers per the two boxes I'll pack myself.
>
> What fun!

I did the same thing for a newly divorced woman who moved out without
any of her kitchen things. I felt like she wouldn't be cooking so much
that it warranted the larger sizes, yet might want and need a decent
assortment of spices at hand. It was a lot of fun to shop the catalog
and pick all the spices out.

PickyJaz wrote:
> Something to try for those that may be thinking of Christmas gifts....
>
> While placing my order for just five things I'm out of, I thought
> about a soon to be family member that's a learning chef. He's
> recently moved into his own place and often runs to prospective
> mother-in-law to snatch bits of spicesseasonings/herbs for his
> infrequent home cooking. I checked out all of the gift packs. and saw
> the pack-it-yourself boxes designed to hold eight 1/2 cup bottles
> offered. So I started a list that could somewhat give him all of the
> kitchen basics, instead of too much that he would not care about.
> While doing this I decided the 1/4 cup sizes would be best for two
> reasons: he could retain best freshness by the smaller sizes needing
> replacement more often, and I could also gift-pack two per one for a
> wider selection, instead of just the eight half-cuppers per the two
> boxes I'll pack myself.
>
> What fun! I called his bride-to-be for her advice on what I'd picked,
> as to what he probably may not care about or use, and ended up with 5
> half-cups and 22 quarter-cuppers, plus the "Pepper Lovers" three
> half-cup set with the smaller pepper mill included. Overall I spent a
> good deal less than the "21 (1/2 cup) Piece American Kitchen" plus the
> Pepper Lovers would have been, and he'll have a very usable, good
> starter set that we are sure he'll love being surprised with.
>
> ...Picky

Just how do you think I wound up with most of my Penzey's herbs and spices?
I was ordering gift boxes for my family and found I had to have some for
myself! LOL It was made even better when they opened one in Germantown, TN
and I could actually go in and sniff the stuff for myself! By then I
already had a nice stock of herbs but I needed some refills so at least I
was focused, otherwise I'd have taken home the entire store

Jill