Gift Ideas (For family)

[P A U L 14]

oh~dang it. i need to know what to get my soon to be korean-russian in laws :[

[P A U L 14]

oh~dang it. i need to know what to get my soon to be korean-russian in laws :[

i was thinking a carton of cigarettes and bottle of Johnnie Walker blue for the dad, still can't decide what is useful/practical for mom.

[oops, sorry about the double post.]

Edited November 15, 2012 by P A U L

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

oh~dang it. i need to know what to get my soon to be korean-russian in laws :[

i was thinking a carton of cigarettes and bottle of Johnnie Walker blue for the dad, still can't decide what is useful/practical for mom.

[oops, sorry about the double post.]

In most parts of Russia cigarettes and alcohol are very cheap. If there is some particular alcohol which is high quality or something, maybe it is good. He may think you are just crazy to pay $70 for a carton of cigarettes instead of $8

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

LOL WHY MAPLE SYRUP!

They love it! My MIL uses it for a sweetener for everything, so does my wife. It is not widely available there (I have never seen it in Ukraine, but maybe it is showing up in some places now, I imagine it is very expensive) It si uniquely "American" or at least "North American", most maple syrup comes from Quebec. Vermont is #1 in US production but pales compared to Quebec which produces some 80% of the world supply!

We use it and Lake Champlain Chocolate as gifts for friends. ALWAYS very well received.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I can't speak for the Russians, but Belarusians go nuts for it.

Ukrainians also, but I also have to agree with the peanut butter suggestion. Alla is not so wild about it but the boys LOVE it. Also good quality fruit preserves are always welcomed. They eat it with a spoon when drinking tea. If you have some source for local, organic, natural preserves, that is great. Something like "Smuckers" would be considered poisonous "chemical food"

Edited November 16, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Ukrainians also, but I also have to agree with the peanut butter suggestion. Alla is not so wild about it but the boys LOVE it. Also good quality fruit preserves are always welcomed. They eat it with a spoon when drinking tea. If you have some source for local, organic, natural preserves, that is great. Something like "Smuckers" would be considered poisonous "chemical food"

Kira's the same about peanut butter...or anything with peanuts. She's not real big on it. The first time she saw it she was stared at it, smelled it, and then finally tried some. As far as the chemical thing goes that's started WW3 in this house. Take macaroni and cheese in a box. She won't eat it but if I was to take the waste of time and shred cheese over boiled pasta she would. She finally has taken to frozen fried potatoes in a bag but only when I buy it, otherwise she gets a bag of spuds. The USSR definitely didn't have our technology when it came to food processing.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Kira's the same about peanut butter...or anything with peanuts. She's not real big on it. The first time she saw it she was stared at it, smelled it, and then finally tried some. As far as the chemical thing goes that's started WW3 in this house. Take macaroni and cheese in a box. She won't eat it but if I was to take the waste of time and shred cheese over boiled pasta she would. She finally has taken to frozen fried potatoes in a bag but only when I buy it, otherwise she gets a bag of spuds. The USSR definitely didn't have our technology when it came to food processing.

she LOVES nuts, but not peanuts so much. She always has almonds, walnuts, and/or pecans in big jars on the shelf in the kitchen. She buys big bags of them at Costco. She mixes them with dried cranberries, raisins for a "trail mix" kind of stuff that is often a meal in itself. Add one fried egg to a small bowl of trail mix and you have breakfast!

I cannot think of anything from a box Alla will eat...she even buys pasta in a bag. Chocolates, maybe and even that she prefers to go to Lake Champlain Chocolate and buy a "chunk-o-chocolate" Almost nothing from a can and almost nothing frozen, our freezer is usually empty except for ice cream. She even prefers to buy meat fresh and cook it right away, though she WILL allow some frozen meat. If she found Mac and Cheese in the cabinet she would throw it away and I would get in trouble for trying to kill the children! She does not like even Pasta sauce from a jar. She makes her own from scratch.

She buys this horrible "buckwheat" ####### at the Russian store ("I buy the expensive buckwheat so I know it's good") And she makes awful "buckwheat porridge" from it. Dammit, give me my grits any day! This is unhealthy of course. Why? I have no idea. Buckwheat and oatmeal are OK, grits are poison.

She makes her own "sauces" and does not like things like BBQ sauce, but allows it. "American food is anything with BBQ sauce and french fries" she says. She makes some very tasty sauces and relishes. Just not enough of them. I smother a steak or porkchop with her relish and she says I use too much. It is made of sauteed onions, mushrooms, mustard and other "natural stuff"

Sounds all healthy and stuff, but it is all fried or baked, in butter (no margerine are you kidding me?) and they like to use sour cream on everything! I think the RUB diet is very naturally UNhealthy Alla says that is wrong, of course.

[eekee 182]

Vodka is cheap; whiskey is expensive. Stuff like Jameson and Johnnie Walker is appreciated. Cigarettes, you buy those IN Russia and bring them back.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Vodka is cheap; whiskey is expensive. Stuff like Jameson and Johnnie Walker is appreciated. Cigarettes, you buy those IN Russia and bring them back.

I used to bring back enough to cover my plane ticket! No kidding. I bought them in Ukraine for $8 per carton, Alla put them in her closet and "sold" them to me for $6 per pack which went in the travel fund. I usually brought back 10 cartons...oh yeah, you can do it.

When I quit I said "But Alla, how will we pay for my plane ticket now?"