Ask Present Professor: The Out-of-Towners

Beth writes:

I’m dealing with multiple out of town families…. All transplanted new yorkers. Modest budget, we are in a recession. No, really, just a gift to say, hey –thinking of you. In years past I’ve done juniors cheesecakes, cannoli’s from little italy, family board games…. That sort of thing.

Beth, when I first read your request, all I could think of was pancakes. I think I probably wanted pancakes at the time and secretly thought I could sneak onto your gift list, recommend a tasty breakfast gift box, and enjoy my ill-gotten flapjacks in the comfort of my kitchen nook with no one ever knowing. Then I realized I am not the pancake equivalent of the Hamburglar, and there are easier ways to go about satisfying a breakfast craving.

And yet, I stay with my original thought: pancakes. And syrup. Maple syrup. Real maple syrup. It may not sound like much of a gift, but that’s because you’re probably used to grocery store, synthetic syrup. But the real thing is a true treat. My suggestion: Head to your local Whole Foods or other gourmet or health store. Find a bottle of 100% maple syrup you think is pretty and falls within in your price range. Then, add a package of gourmet pancake mix (AKA do NOT gift someone with a shake-it-up box of Bisquick) and perhaps a copy of  the book If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Fill a box with that pretty colored crinkly paper, and send. There. You’ve just treated your friends to an amazing wintertime breakfast. And if any of them are longing for a more New York-centric gift, perhaps remind them of the mysterious syrup smell that occasionally descends upon the city that never sleeps.