Secret Santa - Food52 Style

bstar, I didn't take a picture of my secret santa's gift when I received it (tore into the package before the thought of taking pics came to mind!) .. Can I send you pictures of what I sent?

Yay! As soon as I found out you were from New Orleans I knew you would love the caramels...although they don't even come close to real pralines. PS- My aunt lives there and her husband is a waiter at Arnaud's...I've never been but have the cookbook. Coincidentally, my other (Colombian) aunt told me over the weekend how to make tostones puff up like pommes souffles! Can't wait to try it. Apparently, the secret is to salt them between fryings.

Cool! Thanks so much!

toffee not tofee, thank you again.

Yes, still waiting.

Yes, still waiting.

I am not waiting, AJ, but I have been worried since last Friday because I had not heard from the person I was privileged to send my gifts to. I had all kinds of worries - 'what if it broke' 'what if she hates it' 'what if everything spoiled'..... And finally I got a message and she recieved it and loved it.

It will come - and if for some reason it doesn't (which I don't believe for a minute) I will send you one! Santa Claus will not forget you. And same to Summer of Eggplant!

I'm still waiting as well.

Yes, I am still waiting but I see my recipient received her surprises!!I

Yay! I'm so glad!! I was a bit worried about all the jars banging together. But looks like all is fine. Hope you enjoy it!

the only thing i will not enjoy is running out of them!

Oops! The message above is really from me, avimom. I didn't realize the last person to visit Food52 on my iPad was my friend brooklynsam. Guess I'll be sharing with you now, brooklynsam!

Nice to see you, Anita! Thanks for the light!

Bevi, I love your new profile pic. Hope you had as much fun as I did at the Bazaar. Great to see you again!

So glad you liked it. My husband said I put more effort into the Secret Santa box then his birthday present! It was so much fun putting it together. I meant to include a paper with all the details of each item but I ran out of time. The ginger molasses cookies are Taste Food's recipe from this site, the rugelach is my Great Grandmother Ida's recipe (found the recipe for the first time while at my parent's house over Thanksgiving), the almond cookies are indeed Flo Brakers, granola is my recipe, tomato marmalade is from www.domenicacooks.com, cherry chutney is adapted from dymnyno 's recipe on this site, jalapeno relish is from www.foodiewithfamily.com, and the plum sauce is from Mrs. Wheelbarrow. Happy Holidays!

Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive! Melissav!! I opened my refrigerator and found ancho chili bark! You are amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

@Hilarybee, I hope your package arrives soon and safely. I used usps also and did delivery confirmation the gods were smiling because it was delivered exactly when it was supposed to be. @AntoniaJames, how wonderful a holiday treat exchange what a wonderful idea. It is kind of exciting you are right, I feel like a child waiting for Christmas Day to come. Thanks everyone!

all jars arrived safe and sound, hilarybee! many thanks! how did you know i have a very weak spot for damson plums? : )

And I'm waiting too! But I must say, this is the most like waiting for Santa I've experienced since I was a little kid, and I kind of love it. I've organized a within-our-immediate-family (sons, Mr. T and me) Secret Santa holiday treat exchange, our first ever, while waiting for my FOOD52 Santa to deliver. The boys don't return from college until next week. It should be so interesting, and so fun. ;o)

I'm waiting too. Very excited.

don't feel bad sdebrango. i'm still waiting too!

The mail is getting delayed. It will come!

And me too! But shipping takes a while to get to Canada. :) Agree that all of these gifts look both delicious and amazing!!

While I have received mine, I'm waiting to hear from my recipient...I hope they like it!

I'm geting nervous now. Mine hasn't come and we're leaving Thursday and will be gone for a couple weeks...hope it comes tomorrow! Or that it will keep until January!

So glad you finally received it. Hope it arrived intact and that you enjoy the goodies! Happy Holidays!

So cool!

I am so glad you are enjoying!

I saw "The Descendants" today and thought of gingerroot! You are a lucky grl!

So glad you liked it dymnyno, My six year old son was so excited to help put the package together!

Very impressed by USPS.. I sent my package out on Saturday and Its arrived on Monday!

I forgot to add that I sent mine in a flat rate box, priority mail.

Man, I am seriously second-guessing my choice of UPS! They scared the bejesus out of me when they said they couldn't guarantee delivery by the 16th!! I shipped last Friday, too!

What is your etsy chop name?

Bevi, my shop is called Thistle Confections. Here's a link, though I'm closed now to finish Christmas orders and open my farmer's market booth in the early winter. Etsy shop should be open in late February, when my first intern is slated to start work.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/thistleconfections?ref=si_shop

You're welcome! It was so much fun to put together! Like many others, I was a little intimidated by the high bar set by my food52 peers. I told Hilarybee that my goal was just to limbo under that bar! Thanks for organizing this event Enbe! I feel like a kid again, as I watch for the mail every day, awaiting my Secret Santa. The anticipation is half the fun.

Who was it from Aargersi? Just mailed mine out, had to repackage the whole parcel @ the post office. I hope she likes it!

Wonder how long priority mail takes to reach CA?

@Panfusine: Priority mail from the east coast to CA is about 3 days, 4 days max. (Part of my job is packing and shipping coffee.)
@gingerroot: I'm so happy it all worked out perfectly! Happy holidays =)

Hi Panfusine! Mine was from Fivenandspice! Who knew chocolate dipped figs were so delicious? :-) This is so fun!!!

luv u too, luvcookbooks.

I completely understand how this can happen. Completely. Glad you had such a fun time with your grandchildren - and how cool to be able to meet aargersi!!!

Dr Babs' granddaughter is about the cutest thing ever, and Dr B is a complete sweetheart!!!!

Feel intimidated no more, drbabs! Package arrived safe and sound today (Thursday) and I adore everything. You are the best! This came at exactly the perfect moment. More soon... xxx calendargirl

Wow, that was FAST! I'm so happy you like it!
XOXO

My lunch was Cheese Crispettes and Everyone's Favorite White Cookies, sigh.

My feelings exactly. Am waiting to hear the UPS gods did their job for me.

SO, so happy to hear you liked it!!!

Linzarella, I was not the only one who liked your gifts. No more slow roasted pecans - guests devoured them. And the Fig Olive Tapendade is gone with great appreciation and compliments. And the beautiful cloth you put in the gift box was sent to my Secret Santa giftee. The colors are so beautiful. The oragami bird however is all mine! Right on my kitchen counter in a place of honor. And I agree "No matter how many times I do my work, it never stays done for long."

Rut Roh, were we suppose to disclose our real name or screenname on the note inside the package?

Rut Roh, were we suppose to disclose our real name or screenname on the note inside the package?

I included both of my names.

I think it's totally up to you if you wanted to use your real name. Screen name seems like an important detail, so you can hopefully get a message from your recipient via food52!

And I just found the note I thought I had tucked into my package! Yikes. Am now going to message my recipient, so as not to leave her in the dark!!!!

Oh me too! I'm so worried that it wasn't enough and that my candy making skills are subpar! I think it's really the thought that counts though. And the funny thing is, even though I'm worried about the package I sent, I know I'll be thrilled no matter what I get from my secret santa!

I totally feel that way too!

Oh, me too! I've really agonized over what to send mine. She's an amazing cook and amazingly accomplished person, so I'm feeling pretty intimidated. But finally made peace with the fact that it's the thought and all that. Besides, I sincerely hope that enbe has started a new food52 holiday tradition.

Are you kidding, boulangere?!? I can't imagine anyone wouldn't be thrilled to have you as their Secret Santa. I'd bet there are a fair number of people who'd echo your feelings if they had your name (including me!)

I think at some level we all feel that way! I kept changing my mind as I saw things posted here, thinking each time that I wasn't making something special enough. It was a bit of a relief when I got to the UPS place today since I had to let go of it all at that point. Now, I hope it's still good, fresh, and undamaged when it gets to the East Coast from here. B, I can't imagine you ever making something less than amazing and your giftee is one lucky person - and that goes for everyone else here- HLA, 5&S, J and everyone. What an absolutely wonderful thing to be part of !! I too hope this becomes a FOOD52 annual tradition.

I agree, ChezSuzanne. I think we all just really want the person we're gifting to to feel how much we appreciate them and want to give them the best. And, I have a feeling we're all the sort of people who have high expectations of ourselves. But, I think everyone will be excited by their package - I mean, it's so fun just to get a package! - and I soooo hope this will become a tradition!

That's amazing, no? I might start to freak out.

Oh wow! Very impressive, I sure wish Id seen that before I sent mine!

Not weird! Mine is in flight as well and I sure hope my person likes it! I tried to pick good stuff ... but making thinks pretty isn't really my strong suit ....

I feel exactly the same way, HLA. Not weird at all.

I hope your giftee sends pictures!! I'm intrigued about what requires dry ice!

Ugh, it's not pretty, lots of foam and bubble wrap and dry ice. Although I was impressed I could engineer such a box into refrigerated and non refrigerated sections. Let's just hope the whole thing isn't frozen from the dry ice, no one wants frozen grits.

Panfusine, I received your wonderful Secret Santa box today....wonderful cache of great things to eat and drink (and I've already dipped into the cookies) Thank You!

That sounds like the perfect reason to wait! What a treat :)

Yes, they are.

I started shopping and gathering ingredients. Have to get this out by the beginning of next week.

I am going to try to get mine done this weekend too! Not sure how successful I'll be - husband's birthday is this weekend and he's asked for Thanksgiving Dinner (we didn't have Thanksgiving at home this year). So yes, I'm that person making two different stuffings, turkey thighs (I'm not totally insane), mashed pots, cranberry relish and gravy this weekend. Oh and I would really like to come up with something to enter in the contest this week since I've missed the last two. Oh and we have an office party to go to. Oh and there's about 19 thousand loads of laundry to do since we were out of town last weekend. Oh and....I'll just stop there, I'm depressing myself.

I can't tell you how much you made my day, Niknud!!! I'm not making another Thanksgiving meal this weekend, but this reads like my life!! I'm showing this to my husband so he can see I'm not the only one!!

:) Glad someone's enjoying this! Ah, who am I kidding, it's a good life. A hectic, crazy, insane life but a good one for all that.

Agreed! Have a great weekend :-)

Do you mind telling us what you received? That's so cool!

Got it! Is there another site where peeps are signing in? My giftee is someone that has never even submitted a recipe to food52! Can just anyone sign up? How many peeps have signed up?

@dymnyo - A total of 116 peeps signed up - each with a Food52 account as far as I could tell. It's true, quite a few people are fairly new to the site and may not have many recipes up. Others have been around for years but don't have many recipes (like me! I'm mainly a lurker and a recipe user). So it's a really mixed bag. We definitely got people from all over the community, new and old. The matches were randomly generated by some scripts I wrote to automate it so, with the exception of the international senders, it was up to chance who everyone got! Hope that helps!

Also for everyone note: the "cooks" search function remains super buggy. Multiple times I would try to look someone up and not be able to find them, only to get it work a few hours later!!!!

Neither have I, but I bet soon!

I just received my Secret Santa!

Although I have scripts for all the data management, it comes down to cutting and pasting into all the emails. My fingers got tired last night ;) I'm finishing them up today!
Also, I'm also waiting on some confirmations that people will do international shipping before I finish off the list.

Make sure you sign up by tonight!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dC1mazMxc3dRVzZBMW9QQUp4VGNFN0E6MQ#gid=0

Just checked and you're on my spreadsheet- so yes you're signed up! Thanks :)

Thanks for checking enbe!! You're so efficient!!!

Thanks for posting this- I hadn't seen it. I had emailed them but hadn't heard a response back so I wasn't sure if they were interested in advertising about it.

See my answer to Jaynerly. Let me know what you think.

I was thinking about this before I suggested the swap. I think the solution is for me to check with the person who will make your package and see if they are willing and have funds available to ship overseas and find someone who is willing. But that means you might get paired with someone overseas as well. If we have a few people from the UK though, I could also pair you all together. I don't know what the best solution is...

Send a note to the editors -- [email protected] -- and ask them to write a short blog post about it, and to mention it, with a link, in the weekly email newsletter! ;o)

Brilliant, AJ. Enbe - you have a partner mentor in AJ.

Great idea AJ. I just sent an email off.

Ask the editors to mention the pertinent dates in the body of their article - I have already forgotten what the entry and shipping deadlines are!

Yup all of the information will DEFINITELY be passed along to the person sending the package to you. I wouldn't want to take any chances with food allergies. They will also have your contact info in case they need to clarify anything (makes it less secret but avoids bad reactions!)

Already signed up! You rock enbe! Thanks so much for organizing this!

OK, I signed up with googledoc, and am not sure if I am supposed to do something with the SecretSanta site?
This is so much fun - thanks again.

@SKK nope, just sign up on the googledoc. Sorry for the confusion!

hardlikearmour and I have already done the same. This will be fun!

Once we get a few more people and decide to seriously go ahead with this, I'll have everyone email me, assign them a number and use a random number generator for matches (yup I'm a scientist by training) - that way maybe we all get to interact with someone new and no one doesn't get picked. But I'd be happy to do it another way if there's a more preferred suggestion.

That works for me enbe!

There is a great website called www.secretsanta.com that you can enter email addresses into, sign up, and it will automatically generate the matches and email them directly to you - that way one person doesn't have to know all the matches. I've used it for years for my family gift exchanges.

Thats so cool, I like that idea!

That's the spirit! :)