I’m gifting homemade compound butter for Christmas.
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Original posts by u/Anubis12Oleander on subreddit r/cooking on Reddit.
10 Dec 2023: I’m gifting homemade compound butter for Christmas. Is this enough? Would you be happy to receive this as a gift?
I am making homemade butter using heavy whipping cream and then creating compound butter. Everyone who will be receiving this gift will get about five or more mason jars (8 ounces) of the butter. The flavors will be garlic herb, jalapeño, chive, chipotle lime, blue cheese, and honey cinnamon butter. The honey is actually organic from another family member’s bees! I’m going to be making the gift box as cute as possible. Should I include homemade bread? Is 40 ounces of homemade butter enough for recipient.
Edit: I’ve decided to decrease the amount to 4 ounce tops based on the feedback. I’ll utilize 2 oz jars so people can freeze half and save half. Both sets of my parents and my partner’s parents love to cook- they’re all butter obsessed. My cousin and his gf recently got into cooking. My brother and his gf love to cook. My bff already knows what she’s getting and is plotting the ways she’s going to utilize the butter. The only one with dietary restrictions is myself, other than my grandpa’s diabetes. There is only one child in my family, my niece, and she will be receiving toys and games instead. I think I’m going to gift my grandpa something else too because he’s not the biggest cook but he does love butter- but he’d probably like something else too? He’s the hardest to get gifts for. For his birthday he got homemade magnets from pictures of the air plane shows we go to and that’s been his favorite gift so far.
My family deserves a lot of amazing things but most of them are very “clutter free” except for my grandpa. I wasn’t sure if I was doing enough for them- but based on the feedback, it’s probably too much. So I’ll be cutting down the butter and adding crackers and likely some suggested knife and or butter crock to it! I really do appreciate the feedback. I’m usually more of a lurker and tries posting this on ask Reddit too. It’s rare that I actually do post but I’m happy I did. Thank you all again!
Though I’m not exactly “new” to Reddit, I’m not a big poster. I did attempt to post on askreddit, I’m not sure why it didn’t go through. I wasn’t really sure where to post this either. But thank you all for the feedback!
23 Dec 2023: UPDATE
Hey everyone! I really appreciate all of the feedback I received on my earlier post. Even if I didn’t reply to you- I promise I read your message! Our family is celebrating their Christmas tomorrow and then I have one more Christmas with my partner’s family on Sunday! I just thought I’d let everyone know what I ended up doing and then I’ll post another update to this post with how things went!
I narrowed the butters down to three total: Garlic/chive, Jalapeno honey, and honey cinnamon. Everyone is receiving 4 oz mason jars of each for a total of 12 oz total. The butter will go fast because it’s easily spread on bread and utilized in cooking. All of the friends/family receiving them are heavy butter users. Everyone is also getting 8-16 ounces of caramel apple pie moonshine! It can be stored for a long time if they don’t want to use it. For my heavy garlic lovers, they are receiving homemade Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce). My bff is obsessed with this sauce at a Mediterranean restaurant we frequent so I know she’ll be hype to get this in her box of goodies! My parents will eat garlic straight and always request “extra garlic” at this amazing middle eastern store at the farmer’s market. My parents were CONVINCED the extra garlic came from the tzatziki sauce. So I know this will go over well for them! My niece is getting toys, of course.
For the gift boxes, suggestions of what to use the butter on will be included. I’m also making sure that everyone knows it can be frozen (especially in the glass containers!). I am so happy I had such positive feedback- even if I posted in a biased community like an idiot.
As for my Bapa, we just found out his oral cancer has returned. It really put things back into perspective about the holidays for me. It’s not about finding my loved ones the ‘perfect gift’ but spending time with them. I was the one that took him to his appointment and found out the results with him weds on 12/21/22. I had planned on making him a snack pack of goodies such as his favorite peanuts and jerky but this put a stop to that. He has a tumor pushing on the front of his bottom row of teeth. Surgery is likely, which means another feeding tube. So I ended up getting him a variety of tea and some books about airplanes. Every year we go to the air show that’s about an hour or two away from where we live. Airplanes are one of his favorite things so I know he’ll enjoy that. There is absolutely nothing in this world that I could give him that would be good enough- because my Bapa exceeds all worth. He’s special and important and we’re lucky to still have him. We have such a special connection because he had a cardiac arrest in a parking lot in 2020- I had an incident to that landed us both in the ICU. We hit milestones together. We fought together. No one expected him to make it out. No one thought he’d live. I was the only one that had faith in his stubbornness.
This is getting long so I’m going to quit rambling and just end this on a happy note: I hope everyone has an amazing holiday filled with wonderful people and love! Thanks again for all the input.
Eta: I should say that I’m not looking for feedback anymore on if this is enough or good gifts 😂 it’s too late now! I just wanted to give an update 💜
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Gifting functional gifts is the best way to go
This is a repost blog.
Original posts by u/welptheregoesmyacc on subreddit r/ZeroWaste on Reddit
(Click through for pictures of catnip)
From the comments:
I am drying the leaves in a dehydrator @100F (they haven’t finished drying yet, so I can’t give you a time stamp) and then I will store them in a spare glass jar to gift to my sister. I will also experiment with air drying catnip to see if the effects, pheromones, and/or scent of the catnip differ between drying methods.
I plan to create another post in time when I can reach something of a conclusion to this experiment! :-)
30 Dec 2022: Dried Catnip Update!
Hi there, Zero Waste community! A few weeks ago, I posted that I purchased, grew, and harvested organic catnip as a Christmas present for my sisters’ cats. Some people were concerned about the effectiveness of the catnip when dried on low heat in a dehydrator, as opposed to air drying naturally. I had to conduct an experiment!
The dehydrated catnip took about 8 hours, which is longer than what I’ve read online. I think this is because my dehydrator is old, and the catnip leaves are quite thick (and were a bit moist from morning dew) so I dehydrated them at 100-105F rather than 90F; thin-leaved herbs like parsley have no trouble dehydrating at 90F for me. The naturally dried catnip was strung with compostable twine in my garage for 3 weeks. The cool, dry winter air helped speed up the process, especially since I’m in Florida; I should note that this catnip was stored in a different jar as the two shown. The jars shown are from the dehydrated batch, not the natural air dried batch. I found no difference between the two dried catnips, though it seemed the cats preferred to smell and roll around the catnip that was grounded into a powder (I just put it in a blender).
I don’t recall where I got the jars. They have been collecting dust in a closet for some time now. The vinyl stickers I made on the jars are not really zero waste, but you could achieve this with a simple sharpie or white glass marker. I draw, design, and print my own vinyl stickers mainly for decorating purposes in my room; I enjoy creating my own things to remind me of my favorite shows, games, and memories, so creating vinyl stickers are one of my zero waste “exemptions.”
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December 6, 2023 zerowaste reddit gifts cats catnip recycling
Pot roast or Guinness beef stew for Christmas dinner
This is a repost blog.
Original posts by u/outinmygarden
on subreddit r/Cooking on Reddit
4 Dec 2022: Pot roast or Guinness beef stew for Christmas dinner?
My husband and I are hosting family for Christmas this year. I’m trying to plan a special holiday dinner and looking for a little help. I’m thinking either pot roast or Guinness beef stew. I was thinking I would do mashed potatoes with either dish, a side of buttered peas and rolls. We will be serving 8 adults and 4 children.
Do you have a go-to recipe for either of these dishes? I normally might do a pot roast in our slow cooker but don’t think it’s big enough to do a roast for 12, so I figured I would have to bake in the oven which I’ve never done before. Any tips or tricks? Any other appetizers or sides that would compliment either of these meals?
EDIT — what are the best cuts of beef for these recipes and how much do I get to serve 12 with leftovers?
30 Dec 2022: UPDATE
I posted here before Christmas looking for suggestions and recipes for either pot roast or beef and Guinness stew and had many helpful responses. I ultimately decided to go with beef and Guinness stew based on the many wonderful recommendations I received. I served the stew over mashed potatoes and topped with buttered peas, it came out amazing! So flavorful and the beef was the most tender melt-in-your-mouth beef I have ever made. My sister in law told me that beef stew is her favorite food and this stew was the best one she had ever had in her life, I’m still riding that high! Anyway, just wanted to thank the fine folks who helped me out with suggestions. I appreciate you all!
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Goodbye, Hello
This is a repost blog.
Original posts by Kate at the Advice Smackdown on AlphaMom
The original question-writer’s words are reproduced here - to read Amy Storch’s advice, click through to the original link.
20 Sept 2013: Goodbye, Hello
Dear Amy,
Please, please feel free not to answer this question if it brings up too many sad (or too personal for the internet) memories.
So here’s the deal. I’ve been with my husband for coming-up to four years, we’ve lived together nearly all of that time and we’ve now been married for a few months. Babies have always been on the agenda at some point, and I always thought I’d like to get started before I was 30 (I’m 28). My husband is less driven to reproduce than I am, but he’s willing to dive into it with me and I think he’ll be an excellent father.
About two years ago my mum was diagnosed with cancer (is it ok if I’m not specific?). She’s had two rounds of chemo and a major operation, but small amounts have spread. She is being treated for that at the moment. We don’t know the exact prognosis (my mum doesn’t want to know and I respect that), but my understanding is that it’s likely terminal, but not imminently so.
My mother is my best friend. She is the one I call to tell my big things and my mundane things (along with my husband, obviously). We moved near to her around the same time she was diagnosed (a happy coincidence) and I see her more than I see most of my friends (who live in the next city over). We’ve always been incredibly close.
I’m sure you know all too well that having an ill parent seeps its way into every area of your life and decision making (Wedding planning was fun! Don’t ask me about whether we’re buying a house anytime soon).
Here’s the one I’m struggling with at the moment: Is starting to try for a baby while all of this is going on a terrible idea?
On the side for starting to try now, I am aware that there are no guarantees with the human body (whether it’s pregnancy or cancer) and starting to try now doesn’t mean that my mum will get to meet my baby, but I know that we’d both be thrilled by however much we were able to share, even if that was just the beginning of a pregnancy. My sibling and I aren’t close and my parents are separated, so the idea of starting our own family is pretty appealing right now, because I know that everything with my family of origin will change once my mum dies (eg. the family home will be gone and Christmas will look very different). I know it’s stupid, but I think I’d feel lost if I didn’t have a mother and I wasn’t someone’s mother (or on the road to that).
There’s also the fact that I feel pretty ready to start trying for a baby now, regardless of anything else. I’ve been baby crazy my whole life and I feel my life has finally caught up with that wish. Because we don’t know how long my mum will be around, the idea of waiting until she’s gone might mean it’s years before we tried AND my mum could have met my baby.
On the downside, sometimes I think the idea of giving my mum somebody else to love and say goodbye to is just a terrible plan and I should leave well enough alone. The idea of losing my mum while being an incredibly emotional new mother sounds like a really bad thing. I also worry that if I was pregnant / a new mother, I might not be able to give my mother all the attention, love and care that she deserves, or I might be so wrapped up in losing my mother / grieving, that I couldn’t give the baby everything it would need. A part of me thinks I just want to rush to the next big life stage because then it would feel like my mum had been around longer.
I know that trying to conceive doesn’t always lead to conception, and I think that terrifies me more than anything — learning we’re infertile at the same time as grieving just sounds like an awful, awful situation to be in.
One huge thing for me on the side of starting now: My mum had me at 40 and I never got to meet her mother, and it looks like my children won’t meet their grandmother either. I want to start my family when I’m a lot younger than my mother was so that hopefully there will be a grandmother in this family at some point.
My now-husband has been an incredible rock throughout my mum’s illness thus far and the whole thing has only convinced me more solidly of the fact that he is an incredible partner and I am so lucky to have him. I have been discussing this with him a lot (as well as giving the decision some space). Our current plan is that we will assess the situation at Christmas and we might start trying then, but we might not.
I feel like I’ve just splurged words at you. I guess I just wanted to know how it was being pregnant when your dad was ill and how his death affected Ike’s babyhood, and what you’d do differently in retrospect? (I am so, so sorry if those questions are insensitive, and please, please don’t answer if it would be too sad for you.)
Yours,
Kate (not my real name, but I like it when posters have a name I can look for in the comments)
28 Nov 2013: Advice Smackdown UPDATE: On Timing a Pregnancy Around a Parent’s Illness
Hi Amy,
I hope you’re not reading this as it’s Thanksgiving but I just wanted to share a little update on my problem about baby timing and an ill parent. (“Goodbye, Hello“)
Well, what happened was I showed my husband my letter and your response, we both cried a lot, did the maternity pay maths and then decided to get started on the baby making plan.
One cycle later I got pregnant! It’s still really early days but now I’m actually pregnant, I feel 100 per cent sure that we do in fact want a baby right now, so getting started trying was definitely the right call.
Telling my mum will always be one of my very favourite memories. We found out the day before her birthday so I got to tell her on her birthday and, oh, her face! She started instantly crying and shrieking and was just so happy. It was a really great evening and nice to have some good news amid all the bad cancer news.
Of course, a few days later she was hospitalised for 10 days with an infection and that was pretty grim, but that’s just how life will be for a while I guess — happy/sad.
I know it’s early days for an update (I’d have loved to be able to wait until after the 12 week scan), but I wanted to update while the news is good (and even if we lost this baby, I think we’ve definitely reached resolution about whether we want one now or not).
Thanks so much for your wonderful advice.
“Kate”
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Anybody forever alone this Thanksgiving? Come eat some bird with us.
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Original posts by u/agency_panic on subreddit r/nyc on Reddit
20 Nov 2011: Anybody forever alone this Thanksgiving? Come eat some bird with us.
Hey, dudes and ladies. My boy and I are stuck in the city this merriest of holidays, and we’d like to host a potluck Thanksgiving for some redditors. New friends! Or whatever.
We are two twenty-somethings looking to give back to the reddit community. We recently went on a big ol’ roadtrip, hosted almost exclusively by random acts of reddit generosity, and we want to pay that favor forward. (If you want to read about our adventures and stalk up on us a bit, here’s our on-the-road-blog.) Anyway, he’s a musician, and I’m a classically-trained cook.
I’m gonna be making a fancy, delicious turkey as well as some classic sides (bitches don’t know ’bout my brussels sprouts), maybe a pie or two. If you can cook something to share, great! If not, that’s okay. Just bring the hooch.
We live in Park Slope, off the F/G. We probably can’t host more than ten or so folks, so let us know soon if you wanna get diggety-down with us. And what you’re bringing, too! No smallpox, please.
EDIT: Alright, folks, we’re at capacity. While we’d love to put you all up, our landlady would probably be not-so-thrilled. Thanks for all the nice things you’ve had to say, and stay tuned for more details. Happy Thanksgiving!
26 Nov 2011: Anybody forever alone this Thanksgiving? UPDATE: with photos!
Happy Saturday, r/nyc!
This Thanksgiving, lkstrat and I hosted a herd of redditors at our place for a giant pot-luck feast. Needless to say to those present, we had a FANTASTIC time! Great food, kind folk, and a ton of booze (seriously, fuck you guys - work was BRUTAL Friday morning).
As promised, here is a collection of photos from this happiest of holidays. Y’all are welcome back anytime, without question! Cheers to reddit and r/nyc for always delivering the good times.
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Can crows recognize someone in a Halloween costume?
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Original posts by u/lampent51 in r/crows on Reddit
7 Oct 2017: Can crows recognize someone in a Halloween costume?
I’m probably way in over my head with this, but I’m trying to see if I can call some of the crows I’ve made friends with, while I’m in my Halloween costume; a plague doctor. If I were to go to the spot where I usually feed them, with a bag I always bring, and make the sound that lets them know I’m there to feed them, will they recognize me?
Yet again, I’m probably overestimating just how smart crows are, but the image of a plague doctor summoning crows on a Halloween evening is just too badass for me to ignore.
26 Oct. 2019: Can crows recognize someone in a Halloween costume? Update
I’m trying to see if crows would recognize me if I was in my Halloween Costume, a Plague Doctor, so I’ve gone out to feed them while wearing parts of the outfit.
I was worried about the mask part, since I thought they might see it as a dead crow, or just see me as a shape-shifting monster, since they recognize faces so well. I put on the mask in front of them, put out their food, made my food call sound, and they still trusted me enough to go eat some.
In fact, I think they trusted me even more with the mask since one of them went closer to me, past the food. I think seeing a bird-like face makes them more comfortable to be around the wearer.
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October 31, 2023 halloween crows masks costumes plague doctors