Teacher gifts are really tricky. I want to give them something that is nice, that tells the teacher they are appreciated, but that isn't ugly or tacky enough to be pitched into the trash right away. And also, I need 15 of them, so they need to be inexpensive and mass produced.
A couple of years ago I went with chocolate, but it was expensive, and not everyone wants or needs chocolate. Last year we made salt dough ornaments, which were easier to make and fun to decorate. They weren't perfection or anything, but they kids made them.
This year, I opted for food. I decided to make pumpkin bread and give that out. Lillian makes it every year, and it is a huge huge hit, especially in this house, where mysteriously Steve and the boys never seem to get enough. I can't think of who else might be gobbling it up. Maybe Frank? Anyway, I asked Lillian if she might share her pumpkin bread secret, and she obliged. She even let me print it out and attach it to the finished gift, to add a little something. "Here is some pumpkin bread and also the recipe."
On top of that, Lillian came by one day with little ceramic bread tins... you know, pans, the thing you bake the bread it. They were so cute, decorated with nutcrackers and snowmen and such. Christmassy like. She also brought by cute bags to put the finished product in, but I never was able to fit the finished loaf in a bag, so I went out and got transparent holiday wrap.
It was much more of a pain than I expected. Making one batch at a time, which is how much my oven will bake, it takes over an hour to bake. And almost 2 hours for the bigger loaves. Taking the loaves out for cooling, washing the bakeware, and then reassembling the loaves, including cutting the paper with the recipe out with fancy scissors and pasting it on colored construction paper to make it look nicer.... the curling ribbon.... it just took time. And I wouldn't let the kids help, because they would eat the bread.
Also, the finished product is heavier than I expected, and I am afraid the child presenting the gift will accidentally drop it and it will smash.
But it looks great. I mean, if you were a teacher, wouldn't this beat a mug?
2 comments:
WOW -- beautiful job Kathleen. There is nothing like a home-baked gift from the kitchen. I just don't know how you do it all. I'm exhausted -- for you!!
Have a wonderful Christmas and all the best to you and your adorable family for 2011.
Waaaaay more fancy than what you and I used to do for our teachers in high school! Well done you!!
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