Food Gift Love: More than 100 Recipes to Make, Wrap, and Share

by Maggie Battista

An exciting, inspiring, and beautiful food-gift guide for crafty cooks and food-DIY fans

In Food Gift Love, Maggie Battista, a food-gift guru and rising star of the blog world, celebrates her expertise in and enthusiasm for small-batch, hand-crafted foods. She features 100 memorable, edible gifts for any occasion with simple, delicious recipes, detailed wrapping instructions, and stunning photography. There are countless ways to share the pleasures of food with people you care about—from simple homemade infused salts and sugars to instant-gratification gifts like fresh ricotta and flavored butters; from jams, pickles, and vinaigrettes to irresistible cookies, desserts, savories, and spirits that will impress fellow food fans. There’s helpful information for creating your own Food Gift Love pantry at home as well as creative guidance on how to wrap food gifts with style. This book will inspire cooks, food-lovers, and DIY fans to be year-round food gifters.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Crafts

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2015

Reviews

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a fantastic "cookbook." So many wonderful ideas for gifts. Hospitality in the go. My favorite part was the original wrapping ideas.

I got this from the library, but I have a feeling I might have to buy a copy and spend the next couple years making my way through. Be extra kind to me now, friends. You might get some Food Gift Love. ;)

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-designed book with lovely photos and clear instructions. Chapters include some more complex recipes, but most are easy to make and cover topics like infused vinegars, herb-infused sea salts, Citrus salts, rubs, syrups, glazes, pastries, pasta sauces, and quick breads. The author also includes ideas for how to package each item to make it look special and gift-worthy. I made three items from this book for 2020 holiday gifts (lemon-infused EVOO, orange-fennel sea salt, and blackberry balsamic glaze) and copied recipes for several more items for the future.

[Brindi Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to start doing this for holidays and birthdays, instead of buying useless nonsense.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure I’d gift any of these items to family or friends. Recipes/gifts range from a cheeseboard that’s on a paper bag to fresh pestos to candy to homemade cordials. Honestly, the only recipe I’d suggest you try is the quick tomato jam and swap out balsamic vinegar for the lemon juice.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you need ideas for creating food gifts for people, or things to try yourself, (and for some reason you lost your internet connection) then this is a handy book. I don't know if it is all that original in the end, but it shares some nice ideas, and provides some details that you might not otherwise think of.

I like that she had a team of 80 people across the world and with varying degrees of cooking expertise test these recipes, in order to truly pinpoint the details and difficulty - do all cookbooks do this? They totally should.

There were about 10 things that I wanted to try - from honeyed kumquats to roasted banana bread...( not really that many, from a 200+ page book)

She obviously puts a lot of thought into combinations and presentation. Unfortunately, in the end this book mostly convinced me that anything beyond just bringing a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates to a dinner party is probably beyond me.(!)

[S Vanorse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a nice book, when food gifts are packaged nicely the gifted person appreciates the time and thought you put into it. This book gives nice presentation ideas, some of which I use all ready. The book is well presented and easy to read, photos are nicely done. The only negative I have is for a few of the recipes, particularly the one for vanilla extract. There are no where enough beans in that recipe to make even a single fold, (grocery store) extract. Two weeks is way to early to bottle and use, things are just getting started at that point. If any one has thoughts of trying to make that one, triple the amount of beans, and wait at least 6 months, or longer if you can, then you have something really gourmet.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

If feeding people is your love language, this book is for you!

Food Gift Love is chock full of easy and approachable ideas. I love how the book is organized into sections for fresh, pantry, candied, baked, preserved and spirited gifts.

There is a clever flow chart at the beginning to help you narrow down what to give (salty? fruity? boozy? sweet?) for what occasion (is it happy or sad?) or for whom (do I know the recipient?)

There is also a robust section on what items to stock like tags and twine, to give your food gift that special touch as well as how to ship and store.

Ideas we've tried (so far!) and loved - bourbon-vanilla cherries, lemony bean dip, quick strawberry jam, and smoked candied popcorn. It's a great resource especially around the holidays.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got some really good ideas from this book and will be getting it again in the spring or summer when I have some of the herbs mentioned ready to harvest and share. I love the idea of sharing love through giving gifts from the garden... I think that's really important.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good packaging ideas as well as recipes. I loved the aesthetic and found the book very inspiring.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Maggie Battista (founder of Eat Boutique) knows, nothing beats the care and attention that go into homemade, edible gifts. This collection of recipes is accessible yet elevated, with a focus on the pleasure of making gifts for people you love. Battista’s writing is friendly and informative, incorporating her personal experiences, useful tips, and clear directions. She wants readers to enjoy the entire gift making experience, from thinking about the palates of their recipients, to creating (and tasting) the delicious food and drinks, and wrapping the products in beautiful, useful ways. I look forward to using these recipes next holiday season!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw this book I thought that it was such a great idea. I was super excited to get this book. Boy am I glad that I did not buy this book. I got it through the library and it was such a let down. There were a decent amount of pictures but I did not like the set up of the book and I did not like the actual items listed in the book. This was such a let down.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has great ideas of things to give. I loved the flavor combinations and gift wrap ideas. She tells you how to build a stash to make edible gift giving easier. I loved the short stories she tells before each recipe.

[Elizabeth Lively · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Recipes and Gift Ideas

This is a good collection of a WIDE variety of food gifts, recipes, stock lists, and presentation directions. There are several recipes I will record and add to my repertoire.

[Michele DeKinder-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this so much I bought the physical book. author seems to have shifted focus, unfortunately.

[Rada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the flow chart on how to decide what type of food gift would be appreciated by people.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The chapters in the book are divided into different gift categories: Fresh gift, Pantry gifts, Candied gifts, Baked gifts, Preserved gifts and Spirited gifts. I am an experienced cook and already make a lot of food gifts such as preserves, pickles, granola, preserved lemons but even so, I've got several recipes bookmarked. This would be a great book for someone who wants to learn new cooking techniques as the instructions are very detailed.

Currently there is a container of white beans and some homemade preserved lemons in our refrigerator so I'm going to make the lemony bean dip today. Since we've got heaps of arugula in the garden, the arugula & pistachio pesto to which I'll add lemon zest may be next up. This recipe has precise measurements which I will ignore :) I won't be measuring 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan, 1 Tbsp isn't going to make much difference. I'll probably omit the 1/8 tsp salt, Parmesan is salty enough and I definitely won't be measuring 1/8 tsp pepper. I'll just happily grind pepper until it seems like there's enough.

Other recipes I've bookmarked are: candied blood orange rinds, nectarine-almond crisp, grapefruit-elderflower marmalade, cucumber-lime pitcher, homemade grenadine and rhubarb cordial.

[James Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

from Deborah:

Food Gift Love by Maggie Battista is the most beautiful and useful food gifting book I've seen. The recipes are wonderfully varied but not exotic, and the presentation is free of the goop and pomp that often layers edible gifts. She also describes cooking techniques such as tempering chocolate that make the recipes successfuI. I've not tried one of these recipes yet, but I've already made a list: jam-swirled marshmallows, North Carolina style vinegar sauce, preserved lemons, and homemade ricotta with a bit of thyme infused honey sound just about right for me. I will probably wind up buying the book. There's just too much in here.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this one because I love to give homemade gifts. While there were some new ideas and suggestions for wrapping/presenting gifts, overall it was just OK. There were a lot of "gifts" that were perishable food items that seemed more like something you would bring to share at a party and less like a "gift." The photos in the book are beautiful and it does inspire you to wrap homemade gifts in a prettier way, but I didn't find too many new gift ideas.

[June Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book with unique, clever recipes and gift-wrapping ideas!

The author obviously loves cooking and gifting her kitchen creations. Her writing tone is warm and friendly. I also liked the fact tht she used easily-sourced or repurposed items for the wrapping of her food products.

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I borrowed this book from the 'New Book' shelf at our local public library.

[Domenica Galluccio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book with wonderful ideas for gifting food. The recipes are accessible but with little twists that make it her own (if a banana bread recipe can be life changing, this one is it). I appreciate the details about prettily packaging things up for gift giving. Make a recipe for a loved one - gift the book while you’re at it.

[pianogal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author and I do have the same aesthetic when it comes to fun food presents. Some of her packaging ideas are insane. However, there were a couple of ideas here and there that I might try. We'll have to see.

Not bad, just not to my taste.

[Ambur Taft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes and awesome packaging ideas.....great motivation for homemade gift giving and potluck sharing - or at least the presentation of gifts and the grouping of things to bring to potlucks if you are not into the "making" portion.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely recipes for gift-y food items with pretty ideas for wrapping them. Now I know how to preserve the remaining lemon halves to use them later! And how to make gourmet popcorn--with chocolate and coconut! Etc. Do you think that I'll get around to trying to make orange marmalade? Maybe?

[Ericka Thompson]

This book was great to flip through and gave me some great ideas for gift giving of food. I have given food in the past and love to have new ideas of how to give and for little special add-ons to make a food gift extra special. Plus some great recipes didn't hurt, either.

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas for the most part and I liked the addition of how everything could be wrapped for a gift, but some of the food options I would never make for myself, never mind gifting them to someone

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of things I'd like to try, I just don't want to mess up the library's copy. I think my foodie friends would really like it.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of yummy recipes in this book.

[Annmarie Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Ideas but nothing really new.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

simple syrup recipes/sweet & salty pantry cookies