Do you eat gifts of food that you receive during the holidays?

We do not. DH is so fussy about other people preparing his food. Come to think of it so was my Dad.

No. I don't eat anything people give us, unless they are people we know well and we eat at their house and they at ours. Otherwise, we do not. It is sweet and thoughtful of them, but the problem also is there are things I enjoy eating for the holidays, and you can't eat everything. So even if I am not worried about whether they are clean or not, I don't want more salt, fat and sugar to eat--especially at this time.

I think that unless you know people and know what they would want and eat, giving home-cooked food these days is not a good practice. I think you can be pretty sure it is not eaten. No matter what they tell you!

No

I do not eat gifts of home-made food (there are only a few people on my exception list). I always feel bad because someone made it and gave it with love, so I never want to hurt their feelings.

Many years ago I learned that one person’s normal standards in the kitchen can be totally different than another person’s. Here are just two examples that taught me lessons:

I had a job that involved 100% travel, so that meant eating out all of the time. I tended to find a restaurant I liked in a given area and frequent it often – it made me feel at “home.” In one town the restaurant was owned by a darling young couple, about my age. It was a beautiful restaurant and served excellent food, so I really enjoyed going there and got to know the owners very well. The wife invited me to their home for a “girls” garden party she has hosting, and I gladly accepted. She served an incredible feast, with lobster salad, shrimp, sliced steak, salmon, other salads, vegetables, breads, rolls…you name it, she served it. It was delicious and beautiful and I went back for seconds! Well, when we finished dessert, she proudly announced that all of the food was from waste at the restaurant – I thought she meant “soon to expire” food, but she clarified that it all came from food people left on their plates and the scraped it off in the kitchen and boxed it up as leftovers that she re-purposed for our party. I nearly to “returned” the meal on the spot!

On another occasion (when I worked in an office) a friend from work invited me to her home for lunch. When I got there, the cat was sleeping on the kitchen counter, next to the open butter dish (yes, there was cat hair in the butter, it even looked like it had been licked). She had prepared sandwiches, but there were holes in the bread and part of the crust cut-off – she said the bread was moldy, so she just removed the bad parts. Then, a mouse (not a pet) ran across the top of her cupboard and she said they have accepted that the mice share the house with them (the cat wasn’t interested in mousing).

I realize that you never know another person’s “normal” can be so different from your own and if that is important to you, then don’t take chances. So, I never do pot-lucks, never eat home-made food gifts, and am very selective about whose home I will go to for a meal.

I do realize that what goes on in restaurants can be just as bad. When I was just out of college I worked in a restaurant that was known for its excellent French onion soup, served in heavy crocks and covered with cheese melted under the broiler. Customers loved this soup, nearly everyone ordered it. What they did not realize is that no one could get all that gooey cheese off the rim – the dishwashers did not stand there and scrub each rim clean every time, they just put the crocks through the high temperature dishwasher and they were reused over and over (always only for the French onion soup). So, old cheese melted in with new cheese and the process repeated. To this day, I will never order French onion soup when I am out.

Yes...my neighbor makes the most delicious pumpkin roll and gives us one every Christmas. We always look forward to it!

Depends on what it is and who gives it to me. If its terrible tasting cookies from my brother and his wife (they are really bad!), then in the garbage they go. If it's my good friend who I know is a great cook and 'safe' as far as food goes, I'll eat whatever she gives me. On the other hand, my husband, a teacher for years, refused to eat anything that his students would give to him. He would come home with scads of candy, cookies, you name it, even store bought stuff, and he refused to touch any of it.

I don't get food products, almost wish I did. I get bottles of alcohol. I don't drink. I have them stored. And my daughter saw them and asked how old they were. Okay I have been married over 45 years. My question, does alcohol have a life expectancy Perhaps I should throw them out. Not sure. Anyone know.

Even if it comes from someone I care about if after a little taste I do not like out it goes. I am not wasting precious calories on something bad. It is not worth it. If anyone is close at hand and wants it I will give away but most times it just goes to the trash.

Most things I do like and that is what my freezer is for (portion control for later in the year).

On 12/4/2014 bonnielu said:

I don't get food products, almost wish I did. I get bottles of alcohol. I don't drink. I have them stored. And my daughter saw them and asked how old they were. Okay I have been married over 45 years. My question, does alcohol have a life expectancy Perhaps I should throw them out. Not sure. Anyone know.

Just saw your post, I will send you my address.