sorry for the confusion .. these are not xmas cookies .... the posts on xmas cookies was just the stimulus for the recollection .... these are just darn good cookies.. IMHO .... its near 50 .. so we opted to to take down the outdoor lights .... will save baking for a cold miserable MI day ... we made a double batch of paper this, rolled sugar/butter cookies... i roll .. they sprinkle ... gave 75% away to teachers and neighbors ... still have one half to do ... will freeze for months ... ken

I thought of this thread recently when I received a gift from a houseguest. As is so often the case, I think this really comes down to how you feel about the person and the circumstances, not some rule or principle about whether it is okay to regift. How would you feel about this gift: a bracelet (fashion, not fine jewelry), that I have very good reason to believe was a gift his wife received but didn't want? I think many people would think that's terrible. But I appreciated and loved it, and here are the details that both explain why I think it is probably a "regift" and that may make you feel different, as I do: - this is a very close friend, like a brother, and we love his wife, too. We even went on their honeymoon with them! - The day before he started on his trip, he asked me what I wanted him to bring (he lives in Israel and sometimes there is something I need that is hard to find here. We are way past the formal "hostess gift" stage, but Israelis ALWAYS seem to bring a present). He joked that it had to be something he could get at the airport duty free shop, though, because he had severely broken his foot and really couldn't go shopping. I didn't need anything anyway, so I told him to forget it. - His wife is a plastic surgeon whose patients -- especially the breast cancer ones -- absolutely ADORE her. Their house and her office are always filled with cakes, flowers, and gifts. The bracelet was in a box from a store in a far from theirs and to which I can't imagine them going to shop. - She is really, really tiny, and the largeish bracelet probably wouldn't look good on her. And of course she can't wear bracelets while she works. So I'm guessing that they really did want to give me something, it wasn't practical for either of them to shop at the last minute, I told them no when he asked if there was anything I wanted, and they figured that I might like the bracelet, which she wasn't going to wear anyway (or maybe even she loved it and she would have worn it, but she shared it with me instead anyway). I even like to think that they realized I might figure it out, but they feel close enough to me and think enough of me to know I wouldn't mind at all but would understand. I even like to think something like this is what happened, because it speaks of intimacy -- it's the kind of thing you could do with a sister but not with a new acquaintance. The bracelet is pretty and I am enjoying it, most of all because I feel loved and trusted when I wear it.

When I was in graduate school I was literally living hand-to-mouth. At the library I discovered a great new poet I knew my father would love, but I couldn't afford the $20 for the book, even if I'd been able to order it somewhere. (This was computer/pre-internet days, at least for me.) So I painstakingly typed out the whole manuscript on my rinky-dinky work processor, printed it out and sewed it into folios, then bound it in a pasteboard cover with handmade paper. He still has it beside his bed, more than 15 years later! My best gift came from my younger sister, when I had my first post-college radio job, working over night at a station 20 miles away. She bought a large cosmetics bag, then bought a sheaf of inexpensive washclothes, little soap, a little bottle of moisturizer, a travel toothbrush and toothpaste. She also bought a case of ramen noodles and cup-o-soups. When I'd leave for work at 2am, I'd get a fresh washcloth and a noodle snack, and be able to have something to eat, and freshen up before the rest of the day staff arrived at 8. I used that little travelling case for nearly ten years!

I feel your pain/indecision about your gift. My Nana cooked with a pressure cooker on a regular basis so I didn't have the "fear" of it as so many do but I sure had fear about making something safe for my family due to my incompetence with canning. I disagree somewhat with the others (who know way more than me), I would keep the gift and follow all guidelines and instructions from the canner manual and approved recipes. Yes, you can can many yummy things in the water bath and you should start there but you won't know until you try with the pressure canner. As Dave has said, Ball's Blue Book is one of the safe and approved sources for recipes, so try to follow them. There are a lot of sources online who have really yummy sounding recipes but they are NOT approved. Just because someone proclaims that their Grandma did the same recipe and nobody died from it....there has been research since Grandma's day and there is always that risk. I would like to encourage you to come here and ask questions. Sometimes you may get a response that you don't necessarily like (found a recipe you think sounds awesome but it is taken down here) but we are favored here with several experts who will tell it like it is. I appreciate safety above all. Don't be scared to try, is what I'm trying to say:) Lori