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

You do realise that the ingredients and fuel cost money? More time, effort and thought go into making jam, chutney etc than buying half a dozen 3 for 2 gift sets. It's sad to think of all that time and effort being wasted on hypocritical people who pretend to be delighted to get a gift and then bin it. Better to be honest and tell the donor so she doesn't waste her time in future. I find the idea of binning food horrific. If you can't use it don't accept it or pass it on to someone who will eat it

I disagree. People normally bulk make the jam and chutney. They don’t just make 1 jar up tailored to my taste.. it’s normally bulk made and then everyone gets the same chutney/jam and so on so less thought and effort really.

@TheKeatingFive

Couldn’t think of anything worse then someone giving me home made chutney, jams and candied orange peel as a gift. I’d rather they didn’t bother!

Wow. Some people have really lost sight of what it is to have nice things and thoughtful friends.

I find the idea of binning food horrific.

Yes, it’s so wasteful and ungrateful. But looks like that’s what many have become. ☹️

Wouldn’t really class homemade jam and chutney as ‘nice things’ and I wouldn’t class my friends as thoughtful either if they made me load of home made crap that I wouldn’t like or eat.

Like I have said.. if they are making homemade to save money then I’d rather they saved their money and bought stuff they actually needed.

Except that home made food doesn’t save money. The ingredients for a decent cake or a pan of chutney aren’t cheap. Very few edible gifts are given to save money, they’re given with love and, to people of discernment, they’re infinitely superior to the shop variety, with the possible exception of perhaps Fortnum and Mason.

Home made crap - is it crap because it's home-made? Is bought food automatically not crap? If you compare the ingredients list for home-made chutney and jams with commercial equivalents you'll normally find far fewer ingredients in the home-made version and all of it recognisable as normal food ingredients. Doesn't guarantee that it will be made with skill, of course, but lots of home cooks are very good at what they do. We have a friend who makes the best fudge I've ever tasted, from an old family recipe. It's a red letter day when a bag of that arrives.

And I stand by my point that a five-minute dash through Boot's picking up gift sets takes a lot less time, thought and effort than the hours and hours of work involved in making jam or chutney or good fudge or cakes. If you don't like home-made food, all you need to do is tell your friends and family that and they can give it to people who will be pleased to get it. Do your best not to tell them that their food is crap, though. That's just rude.

Wouldn’t really class homemade jam and chutney as ‘nice things’

You know nothing, Jon snow

Like I have said.. if they are making homemade to save money

This is a huge misconception. They’ll save far more buying you some cheap, tatty 3 for 2 in Tesco or somewhere (which you’d probably be much happier with). Good homemade stuff is expensive.

I don't make food as gifts, not least because of the responses in threads like this, but if I did, I'd use good quality ingredients, because what's the point otherwise?

My mum spends a lot of time baking for cake sales and standing behind the table on the day taking the money. I know from her experience that the standard of home baking varies quite a lot. She passed on some chutney to us a while back which was watery. That's a travesty. Properly made chutney should be thick and unctuous.

Most gifts of food are loaded with cheap sugar and white flour, both of which are essentially poison and contribute to ill health and the obesity epidemic. Throwing them out is probably a net positive

I am always gobsmacked when I come across people who have absolutely no understanding of the social, cultural and emotional value of food. I bet people are beating down the door to come to your parties 😂

I'm actually really annoyed no one ever gifted me jam.

I'll happily take all the sugar,uneaten,headed to the bin jars please.

YANBU.

I don’t like homemade gifts anyway. Edible or not. Unless the person making them is genuinely talented. And 99% of the time they’re not as good as they think they are!

I used to teach and every Xmas I’d come home laden with stuff that I’d end up binning. Such a waste.

I appreciated the thought but honestly it was all crap and the baked stuff was from the home of a certified scruff pot. 🤮

My favourite gifts every year were the pictures the little ones painted for me and the cards made by the kids.

Sssss

I think you should always be totally upfront with what you want from people and how you intend to dispose of their gifts. That way you will spare everyone the time and expense of getting you anything at all.

@IceFrost

You do realise that the ingredients and fuel cost money? More time, effort and thought go into making jam, chutney etc than buying half a dozen 3 for 2 gift sets. It's sad to think of all that time and effort being wasted on hypocritical people who pretend to be delighted to get a gift and then bin it. Better to be honest and tell the donor so she doesn't waste her time in future. I find the idea of binning food horrific. If you can't use it don't accept it or pass it on to someone who will eat it

I disagree. People normally bulk make the jam and chutney. They don’t just make 1 jar up tailored to my taste.. it’s normally bulk made and then everyone gets the same chutney/jam and so on so less thought and effort really.

Depends on the chutney. The complex Indian ones I make use fresh not cooked ingrediants and so I make them one at a time.

@TheKeatingFive

Wouldn’t really class homemade jam and chutney as ‘nice things’

You know nothing, Jon snow

Like I have said.. if they are making homemade to save money

This is a huge misconception. They’ll save far more buying you some cheap, tatty 3 for 2 in Tesco or somewhere (which you’d probably be much happier with). Good homemade stuff is expensive.

It’s not, you regularly see on these boards about people trying to save money & making home made type gifts instead and I don’t want 3 for 2 type crap either.

Most gifts of food are loaded with cheap sugar and white flour, both of which are essentially poison and contribute to ill health and the obesity epidemic. Throwing them out is probably a net positive

As someone who had to use a food bank a few years ago because I was homeless, I find this viewpoint hideous. Utterly shameful.

a friend and I spent an entire day his summer making jam for gifts for Christmas in a professional kitchen (hers). We gave a great deal of thought to the flavours, and went for something a bit unusual, so apricot and vanilla, strawberry and passion fruit, there was also a peach jelly... we also made some chutney. I would really hope that no-one will bin it. We used organic fruit, and the ingredients are all natural, and we’ve used professional labels too. I like to think we’re better than Fortnums or Waitrose!

MrsSchadenFreude that sounds completely different to a paper plate of cling filmed misshapen cupcakes badly iced by a child, which is what I was picturing on this thread. I'll have some chutney please!!

I'm in no way germphobic and it's not just food, I would say the same about homemade craft items. I reckon the giver gets more out of it than the receiver in most cases. I also hate bottles of alcohol spoiled by people adding stuff to them; they taste fine just as they are. If you can't afford to buy presents just say 'no presents for adults this year'.

@Crankley why would you think that? Making things often cost more than buying the things from a shop. Consumer goods are so cheap in comparison to income that its almost embarrassing.

We make our own kimchi and i think its about the same as buying (which is shocking considering the kimchi is imported and sold in korean supermarkets which tend to be very expensive). For mass market items, its way cheaper to buy presents than make your own.

Our consumerist society has done a phenomenal job in convincing us that anything we can make our
selves is shit and worthless, that’s for sure.

Our consumerist society has done a phenomenal job in convincing us that anything we can make our
selves is shit and worthless, that’s for sure.

Very true. And convincing us we need umpteen different products to make our homes sterile. It's weird to think that we've moved so far from a life where all food was homemade, or made by someone in your village or town. And even weirder to think that people actively prefer the taste of highly packaged foods which are mass-produced in factories and full of artificial flavouring, preservatives, colourings etc. I'd rather eat homemade or locally made everything, if it were convenient and affordable to do so.

I prefer to eat homemade too! Mine, or people I know to be spotlessly clean.

I was thinking the same.
Not so long ago people (or their direct employees) made nearly all their own food, clothes etc, or they were made by small local businesses.

Then things started to be mass produced and became cheaper and more rubbish using substitute ingredients, standard sizes, less choice. They are still made by people in many cases, just they are factory workers.

Now we are convinced that nobody can possibly make anything themselves and if "home made" it's by definition a bad substitute or at worst dangerous.

How we have lost faith in our ability to create the things we use .

It's true that home made items can be poorly made or in dubious taste but it's certainly not always the case. And it depends completely on the item as to whether it's cheaper or not, because you also have the value of skill. I could sew you something from £50 worth of materials or cut up an old coat from a charity shop and upcycle it into something amazing, because I have the skill.

Our consumerist society has done a phenomenal job in convincing us that anything we can make ourselves is shit and worthless, that’s for sure
Very true.

I'm sure these are the same people who get their disgusted face out at the idea of cake sales or coffee mornings too, and bawk at the idea of eating a colleague's lovely cake because it isn't from M&S. Why go to a friend's house for dinner when you can spend money to eat out?

@TheKeatingFive

Our consumerist society has done a phenomenal job in convincing us that anything we can make our selves is shit and worthless, that’s for sure.

Very true. And the irony is that I’d put money on the same people looking down on those who buy ready meals instead of cooking from scratch.

I make cakes for work and made a bacon sandwich for a delivery driver the other day as he went out of his way to fit us in.

@TheKeatingFive

Our consumerist society has done a phenomenal job in convincing us that anything we can make our selves is shit and worthless, that’s for sure.

Very true indeed. My SILs ex would only eat fruit and veg from a shop. He wouldn't eat anything from our allotment. It was so strange. I asked him if I washed it, sprayed it with chemicals and then wrapped it in plastic would he eat it? He said yes.