Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. After all my hunting, I messaged my sister yesterday to get some input regarding how much 'goodies' she could withstand (she's recently lost some weight). She messaged me back that she thought we were sending each other gift cards which would be used to buy special celebration food items. Okay, I can go with that -much easier! But thank you -I've filed all of these away, and will most definitely be making use of them in the future.

We had the same problem for years. We have a group of seven couples (all close in age). We would take trips together once every year or so but during the year we would take turns hosting a monthly dinner. Of course this always necessitated a hostess gift. All of us are comfortably off and at our age have everything (material) that we want or need. It drove me crazy because I was constantly being gifted with craft type items. I am just not into cutesy things and I had a difficult time coming up with items that I thought the other ladies would enjoy or use. I failingly ended up giving food items or fresh flowers. We all finally came to a consensus that we should stop doing hostess gifts and at Christmas put funds together to donate to a charity. Thank goodness! The pressure every month is off and we can give to those in need. It's a win/win.

Lucky you to be in Vegetable Heaven! I would be attacking that basket. First, broccoli-cheddar chowder for your friend. I'll take the cabbages and use them, along with some of the carrots and peppers, to make one of our favorite coleslaws. I'll leave the jalapenos for someone else. COLORFUL COLESLAW 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup cider vinegar 3/4 tsp. celery seeds 2 tsp. dried mustard 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper 1/2 head green cabbage, cut into thin shreds 1/2 head red cabbage, cut into thin shreds 1 carrot peeled and coarsely grated 1 small onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced 1 green pepper, seeded and halved crosswise and thinly sliced 1 sweet red pepper, seeded and halved crosswise and thinly sliced Put red cabbage in a storage container in the refrigerator. Combine oil, sugar and vinegar in small nonaluminum saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 5 minutes and add celery seeds, mustard, salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl except for red cabbage. Pour dressing over vegetables and toss. Chill covered for at least four hours, or preferably overnight, stirring occasionally. Add red cabbage about an hour before serving. 12 servings. Note: You can add the red cabbage at the same time as the green but since the color will bleed out of it over time (no change in flavor), the presentation is prettier if you add it right before serving. Next, the green and yellow squashes would be "stringed" and steamed in the microwave. When done, stir in some of the chopped scallions and parsley. (squash in the pic has dried cranberries) Some of the tomatoes and the rest of the cabbage and carrots would go into a bean soup made with turkey kielbasa. A half recipe of this salad would use up the cucumber, some of the tomato and parsley, and you could substitute lime juice for the lemon. TURKISH SHEPHERD'S SALAD 3 large tomatoes 2 medium size cucumbers 2 medium size Green Peppers 1 large red onion 1/2 bunch Parsley 7- 8 sprigs fresh mint 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt (or less to taste) Sumac powder * (This is not a marinated-type salad and is best when all the ingredients are chopped and mixed close to serving time.) Wash the vegetables; peel and halve cucumbers, removing seeds; remove stems and seeds of the green peppers, and remove the surplus parts of onion, parsley and the mint. Chop the onions, green peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers into cubes about 1 cm. in size (between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.). Finely chop the mint and parsley. Add lemon juice and salt to olive oil, whisk well and pour over the salad immediately before serving. Sprinkle lightly with sumac powder. *Note: if you don�t have sumac powder, increase the lemon juice to 2 Tbs. Gellchom, have fun with your lovely basket ingredients.

Mmmm...when it comes to veggies, I often think Indian: Rasedar (vegetables in cumin scented tomato gravy) 2 T ghee or vegetable oil 1 t cumin seeds 1 T peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger 1 T ground coriander 1 1/2 t ground cumin 3/4 t ground tumeric 1/2 t cayenne pepper 1 c (5 oz) peeled, chopped boiling potatoes 2 tomatoes, pureed 2 c chopped mixed veggies 2 c water or chicken stock 1 1/2 t salt, or to taste 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro Over a medium high heat, saute the cumin seeds until they turn dark brown (about 15 seconds). Stir in the ginger, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric and cayenne. Stir for a few seconds and then add potatoes, tomatoes, vegetables, water or stock and salt. Bring to a boil over a high heat, reduce to low, cover and cook until the vegetables are quite soft, about 15 minutes. With the back of a spoon, crush some of the vegetables to thicken the sauce. Correct for seasonings, and serve sprinkled with cilantro...if you loathe cilantro, some parsley or mint would be nice...maybe fresh dill) (For your purposes, I would use a mixture of cauliflower, broccoli, yams and peppers for this dish) Punjabi Cabbage 1/2 onion, roughly chopped 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 1 or 2 green chili (such as serrano), seeded chopped (optional) 4 T ghee or veg oil 1 t cumin seeds 1 t ground tumeric 1 lb green cabbage, finely shredded 1 t salt 1/2 t black pepper 2 t ground cumin 1 t ground coriander 1/4 t chili powder 1 T butter Put the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies in a food processor and chop until finely chopped but not a paste. Heat the ghee or oil over low heat and fry the onion mixture until it softens. Add the cumin seeds and turmeric to the pan and stir for one minute. Mix in the cabbage, and mix well. Add salt, pepper, ground cumin, coriander and chili powder. Stir to coat the cabbage, then cook for 10 minutes, partially covered, stirring occasionally until the cabbage is soft. If the cabbage starts sticking to the pan you can add a tablespoon or so of water. Stir in the butter and add salt to taste. Radish Salad 1 1/2 c small radishes, quartered 1 T oil 1/4 t cumin seeds 1/4 t mustard seeds (preferably brown, but yellow is fine) pinch of asafoetida (you can sub a pinch of garlic powder) 1/4 t ground turmeric 1/4 t salt 1 T lemon juice 2/3 c roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped Heat oil over medium heat. Add cumin and mustard seeds, cover and shake the saucepan until the seeds start to pop. Add the asafoetida, turmeric and salt to the pan and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and allow to cool. Just before serving, arrange the radishes and peanuts in a bowl, pour the dressing over and mix thoroughly. Radish Leaf Soup If your radish leaves are fresh, I would start with a cream of radish leaf soup. I don't really have a recipe as I just make it, but... Chop a smallish onion, a stick of celery and a large peeled potato, diced small in butter over a medium heat until the veggies soften and are just starting to turn golden. Add 4 c of chicken or vegetable stock, bring to a boil and reduce to a fast simmer. While the vegetables are simmering, sort your leaves, discarding any that are yellowed. Wash them very well and chop coarsely. If you don't have at least 2 cups of packed leaves, augment them with some frozen spinach or other green. You didn't say whether your carrots had greens, those would be ideal. When the veggies are soft, add the greens and cook until softened, but still bright green. Puree the mixture in a blender or with a stick blender and add a cup or two (to taste) of half and half or if you're feeling really decadent, heavy cream. Season with white pepper and salt to taste. This will not make a really thick soup, relying as it does on the potato and pureed veggies for thickening so if you really prefer cream soups to be thick, you can thicken it with roux at the stage just before you add the greens...you don't want to cook the greens too long and lose that fresh flavor. Pomegranate Raita 2 c good quality, plain yogurt (preferably NOT low fat) 1 or 2 pomegranates...depending on size. (You should have about 3/4 c seeds to mix in, a couple of tablespoons for garnish, and a couple more tablespoons to make a bit of juice.) 1/2 c thinly sliced green onions (or more or less, depending on your taste for onions) 1 t salt 1 t sugar Mix the pomegranate seeds, onions, salt and sugar with the yogurt, reserving the ones for garnish and juice. Squeeze the ones you reserved for juice carefully and add the juice to the raita (mostly to give it a nice, pink color). Sprinkle the reserved seeds on top. I often add julienne mint or cilantro to this raita, occasionally toasted cumin/mustard seeds. Some people add chilis to their raita, but I generally want it as a cooling agent when I serve spicy hot curries or dals so I leave that out. This raita will go well served on the side of your vegetables in the tomato gravy, especially if you make it spicy. By the way, in case you don't already know this...the easy way to take apart your pomegranates is in a large bowl of water. Under water, cut out the blossom end. Then using your thumbs in the hole, pull the fruit apart and start to break up the sections and push the seeds out. The good seeds will sink, and the membrane and pith float. Easier to separate them that way, and not as messy! How about some Carrot Halva for dessert? 2 lbs carrots, coarsely grated 4 c milk 1/3 c ghee or veg oil 1 c sugar 2/3 c raisins (I like dried cranberries for this) 1 t cardamom seeds, finely ground 1/2 c slivered almonds ground cardamom Simmer the carrots in the milk until the carrots are tender and the milk evaporates. This must be done slowly or the mixture will burn. Add the ghee or oil and cook until the carrots start to brown. Add sugar and cook until the mixture is thick and dry. Add raisins, cardamom and almonds. Serve hot in small bowls, with whipped cream or ice cream and sprinkle with ground cardamom. There, all you need is basmati rice on the side. I would probably add a simple dish of dal as well, since I have a hard time eating Indian food without it. Did I miss anything?