Our friends showed up at our front door with a large, heaping grocery bag.
Happy Kitchen Housewarming! they said.
I love surprises like this!
Inside the bag were ingredients like fresh ground beef, fresh pasta, ungrated parmesan cheese, pancetta, and red wine – along with a copy of the recipe using all of these food items to make Beef Bolognese Sauce!
Absolutley creative and thoughtful!
A few days later our family enjoyed a meal of Beef Bolognese Sauce with Pancetta and Red Wine. Utterly delicious.
Super duper yummy. (I added my frozen roasted tomatoes!)
And it created a memorable time in the kitchen for Paul and me making the meal together. (And it made me think of Julie and Julia!)
It was also a reminder for our family of good friends.
I’m not sure I’ve taken a Kitchen-Warming gift to anyone. But now that I’ve experienced the element of surprise and the fun involved, I’m going to keep this idea in mind.
Besides, I love taking surprise gifts to others.
When is the last time you thought of something creative to give to a friend?
(Thank you Stephen and Judy, for this gift!)
Hi, I'm Sandy. Five years ago I stocked up on beautiful glasses from the Dollar Store. As I started writing about dinner parties, I realized that this “icon” portrays a great message. It says that dinner parties are attainable, they are affordable, and that they can be beautiful even when on a budget. 
How exstremely thoughtful!!! I love gifts like that Sandy. How fun to get in the kitchen with hubby and whip that up together. I loved Julie and Julie such a great movie.
.-= Tina @ Mommy’s Kitchen´s last blog ..Super Easy Homemade Granola =-.
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Makes me hungry for pasta!
.-= Annie @ astonesthrowfrominsanity´s last blog ..All washed up! =-.
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Any chance we could get the recipe? We have a lot of snow headed our way this weekend and this looks like the perfect thing to warm us up!
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This was such an awesome idea!
You know, life has been so hectic that I haven’t done anything really creative lately. But, this has me thinking.
Any chance you would share the recipe? This looks amazing.
.-= Suzann´s last blog ..I’m Dreaming Of A White Kitchen… =-.
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One year for Christmas I gave all of the ingredients and the instructions for homemade laundry soap! Does that count???
.-= Cindy (FarmgirlCyn)´s last blog ..EASY-PEASY HOMEMADE YOGURT =-.
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Funny that Julia’s husband’s name was Paul, too! I have to confess, even though I am Italian, I’ve never cooked with pancetta – I always cook with turkey bacon because I can’t afford the good stuff! Those are true friends to buy you pancetta.
.-= Jessica @ This Blessed Life´s last blog ..My French-Inspired "Mantel" =-.
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This is an outstanding idea! Sometimes you think you don’t have enough time to cook for someone else but buying the ingredients and giving it, is way better than doing nothing. This is why I’m glad I started blogging, to get so many great ideas from others. Thanks!
DomesticProductions.blogspot.com
.-= Laurie Mitchell´s last blog ..Roasted Tomato Salsa & Spicy Chipotle Salmon Spread =-.
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What an absolutley fabulous idea! How sweet of your friends to put this together!
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What great friends! I love this idea!
I love taking surprise gifts to friends. It’s so much fun to celebrate something special. I make a chocolate pound cake that I deliver to many of my friends on their birthdays. . . although I guess that’s not much of a surprise any more.
You’ve made me want to stock up on little “happies” (that looks funny; it’s the plural of “happy,” which was my mom’s word for small gift) that I can deliver to friends. Just imagine. . . congratulations on finishing potty training! Or on your kid’s getting accepted to college! It’s fun to have friends at different ages and stages.
Hope you have a WONDERFUL time at BlissDom!
.-= Richella´s last blog ..A special day =-.
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How awesome. I will admit I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that creative, but I love it.
.-= Kirstin´s last blog ..Our Week =-.
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I don’t know how creative it was, but recently a friend’s daughter had surgery on both feet (she’s a teenager) and I just wanted to take her something. The thought of being unable to walk at that age, just got to me. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got her a fabulously soft throw (I think it might’ve been twin size) that was white w/pretty polka dots and tossed it in a gift bag w/4 of those tubes of mini M’nM’s (she has 3 siblings) and dropped it off. I was nervous she wouldn’t like it – who knows what teenagers like anyway – but I hoped she would at least know we were thinking of her. Turns out she reallly liked it and stayed snuggled up under it during her recovery time. Whew!!
.-= Catherine´s last blog ..Where are y’all from? =-.
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Oh my gosh, my mouth is watering…and what a GREAT idea!!!
.-= the BLAH BLAH BLAHger´s last blog ..Front Loader Problem and Solution! =-.
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I love taking food to friends and family. One creative idea my friends liked was this: I bought fresh basil plants from Trader Joes, made homemade pesto, then I wrapped several plants with pink tissue paper and garden twine, placed vintage plant markers into the plant, packaged the pesto and made fun labels…I added fresh focaccia dough and parmesan cheese…for pesto “pizza”! was so much fun! I also included the recipes in little pink envelopes! It was the gift that kept giving.
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How thoughtful! That’s an inspirational idea.
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I am a major foodie and would LOVE a gift like this-how great!
You have received the Sunshine Award for your amazing blog-I love it!
Check it out here:
http://threelittlebirdsboutique.blogspot.com/
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Hi Sandy, first let me say that I love your blog. Your ideas are wonderful and I appreciate you sharing them all. Now, I am trying to find a post that you previously did with melting kisses on pretzels?? Am I crazy? I can’t seem to find that post. Thanks for your help. Becki
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What wonderful friends you have Sandy and what a wonderful idea! The meal looked delish!
I’m in the process of trying to make creative, fun Valentine’s gifts for family and friends now. I think I get more enjoyment out of making them than they do receiving them!
.-= Linda´s last blog ..Photo Resolution 2010 =-.
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This is an awesome gift idea! And as my spahetti boils, I’m sure wanting this delicious dish instead.
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yum!
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..table =-.
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Such a fantastic idea!!! Keep those friends on your Christmas card list!
xx
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That is so thoughtful.
Having my first “balcony girls” meeting next week.
I thought Valentines theme would be a great start. Loving one another.
Making a beautiful pink treat.
They will go home with a recipe card.
Thanks for all your encouragement via the blog!
.-= Hopefull´s last blog ..hello buttercup =-.
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This is such a fantastic idea. How exciting for you to receive it…and I’m sure for them, putting it together for you.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..New Project! =-.
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I absolutely adore this idea and have to borrow it…
.-= Courtney´s last blog ..um, what will it be like searching for colleges… =-.
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Hi Sandy, I made bolognese sauce a few weeks back, but used ground turkey, funny the recipe didn’t call for pancetta – I bet that would have made it as wonderful as your photos show…great idea from a friend-I did make nutella brownies yesterday to send up to my daughter at college!
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Love these thoughtful gifts ~ and I enjoy giving them. You have a treasure trove of wonderful neighbors!
.-= Pat´s last blog ..~ Layered Dessert ~ =-.
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Love it! What a great idea.
I stumbled across your blog. So glad I did! Will be visiting often.
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