Thursday, May 08, 2008

Housewarming basket

My husband's colleague is remodeling a new house. Their kitchen is down to the studs, so I packed snacks instead of dinner.

It's easy (and cheap) to stack homemade cookies in a large coffee filter. This gift basket cost about $7 to put together using sale priced products and a yard sale basket.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

You always make the best looking baskets. I would love those cookies. I am sure your husband was very pleased to give that gift and very proud of you for putting it together. You make HIM look good. Thanks for sharing. Hope your weekend is peaceful. Roxie

Ann @TheAssetEdge said...

You are awesome - you give us the most elegant ideas that are so simple to follow.

Anonymous said...

Are those paper plates in the back?

Michelle Smiles said...

Boursin AND cookies? Wow...doesn't get any better than that! You are an awesome gift basket filler! (If you ever want to be not so frugal when making mac and cheese - melt a thing of boursin in your cheese sauce - yummo!)

Meredith said...

Yes. I was at K-mart one day and saw some in a pretty blue marked down to 25-cents/package.

It was just lucky that this yard sale napkin was the same shade!

Anonymous said...

Meredith,

Your basket is beautiful, and so are you. Remember, "comparison is the death of contentment".

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

Love it! Will you send one to my house when our kitchen is torn down to the studs?!

Coffee filters for cookies -- great idea.

Patty said...

what a perfect gift and so pretty too

Amanda on Maui said...

Wow, I wish I had friends like you. Nobody gave us any house warming gifts when we moved.

Also, is that Martinelli's cider I spot? If so, YUM! I'm a cider junkie.

Nancy said...

You must have found a really good deal on that Boursin cheese; it runs $5+ where I shop. It's yummy but definitely a real indulgence for us.
A very lovely basket by the way. I'm sure the recipients were very appreciative of it.

Bahama Shores Mama said...

What a beautiful gesture! Thanks for sharing it with us. It makes me think about where else in my life right now I can be making a difference.

More than Survival said...

An awesome show of "love"!!!
Heather

Tamara said...

Meredith, the basket is gorgeous, as usual! The cookies look mouthwatering. Would you share the recipe? And I love that stationery. I picked up a full package of Crane stationery at a yard sale for a quarter a few weeks ago, and I thought of you!

Anonymous said...

A co-worker's wife had a baby last night. They live just a few blocks from us. You've inspired me to make up a basket of fruit and goodies to take to them on Sunday. Their other child is only 18 months old, so I think having something quick to grab and eat will be appreciated. I think I'll also make a casserole, but I'm definitely going to make up a basket. Thanks for the ideas!

Anonymous said...

Coffee filters--fantastic! They look perfect in there and what a great way to use an "everyday" thing to make something beautiful and practical. Thank you for a great idea, and what a lovely gift the colleague's family to receive!

TJ said...

Great work as always! Looks beautiful, and only $7 with the expensive cheese included?! You are such a wonderful hostess!

Meredith said...

The cheese was a serendipitous find!

Already on sale for $2.99, there were several boxes marked $1.50--and all of them had "best by" dates into next week.

I knew this one would be eaten right away, so I swapped the Boursin for a less expensive cheese I had planned to buy instead.

Meredith said...

It goes to show that the cost of a gift basket has everything to do with what you choose on sale, instead of working from a planned list.

I had grapes on my list, but they were $2.50 a lb, so I substituted a pear, an orange, and an apple--all for less than the cost of a pound of grapes.

It helps to be flexible and buy what is the best thing on sale.

The apple cider bottles were on clearance. The plates were on super clearance. The crackers were on sale for $1.

The cookies were made with sale priced ingredients I had bought and put away for baking. This is a new cookie recipe similar to Tollhouse and I have to say, they are the best choc chip cookies I have ever made.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful basket! I always enjoying seeing how you do these things. I wish I were so good at making such great gifts out of little things. Thanks for sharing.

Jennifer

Sandy said...

I love making food baskets. I usually just look around in my kitchen and cupboards and "use what I already have."
Can I have a bite of one of those cookies? YUM!
Happy Weekend.

Anonymous said...

Meredith, we're all dying to get that cookie recipe!

Tubo Family said...

Would've loved to get something like this when we were remodeling our kitchen, during which our first child was born. That experience and your blog have inspired me to get over my fear people won't like my cooking to always bring food when friends & acquaintances have a baby or other big event.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful and thoughtful gift! I am so sure they were quite impressed and grateful. I know I would be!