Get ready for the gifting season

Thanksgiving is behind us and we have one sort-of-peaceful month before the holiday rush begins. So now is the time to get your gift closet — or room or table or basket — stocked up and ready to go.

When December hits, there’ll be parties, open houses, dinners, teas and all kinds of lively get-togethers. You know it’s so. And you also know you’ll want to bring along something to thank your host and hostess for all their effort.

Here’s where most of us hit the LCBO. You can’t go wrong with a nice bottle of wine, after all. Or can you? Some folks don’t drink, for medical or other reasons. Other people have very specific preferences in wine — heaven forbid you bring a big burgundy to a confirmed pinot noir drinker. And some people already have a well-stocked wine cellar, thank you very much.

Besides, wine is so… unimaginative.

This season, show your thanks in a different way. Show you’ve put some thought and effort into your choice of gift. Here’s a selection of ideas to draw on. Pick some that fit your taste and talents, and are suited to the people who are including you in their celebrations. (These make fine holiday gifts, too, even without the party setting.)

• Special edibles

Everyone likes food. If you don’t want to eat it yourself, there’s always someone in the family who’s happy to gobble it down. In fact, when I asked one husband-and-father about thank-you gifts, he promptly answered, “Pepperoni pizza!” Not something I’d recommend, though. If I’ve worked hard to prepare a lovely dinner for guests, I sure wouldn’t want someone showing up with a pizza!

Try these tasty treats, instead:

• Home-baked anything: cookies, bread, tea breads, desserts. Add instructions for freezing, if that’s possible, in case your hostess is deluged with goodies.

• An outstanding cheese, with an assortment of gourmet crackers.

• Sweet and savoury spreads — jams, chutney, antipasto — with charming wooden or ceramic-handled spreaders.

• Tins of flavoured/seasoned popcorn, preferably homemade. (Look on the Web for recipes.)

• Tins or jars of sweet or spicy nuts — again the Web can help. A big bowl of shiny nuts in the shell, with a good nutcracker, is a small luxury to have on hand. So is a tin of macadamia nuts.

• Put together your own gift basket with a bit of all these things. Tuck in a preserved sausage for the carnivores, some pretty napkins, and there’s a fireplace picnic set for your hosts.

• Home comforts

Gifts for the home can be a thoughtful touch. Just stay away from those items that scream “hostess gifts.” Skip anything that has to be dusted: little china ornaments, crystal doodads, cutesy plaques (unless you know your hosts very well) and, oh please, NO MUGS. Think useful and clever:

• Candles — three fat pillars in matching or complementary colours, on a tray perhaps, with a beautiful box of wooden matches to go with.

• A set of nesting storage baskets or pretty pasteboard boxes, tied together with real ribbon. Everyone has something to store.

• Pretty linens. Choose cloth napkins or luxe dish towels and package them with a set of quality wooden cooking utensils or perhaps silicon-tipped tongs.

• A custom-selected set of pretty soaps is a simple luxury that women especially appreciate. If you know your friend’s fave fragrance, go with that. If you’re not sure, don’t guess. Instead, look for unscented goat’s milk soaps or soaps made with pure olive oil. Add a classy or clever nail brush for crafters, DIYers or gardeners.

• For new homeowners, condo and apartment dwellers, put together a basic home repair kit. Include hammer, a collection of screwdrivers (don’t forget the elusive square-tipped Robertson), duct tape (of course), some sort of pliers and a selection of glue. Pick a gift box that can double as a container for the kit.

• Photo albums are a nice gift, even in this digital age. There’s something cold about gathering the gang around a computer or tablet to look at pictures. If you have a batch of photos of your hosts, mount them in the album yourself before you present it to them. You’ll be giving a gift of time and one-of-a-kind memories. Who wouldn’t treasure that?

• Flowers can be fabulous. Look for something a little unusual, like tiny dendrobium orchids on a long stem, with grey-green eucalyptus branches and Asian lilies. If you’re taking flowers to an event, bring a simple vase, too, so your hostess doesn’t have to scurry around to find one. If someone in the household is allergic look to chocolate roses or fancy fruit concoctions from places like Edible Arrangements, instead.