Salad tongs....really???

[willow33]

My husband's family does a name swap for Christmas. Santa visits on Christmas Eve and everyone...including adults...go up and sit on his lap and get their swap gift. I was given our names last week and we got two of dh's aunts. So I called my MIL and asked for ideas for one of the aunts. She got back to me today and said that this aunt wants salad tongs. Really? I will certainly buy them, but it seems like such a boring, practical gift to give. Any ideas to add to it? She's tough to buy for.

I feel like I never get the "good names" for the swap either. You know...the people that are easy and fun to buy for!!

[crl]

How about a pretty wood salad bowl? Or some gourmet salad dressings?

Catherine

[twowhat?]

How about a pretty wood salad bowl? Or some gourmet salad dressings?

Catherine

That's what I would do too. Accompany the salad tongs (LOL!) with something fun and salad-related. A nice bowl, a salad dressing mixer for those custom dressings, a salad "cookbook", maybe a little basket of "luxurious" jarred salad fixings, like artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, good olives, etc.

[cono0507]

I agree - add a great salad bowl and a salad dressing mixer like Pampered Chef's Mix, measure and pour (I love that thing!). Or perhaps oil and vinegar cruets?

[bigsis]

My husband's family does a name swap for Christmas. Santa visits on Christmas Eve and everyone...including adults...go up and sit on his lap and get their swap gift. I was given our names last week and we got two of dh's aunts. So I called my MIL and asked for ideas for one of the aunts. She got back to me today and said that this aunt wants salad tongs. Really? I will certainly buy them, but it seems like such a boring, practical gift to give. Any ideas to add to it? She's tough to buy for.

I guess I would be more like your aunt. I would prefer the boring, useful gifts than anything that I would have to find use and a place for. I say get her what she wants, maybe 2-3 different kinds of it. At least you know she will be using it and not collecting dust. ;)

[AbbysMom]

I've been asking for Crate and Barrel dishtowels for years now from a couple different people. I must be like your aunt :) Now I know why no one will get me them!

I'd get her a pretty salad bowl, tongs and dish towels.

[m448]

Get her this


http://www.elderluxe.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=489&DEPARTMENT_ID=122

[urquie]

this is not very exciting, but i love these tongs (http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Grips-12-Inch-Stainless-Steel-Locking/dp/B00004OCK1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289262888&sr=8-1), and would love to have received them as a gift (and plan on giving my mom a pair)! after having two pairs of very lame tongs, i bought this pair as recommended by america's test kitchen. maybe you could pair them with some nice wooden salad serving tongs.

[crayonblue]

I asked for salad tongs one year. :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

I wouldn't get the salad bowl. If she needed one she would have asked for one. odds are she has one since she wants the tongs. My kitchen is totally over run by bowls (serving, mixing...) and am coming from an anti bowl position. :) I have no where to store yet another bowl, especially one that may not really go with anything I have or be my style. Too big an item to have to receive if not really desired, imo.

I really like the gourmet dressing idea or some other related consumable. Maybe some dried cherries to put in salads from Cherry Republic?

Beth

[liamsmom]

I wouldn't get the salad bowl. If she needed one she would have asked for one. odds are she has one since she wants the tongs. My kitchen is totally over run by bowls (serving, mixing...) and am coming from an anti bowl position. :) I have no where to store yet another bowl, especially one that may not really go with anything I have or be my style. Too big an item to have to receive if not really desired, imo.

I really like the gourmet dressing idea or some other related consumable. Maybe some dried cherries to put in salads from Cherry Republic?

Beth

:yeahthat: I'm sure she's been meaning to buy salad tongs forever, and that's why she opted to just ask for them for Christmas. Salad dressing, dried fruit or nuts, herbs(?) might be nice accompaniments. Maybe she'd also like some cooking tongs--like the kind the pros use?

[Jo..]

I would get some really, really nice tongs. Like kick ass ones you would never buy for yourself because they are such a splurge.

[Jo..]

this is not very exciting, but i love these tongs (http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Grips-12-Inch-Stainless-Steel-Locking/dp/B00004OCK1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289262888&sr=8-1), and would love to have received them as a gift (and plan on giving my mom a pair)! after having two pairs of very lame tongs, i bought this pair as recommended by america's test kitchen. maybe you could pair them with some nice wooden salad serving tongs.


We have THREE pairs of these tongs we love them so much. We use them for everything (almost never salad), and two are always in the dishwasher.

[Corie]

this is not very exciting, but i love these tongs (http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Grips-12-Inch-Stainless-Steel-Locking/dp/B00004OCK1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289262888&sr=8-1), and would love to have received them as a gift (and plan on giving my mom a pair)! after having two pairs of very lame tongs, i bought this pair as recommended by america's test kitchen. maybe you could pair them with some nice wooden salad serving tongs.

My DH has 2 of these tongs. He uses them when he makes his awesome
barbecue ribs.

[newnana]

Naturally, I agree with Jo. Kick azz tongs that are a splurge that you would never get for yourself. And I love those OXO ones.

I would also consider getting her a pretty serving set of salad tongs for fancier meals if she's into setting a pretty table. As much as I love the OXO ones for their practicality, I'd never hear the end of it from my family if I served a holiday meal with those.

Silver plate will get destroyed with some dressings, but a very nice stainless steel can still be pretty:
http://www.amazon.com/Oneida-Raffia-2-Inch-Stainless-Steel/dp/B00004RC5A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1289268901&sr=8-2
or
http://www.mikasa.com/Living-Basic-Salad-Tongs/5036724,default,pd.html

They should have some nice Gorham at Home Goods or some place like that.

Get one uber pretty, one uber functional maybe?

[srhs]

We have THREE pairs of these tongs we love them so much. We use them for everything (almost never salad), and two are always in the dishwasher.


My DH has 2 of these tongs. He uses them when he makes his awesome
barbecue ribs.


this is not very exciting, but i love these tongs (http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Grips-12-Inch-Stainless-Steel-Locking/dp/B00004OCK1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289262888&sr=8-1), and would love to have received them as a gift (and plan on giving my mom a pair)! after having two pairs of very lame tongs, i bought this pair as recommended by america's test kitchen. maybe you could pair them with some nice wooden salad serving tongs.
Love those! Always in use! I actually prefer our shorter ones to our longer ones. So, you could do two sizes. I do agree with Beth, though, to skip the bowl.

[infomama]

We have these and they are wonderful. http://www.woodspoon.com/widefoldingsaladforks1.aspx
They fold flat.

[amldaley]

We use tongs ALOT here. I would get her a set of nice ones, like Oneida, or even a set by Wilton Armetele and then maybe a practical set by Kitchen Aide.

Agree not to get salad bowl, but I do think you could dress it up with some dish towels, dressings or even a nice apron.

[kijip]

There is a websbout all about salad tongs.

http://saladtongs.org/about/

You can read a few fairly detailed blog posts about the different types and tips on finding the best ones.

There is a website for everything it would seem.

[amldaley]

There is a website with more than you ever wanted to know about salad tongs.

http://saladtongs.org/about/

You can read fairly detailed blog posts about the different types and tips on finding the best ones.

There is a website for everything it would seem.

:hysterical: I especially LOVE that is a .org!!!!!!!

[kijip]

Here is a set

http://www.surlatable.com/product/id/128798.do?affsrcid=Aff0001

[jent]

We have these and they are wonderful. http://www.woodspoon.com/widefoldingsaladforks1.aspx
They fold flat.

I was just about to post the same ones!

I heart my folding wood salad tongs, although they are not as nice quality as the ones from Jonathan's Spoons.

If you search wood salad tongs on Etsy you will also find a lot there.

[essnce629]

I ask for "boring" kitchen stuff for Christmas every year! Last year I got a paper towel holder, spaghetti spoon, spaghetti holder, and some other kitchen stuff off my Amazon wishlist and was so happy! If that's what she wants, get it for her! But yeah, I'd probably include a really pretty salad bowl and maybe a cookbook. My mom has a salad cookbook from William Sonoma that my DBF got her and she loves it (lots of great pictures). This one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074322440X

[Melanie]

I feel like I never get the "good names" for the swap either. You know...the people that are easy and fun to buy for!!

I hear you! And it's usually aunts, too. I will confess that one year I pretended I pulled my own name out of the hat just to avoid having that person, in our family, for the second year in a row!

[KrisM]

I wouldn't get the salad bowl. If she needed one she would have asked for one. odds are she has one since she wants the tongs. My kitchen is totally over run by bowls (serving, mixing...) and am coming from an anti bowl position. :) I have no where to store yet another bowl, especially one that may not really go with anything I have or be my style. Too big an item to have to receive if not really desired, imo.

I really like the gourmet dressing idea or some other related consumable. Maybe some dried cherries to put in salads from Cherry Republic?

Beth

I agree. If she wanted a bowl, she'd ask for one.

[egoldber]

Another one who loves/prefers practical gifts. :wavey: I say get her what she wants and try not to overthink it.

ETA: The tongs I have are like the Oxo tongs above. I actually have them in three sizes, small, medium and large and I use all 3 for different things.

You could also include a few of these: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyssaladdressingbase.html

[WatchingThemGrow]

I agree. She probably does not want the bowl also, just the tongs. I, too, have the shorter OXO tongs and find them AMAZING.

Although...you may want to consider something....is she the type to want some pretty/fancy ones for serving salad with her fancier dinnerware. Or, do you think she just wants everyday tongs?

Could you call to see if she wants fancy or every day tongs?

[willow33]

Wow! Thank you so much for all your suggestions. I called MIL again after seeing all the tong options and found out she wants the scissor type with the spoon and fork on the ends. And she does have a wonderful wooden salad bowl already.

I love the salad cookbook and maybe a pretty new apron. She definitely wears an apron at family parties :)

[newg]

We are also a family with different types of tongs, depending on what they are needed for.........my mom is too. She even has a special pair for serving asparagus. My favorite for serving salads is the connected spoon/fork kind.

[PAfirsttimemom]

Not sure if I've seen this suggestion in the other posts, but a salad spinner would be a nice coordinating gift, too. I don't think everyone in the older generation is familiar with these, and they can be so useful. I love mine! I think it is an OXO.

[DebbieJ]

I agree - add a great salad bowl and a salad dressing mixer like Pampered Chef's Mix, measure and pour (I love that thing!). Or perhaps oil and vinegar cruets?

Pampered Chef has two different Bamboo Salad Tong options as well. They have a salad cookbook too.

[Jen841]

I like to buy nice/splurge salad tongs for people. I got a nice stainless set from PB outlet years ago and they wash well in the dishwasher. In return I got some for my MIL.

I would get what she wants, a nice set. They do have the fun seasonal ones, you could add to the set with some seasonal sets (I love my pewter christmas stocking pair!)

IMO another filler item would be a good pepper mill and a salt mill.