To think that, unless you know the kitchen they were made in is very clean, homemade edible gifts go straight in the bin

[Bearbehind]

Especially this year

Given we’re sanitising things we touch and are ultra conscious about the spread of germs etc - AIBU to think that if you get edible gifts from someone’s who’s kitchen you either don’t know or don’t think is very clean - you’d just bin it?

I’m not saying you can catch Covid from the food but it’s the principle of not knowing how hygenic stuff is

I’m not a fan of homemade gifts at the best of times - I think a sort of rule should be that unless your homemade items are good enough to sell for actual money, then please don’t do it

No one is going to admit they binned it but I do hope those who would make homemade edible gifts, especially for teachers, this year think twice

I’m not a fan of homemade gifts at the best of times - I think a sort of rule should be that unless your homemade items are good enough to sell for actual money, then please don’t do it

Well, going by the vote on this thread, that wouldn't be a very representative rule! Anyway, lots of homemade things are better than shop-bought versions.

We must be a suspicious lot round here, any school staff I know bin all home made food gifts saying they dont know how clean the kitchen it was made in is

I've not been in a position to made a decision, never received any home made food gifts

Ah, you're 'one of those' people OP. Get over yourself. It's you obsessive types who are most likely to get sick because you haven't ever touched anything that isnt completely sterile.
You must be an absolute joy to be around.

@GlomOfNit

"I’m not a fan of homemade gifts at the best of times - I think a sort of rule should be that unless your homemade items are good enough to sell for actual money, then please don’t do it"

Well, aren't you delightful? It's because of people like you that knitters invented the term 'knitworthy'. We divide those people we would like to give presents to into two groups - those who are worth knitting something beautiful and time-consuming for, and those who wouldn't know beautiful, skilful and time-consuming work if you knitted a cosh, filled it with lead and hit them around the chops with it.

I always make presents for teachers and TAs. Some years it's just a pair of the earrings I make (and sell, OP, hope that reassures you) inside a Christmas card, sometimes that and some Christmassy sweets like marshmallows or fudge. I used to worry that some teachers would just bin anything homemade automatically but then DS1 reported back that his class teacher Mrs. McX opened the peppermint chocolate bark I made INSTANTLY and spent the lesson sneaking little bits of it.

Yes, it's crossed my mind that some TAs and teachers might be less keen on homemade edibles (even though there is really no evidence base for Covid being spread via food, and to be honest the hard surfaces thing is proving to be not the threat everyone assumed it was) so I probably won't be making the biscuits and fudge I'd normally do. (I'm a good baker.) I'll definitely drop off homemade goodies with local friends though - the ones I know aren't silly about this sort of thing.

I think there is a lot of truth in this. I wouldn't spend the time and effort that goes into making a gift on someone I thought wouldn't appreciate it. If a gift is required, then it's a generic 3-2 boots job or a small box of shop bought chocolates.

We were given lots of lovely hand knitted cardigans etc when my kids were born - loved them. Kept a few of my absolute favourites as well as the gorgeous hand knitted shawl. Was so intricate and just gorgeous. Brought both babies home from hospital using the shawl as a blanket.

Anyway, lots of homemade things are better than shop-bought versions

Most.

100% in the bin.
Like today’s homemade goody brought in by a staff member, who ate a slice and then later in the day said it must be off and that she had a bad stomach.

If a gift is required, then it's a generic 3-2 boots job or a small box of shop bought chocolates

I think this is part of what baffles me - why do adults find the need to buy / make things to give gifts to other adults when they don’t really want to

Can I just say that as pp mentioned, this thread is hilarious, and I'm really enjoying the debate. In the absence of seeing friends I'm on mumsnet a lot at the mo and I want to thank you all, mumsnetters, even if we disagree, for all of this. It's keeping me ( relatively) sane. Yes, I've had wine, I have pmt, I'm emotional. But thanks anyway.

@Bearbehind

If a gift is required, then it's a generic 3-2 boots job or a small box of shop bought chocolates

I think this is part of what baffles me - why do adults find the need to buy / make things to give gifts to other adults when they don’t really want to

If a gift was expected. Or one was given to us.

We cut right back though and now only give to family. Don't do secret Santa at work, and don't give to teachers etc either.

I understand. I get a little voice whispering about hygiene to me too.

I'm greedy though so I ignore the voice and stuff my face

I do get what you mean and I think some people are taking great offence to the fact their cooking may not be as appreciated as they assumed. Some replies are pretty harsh.

I'd sooner have a home made edible gift than some generic crap from Boots by miles.

I recently made bolognese for a family from school who’ve just had a baby. They’ve never been to our house. I was paying it forward because people did the same for us when we had a new baby and I was so grateful.

I made the offer to cook (told them I was paying forward), offered a choice of dishes and they chose bolognese. Later they texted and wrote a note thanking me. I assume they didn’t throw it in the bin

God knows how some of you would have survived my childhood. Raw milk, working with animals every day, homemade everything, visiting other people who served homemade cakes at every opportunity, WI meetings with endless homemade stuff. We were never ill

Teachers rarely eat anything homemade! They appreciate the sentiment but it all goes in the bin.

When I was at school one of the teachers was poisoned with laxative when accepting a brownie on a school trip. When making tea at parents evening, the year above thought it was hilarious to spit in the tea and coffee they made for the teachers.
I will not make that mistake.

I'd never eat anything unless I knew that the person who made it was stringent on hygiene. I wouldn't be rude enough to reject a gift so it would go in the bin unless I could find someone else to eat it.

PeterPomegranate I'm sure your spag Bol was lovely but I did throw away a home made meal given to me when I'd had a baby. It was made from a meat I didn't like and would never eat (they hadn't asked). It also required heating up in the oven for 45 minutes and then something else needed doing to it (cheese grating on the top or something) and then putting back for a further 10 and TBH it felt like it was more work taking care of it. Then I (would have had to) soak the burnt-on dish and scrub it clean. I appreciated the sentiment as much as if I'd have actually eaten it though, and sent them an effusive thank-you note.

Given a choice, I'd have really liked a box of posh crackers, some nice cheese and some decent grapes. ie snacky things that you don't have to mess around with and that come in packets.

Nothing to do with a Covid - always In the bin. The amount of home delivery meals and cakes that sprang up during the last lockdown was a joke - not a hygiene certificate to be seen!

My family has a marzipan making tradition at Christmas, recipe handed down through generations. It's a huge amount of work but nothing shop bought could remotely compete. Anyone who's on mum's list to receive a little tray counts themselves lucky.

Stupid comment followed by paranoid question seeking feedback / confirmation of idiocy

I'd chuck it too but accept it politely to be kind & show gratitude.

I wouldn't eat anything made in my mother's kitchen for sure. She doesn't even wipe her bread board (or wash it for that matter!) but I do enjoy cooking for others. When I do I make sure to scrub the hell out of the kitchen beforehand and I try not to physically touch the food if possible (cupcakes for example. At no point to I need to touch the mix, the sponge or the icing.) My friends know this and I only really do homemade gifts for them.

I give homemade gifts almost every year, both edible, and non-edible. I would hate to think that any of the people I give gifts to feel that way...If it isn't high enough quality to sell, don't do it. You sound both unimaginably snobbish and depressingly paranoid. God forbid a friend in distressed financial circumstances should give you something that is made with much love but is not shop-worthy!

I had lunch in an expensive Italian restaurant yesterday. My pasta dish was delicious but I don't like Rocket so I pushed it to the side. I was all finished when I noticed a little bug crawl out of the rocket and run laps round my bowl. I'm sure their kitchen was beautifully clean - I'm also sure that I would have been absolutely fine if I had eaten the Rocket.

What makes me sad is that the majority of humans on this planet would be extremely grateful for gifts of food and wouldn't turn their noses up at where it came from.

We are so entitled.

Gosh I never knew so many germaphobes existed. I must say that this thread has put me off from ever giving anything homemade to anyone but family (who I know will definitely eat it). I don't want to.put in any effort if it will just go in the bin.

They can get some crap from M& S instead

Aside from people with eating disorders or OCD, my experience of germ phobics and cleaning obsessives who would do such things as throw away home made cakes are lower middle class women with very average educational attainment.