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Chatelaine Kitchen

Eight hostess gifts for the food lover

As this spring long weekend approaches, chances are you'll be gathering with friends and family. Here are some gift ideas to bring along as a delicious surprise for your host!
Eight hostess gifts for the food lover

Photo, iStock.

Hostess gifts for the foodie

Hostess gifts

As this spring long weekend approaches, chances are you'll be gathering with friends and family. It's customary to bring the host a small gift as a token of appreciation for offering up their space. As always, a good bottle of wine will go a long way, but if you are looking beyond that, here are some great host gift ideas — suited particularly to your foodie friends!

Eight hostess gifts for the food loverPhoto, iStock.

Really good olive oil

There is cooking olive oil, and then there is finishing olive oil. Finishing olive oils are of a higher quality, and have distinct flavours such as fruity, bitter or peppery. Go to a market where you can sample the oils and pick up a small bottle for your host (and yourself!).

Eight hostess gifts for the food lover(Photo by Dinamir Predov/Getty Images)

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Bread in a bread bag

Bring a fresh loaf of bakery (or homemade) bread in a natural linen bread bag. Bread bags do a great job of keeping your crusty breads fresh a little bit longer. The bread can be consumed right away, and the bag is for them to keep.

Eight hostess gifts for the food loverGolden challah bread.Photo, Roberto Caruso.

Fancy salts

There are gorgeous salts on the market these days. Classic finishing salts — such as maldon salt or fleur de sel — make great gifts, as do pink, black or flavoured salts. These 'fancy' salts are a great pantry item and will be appreciated.

Eight hostess gifts for the food loverGourmet Salt Collection, The Spice Lab.

Potted herbs

A window pot of fresh herbs is a perfect spring gift, and can be transplanted into the garden when things warm up. Basil, chives, thyme and rosemary make great indoor herbs.

Eight hostess gifts for the food loverPhoto, Masterfile.

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Cool ice cube trays

With summer approaching, your hosts will appreciate some good, silicone ice cube trays. They come in a variety of shapes, from square to spherical and cylindrical, and are a fun way to dress up a drink.

Eight hostess gifts for the food loverPhoto, Stockfood.

Aged balsamic vinegar

Every cook has a staple bottle of balsamic vinegar in their pantry, but aged vinegars take things up a notch. Aged balsamic has a deep, rich flavour. As with olive oil, sample a variety of vinegars and choose one you like the flavour of.

Bottles of fruit vinegarColin Erricson, Stockfood.

Maple syrup

Small-batch maple syrups tend to be rich in colour and have unique flavours characteristic to their terroir. You can find small-batch maple syrups at specialty food stores.

maple syrup bottlesGetty Images

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Bitters

Bitters are popular right now amongst the cocktail mixing crowd. They also make a much more interesting gift then a bottle of wine (although no one is likely going to complain about getting a nice bottle of vino).

Eight hostess gifts for the food loverScrappy's Bitters.

Breakfast

A box of fresh pastries for tomorrow morning. Tuck them away in a corner with a note, they're a great gesture for a tired morning, after a long night of hosting!

Eight hostess gifts for the food loverBlueberry muffin. (Photo, iStock photos.)

 

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