Last-minute gifts

One last post before I take a little break over Christmas!

I’m trying to get my last-minute Christmas shopping done, and although I find it easy to buy for my neices and nephew, it’s much more difficult to sort out the grown-ups in my life! Like me, they don’t really need much in the way of new things, but we all like giving and receiving gifts as a way to show our love for each other.

One way to deal with this is to give consumable gifts: things that people can eat, drink and be merry with, but don’t hang around the house gathering dust the way a trinket would. Here’s my favourites:

• organic, Fair Trade chocolates – can be sticky in the Aussie heat though!
• organic wine – white wine usually goes well in summer, when we want chilled drinks, but Tarrango (chilled red) or champagne for New Year’s Eve can be popular too
• homemade biscuits – good old Anzacs, or something more fancy if you like
• infused vodka – vanilla vodka, chilli vodka or something similar for the people in your life who enjoy interesting cocktails
• fresh veg from the garden – tie a ribbon around a punnet of tomatoes, green beans or a few ears of corn
• cheeses – wrap them with some nice crackers and a fruit paste (or homegrown fruit), skip the cheese knife or platter (since most people who like cheese already have these)
• flavoured olive oils and vineagars – local and organic is best!

What do you like to do in these situations?