Ideas for what to put in a food hamper for my Mum?

[DrNortherner]

Mum lives alone and is a widow, money is tight for her, so along with a few other bits and bobs I thought I would put together a nice little hamper for her. She is quite fussy so buying a hamper wold be a waste as she doesn't like the usual hamper goodies (christmas pud/preserves/chutney/pasta/alcohol etc)

Ideally I would like stuff that lasts so I can start putting it away now. Things I have thought are:

Tinned ham
Tinned cornedbeef
Tinned Tuna and salmon
Teabags
Chocolates
Cakes/biscuits
Soup
Baked beans
Bottle of cordial

Any more ideas?

Thanks.

Maybe a voucher for Asda or whatever supermarket she likes would be a good idea too as she could buy what she likes.

Some jam, dried fruit, nuts, cereal? I wouldn't be affraid of getting more than one of the same thing either to fill up the hamper.

Frey Bentos pies?

hmmm well i don't know, if she is fussy then you'll have a better idea than us

um, fruit? either fresh or tinned
some of those part-baked bread rolls?
some kind of nibbly things... crispy, savoury nibble type stuff.
nuts?

Well, it depends what she likes! My mum likes 'special' dried fruit (good figs, dried morello cherries, dried peaches, things like that) and also nuts. Also nice jam / marmalade / honey. Both are a bit Christmassy and out of the ordinary, but also useful IYKWIM.
Aldi do very very nice chocolate biscuits not too expensively!

Fancier stuff;

Jars of herbs
Balsamic vinegar
Dried mushroom
Tomato purée
Chorizo
Posh hot chocolate

Other stuff:
Sweets
Coffee
Rice (expensive these days)
Jelly
Nice pasta shapes
Nuts

And of course a bottle of gin!

And a lottery ticket

old-fashioned sweets if you can get hold of them? e.g my mum loves lions midget gems but not many places stock them so it's a special treat even though they're not really expensive or anything.

Hot chocolate,crackers (jacobs),sponge puddings, custard, rice pudding, marmite, Bovril. I think it's a lovely idea and your Mum will appreciate it greatly I bet.

a nice tea towel to put everything on in the hamper; I know my mother would like nice tinned soup, decent instant and/ or real coffee, a pretty jar of fruit like plums or apricots, a bottle of soap and matching handcream to have by the sink.

ps - this is a wonderful idea - I've done the hamper of undies before for my mother, but I will now plagiarise this. Thanks all.

Some nice cheeses?

Honey

Pate

Anchovies

good quality tinned fruit (e.g. breakfast compote) or a jar of preserved pears/peaches.

M&S do (or used to do) tins of things like chicken in white wine sauce - maybe something like that so she has makings of a quick meal.

Mini sponge puddings

Also does she bake? Stiff like cake decorations and cases can be good.

Also olives and pickled onions

Thanks guys. Some really good ideas on here