A gift you didn't know you needed

[Laura17111]

We are doing a secret Santa where the rules are, something you did not know you needed. There is a budget of £10, I have a 55 year old woman (close relative) to buy for.

I am looking for ideas for something you would not know you needed. Any ideas would be amazing

My mum asked for the large silicon ice cube trays for freezing food, so I’d go for those. I don’t know if it’s useful yet though!

Tomato knife. Great for chopping the obvious, but also really good for so many other things. I do loads of cooking and use this knife more than all my others combined. www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-6-7836-L114-Tomato-Utility-Serrated/dp/B0052C21CG/ref=asc_df_B0052C21CG?mcid=b589509d6a083e32b420836f290a778c&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697199228059&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13199480975146895523&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9207675&hvtargid=pla-401646192703&psc=1&hvocijid=13199480975146895523-B0052C21CG-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1

I love this!

Mitten tongs https://www.procook.co.uk/product/christmas-food-tongs-mittens-red-silicone

They are just tongs really, but slightly silly.

I haven't tried but but I would like to receive one of those rollers that covers over your address reliably, so you can reuse jiffy bags or make paperwork indecipherable before chucking. Increasingly useful now that parcels arrived with random barcodes on.

I love it, but does the spoon not drip on the surfaces?

You obviously have never had a strawberry huller. They are the best piece of kitchen tat ever.....

Ohhhh really not the point of this thread, but I remember the first time I came across yak trax, a guy at work was telling us about how he’d just got some and they were brilliant, but we all misheard him and thought he was saying “sex pants” (to be fair we were at work drinks and all very drunk). He then pulled them out of a pocket in his bag, in all their rubber and metal strappy glory - it did not help his case!

Wine wands/ Wine sticks for making red wine less hangovery. Apparently remove histamine and sulfate. I can't vouch either way for them as haven't tried, but can vouch for approaching 50 and getting headaches where red wine has fallen out with me.

Do you then need a comb hair brush to brush the hairs out of your hair brush comb?

The card holder idea is simply genius. Im going to order one for ds4. If this works we will need no more complicated 360deg box tower contractions to hide his cards. Thanks for sharing!!

I honestly don’t understand spoon rests, why is it better than putting the spoon on the worktop?

Waterproof speaker for bath/shower
car kit with lip balm, hand cream, coffee voucher
magnetic erasable planner for sticking to fridge

I agree with pp that a good half of the suggestions here wouldn't survive the first drawer cull in our house

I think these are useful - you strap them onto your boots/shoes, and improves grip on ice/snow. Or a bottle of decent olive oil/balsamic vinegar.

Beanie hat with a head torch
Body Shop Hemp hand cream
Cosy bed socks
Wrist warmers (ideal if working at a laptop)
Small tray for carrying cups
Turban hair wrap for use after washing hair

It is so much better than putting the spoon on the worktop for all the reasons!

Less messy.
Protects the worktop.
Easy to locate.
Easy to wash.
Handles stay clean.
When you get the right one for you, it is a thing of beauty in your kitchen.
Inspiring.
Useful.
Amazing.
😍😍😍

I put the teabags on it as well. My husband doesn’t like putting teabags in the food waste when they’re hot so would just leave them on the side 🙄

Satin pillowcase
Kitchen tongs is a good shout, a small pair with silicon ends is endlessly useful.
Measuring cups
Soap and a soap dish
Gel-style regular nail polish
Agree with carabiner - I clip my house keys to whichever car keys/other keys I’m using at the time.
Suede-covered sponge thing for wiping the inside of misted up car windows.
Good socks!
Portable charger (small and lightweight as possible)
Butter dish

I second this, wooden spoons i generally just leave in the saucepan, if i need to put them on the worktop i just lay a bit of kitchen towel down or if i have gotten it out a tin/jar )beans/curry sauce) i just put them in the empty tin/jar 🤷🏻‍♀️ lol.
🤔 rotating cheese grater- i hate grating cheese but these so much quicker and easier they are £12 on amazon atm.

I had one of those things for covering your address but it ran out of ink fairly regularly and it was fiddly refilling it, I just use a sharpie now, much easier.

A free pass from secret Santa's with 'original' themes in future?

Yes, we’ve got a spoon rest, DH bought it (the Le Creuset one) and it just clutters up the counter as it’s fairly big and just makes extra washing up, I never use it. It’s also ugly.

Ditto to this - I freeze meal size portions of things for my cats in it.

I was going to say - I often see these recommended, but always imagine a sharpie would be just as efficient.

I’ve got one (it was cute and I’m a sucker for a gadget) but it does the job no better than a normal plastic comb and its prongs are really sharp if you catch your fingers on it in a drawer.

Soap saver bags and some nice posh soap, honestly these exfoliate as you clean in the shower, no soap go on the soap dish and have been a game changer for me - really sad I know, but they were really something I didn't know I needed until i got them