Kathy said around mid-morning on November 10, 2007

I thought I’d repost some of the other gift ideas I got from the comments on this post.  Hey, it’s Saturday, I have house guests and this is all I got at the moment.  But, these are good and useful suggestions that steer clear of the boring Starbucks card lame idea I suggested.  Although I stick to my guns on that as a good gift.  I’d want one....  Anyway, without further adieu:

Bren suggested Uncommongoods.com.  I have to agree they have some funny stuff, and some weird stuff but if you’re shopping for that person who has everything, this is a good one to keep up your sleeve.

Trish had this great idea (and deal) she found at Dale & Thomas.  I’ll just paste in what she said so you can get the deal too:

"They have a popcorn sampler for $28 and you can actually choose the shipping date if you want to send it as a gift.  There’s a free shipping code of E11X5S1T.  When you sign up, join their pop club and you get 75 free points and with your first order (which ends up being $8 for the sampler), you get enough points to get $5 off your next order, which then ends up being $3.  So, for $11, you get two of the gourmet popcorn samplers and it sounds like some pretty good flavors.”

Thanks Trish! I am doing this for my neighbors this year instead of chocolate.

Geeky is putting out (*snicker*) and 2008 Nature Photography calendar that I think is perfect.  I am notorious for forgetting to get a new calendar for the next year and then wait too long and go without one for the first 4 months of the next year.  I love calendars as gifts.  Watch her site for details on where to buy hers.  And believe me when I say her photos are ridiculously gorgeous.  I am going to snatch a couple up for myself and for my parents and my grandmother.

And finally, Witchypoo was so kind as to share her recipe for English Toffee which sounds irresistibly good.  I am totally making it.

Recipe for English Toffee:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (darker is better)
1 lb butter (salted works best here) Please, no margarine, you will taste the difference.
1 cup of sliced, lightly toasted almonds. (Takes 5 minutes and a watchful eye to toast them in your oven)
1 oz dark, semi sweet chocolate
8 oz glass of ice water
cookie sheet
heavy medium sized saucepan.

Instructions:
Toast almonds on cookie sheet and set aside
Wash and grease the cookie sheet.
Melt butter in saucepan on medium heat
Gradually add brown sugar, until the two get along and are integrated.
Sometimes I just fling em in together (I’m easily bored)
Stir constantly until mixture boils, then no more stirring.
Put the spoon down. Step away from the pot.
Stirring after boil produces graininess. We like our toffee creamy.

This is when the bestest part happens.
That glass of ice water? We will use it to drop tiny bits of the mixture to see how cooked it is. Most purists advocate the hard crack stage of cooking.
I like to cook it until the mixture in the ice water forms a ball, then the next stage is when the mixture forms a soft crack upon hitting the ice water. I like to replenish the ice in the water. But then I also like to fish the mixture out of the ice water and taste it.
When it is cooked to your personal taste, quickly stir the almonds in, and pour the toffee onto a cookie sheet. Melt the dark, yummy bitter or semi sweet chocolate and just drizzle it over the top.  If you have a few almonds left, you can sprinkle those, or even grind them up and sprinkle some toasted almond dust. It will make you feel magical.
Put the cookie sheet and its contents in the freezer so it lies flat. If you live in the country, you can put it on a snowbank, above the yellow snow line
(That’s what I used to do, had too much going on in the kitchen)
20 minutes should be enough freezing.
I like to take the sheet out of the freezer and whack it against the counter to break it up into pieces.
Put in a suitable container and order the recipient to only open in secret.
Do not sample this before sending!
Otherwise you will be making another batch! And you might eat that one too.

Keep them coming.... I have a big family and a lot of people to shop for so if you have any other gift ideas I’ll take them.  Please.