Every year around this time as I’m getting to the end of my Christmas shopping list I seem to run into the same problem. There are always a few people on my list (translate: the men) that I seem to struggle finding the perfect gift for. And don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s mostly because they already have everything they want or need. They are grown men after all, and don’t really hesitate when it comes to purchasing something they need or want for themselves – and usually it’s way before the holidays approach.

My husband, Larry, definitely falls into this category (along with my dad, my grandpa and my brother).

Lucky for me, all the men (including my husband) in my family have something in common – they like to eat. I mentioned the other day that I like to make things like spice blends and other homemade food gifts to gift some of the hard to shop for men in my family, but I have to say, when my friends at Harry and David offered to send the man in my life a gift (to review) I knew he would be thrilled.

My husband’s tastes definitely fall into the meat and cheese category when it comes to food. He also loves collecting gourmet mustards and condiments to dress up that meat and cheese any time we are traveling or just visiting a specialty food store. Knowing this, and being able to send him a nice package full of everything he enjoys from Harry and David made me a happy gift giver.

Can you imagine all the glorious grilled cheese goodness that can happen with this beautiful cheese?

I know there’s always a few (translate: men) in the family that tend to linger on the holiday shopping list too long. If they like food, then most likely you’ll be able to find a sausage and cheese snack box like this one  to send. It’s something they’ll be able to enjoy snacking on throughout the holidays and even for some time after the holidays are over.

A few more gift options for him to consider:

Salmon Trio
Table Rock Turkey or Ham Buffet Gift
Holiday Founders Favorite

(This post was sponsored by Harry and David, but as always my opinions are 100% my own.)

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Most of these can be made at pretty short notice, which I like. These types of gifts are also great for friends, neighbors, teachers and co-workers. The spice blends are great gifts for those you know like to cook – just pick up inexpensive spice jars at a place like World Market for easy packaging (don’t forget a coupon!). My friend Heidi has been giving us whipped honey butter for the last couple of years and my whole family looks forward to it each time. I love the idea of packaging up a Christmas coffee blend for the coffee lovers in my life, how nice would it be to wake up to a pot of spiced coffee Christmas morning!

Hope you are inspired to make something special with some of these ideas this year. Nothing made me happier than getting a text of a picture of my brother-in-law at the grill using up the last of his bbq spice rub asking for more! 🙂

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I took this photo of my kids the other day right after they visited Santa. They were giddy, full of smiles and just plain old loving on each other. It was one of those precious moments that, as a mom, you just want to bottle up and carry with you every single day.

My heart is very full this Christmas as I share it with my family. I wish you and yours many blessings this upcoming year and hope your Christmas is full of love, laughter and the best memories ever.

Have a very merry Christmas everyone…

xoxo

Aggie

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Christmas Eve is by far my favorite meal of the year. For as long as I can remember, we have pretty much eaten mostly the same few dishes (all seafood) every single Christmas Eve and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a feast I tell you.

I didn’t really ‘know’ this until I was older, but apparently, our Christmas Eve feast is called Feast of the 7 Fishes. For all I knew, growing up, it was just what we did, what we ate on Christmas Eve…I didn’t realize it was such a cultural thing until later on. What I love, especially in food blogging world, is seeing other people celebrating Christmas Eve the same way…similar food, similar traditions. It’s pretty cool.

These pictures on this post were taken a few years back, I can’t believe I am just now blogging about it now. I am shocked it took this long…and that my kids looked like this that year…my babies!!

Sammy was huge into Transformers this year…

Gosh, I just love the belly on that baby girl…

And my sweet grandparents…one of my favorite pictures of them.

Amore!!

And of course the food…

Here we have simple shrimp cooked in lemon and wine …

 Fish Oreganata (this was my contribution a couple years back)

Steamed Mussels with wine and tomatoes (similar to Paula’s recipe here)

Chilled Seafood Salad… (similar to Gina’s Chilled Calamari Salad here)

All seafood…a total feast I tell you.

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Over the last few years, I have found myself making more and more food gifts for my family and friends for the holidays. Cookies and other sweets are usually a given but I like to get a little creative and try something different…like this homemade bbq rub and peach barbecue sauce I gave the men in my family last year.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas on any homemade holiday gifts you may have made over the years. This year I would love to make a hot sauce and bottle it up for gifts so if you have a recipe please share it with me!

I started a Homemade Foodie Gift series over at Family Kitchen where I’ll be sharing ideas for homemade gifts for the upcoming holidays. I’ll be posting a couple ideas a week for the next few weeks and have already shared this great Pumpkin Pie Spice and Cinnamon Honey Butter, if you missed those be sure to go check them out!

Have a great weekend!

The post Thinking ahead…Homemade Foodie Gifts for the Holidays appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.