Here’s What NOT To Bring To Your Holiday Parties This Year

Now's the time when holiday dinner parties are planned, family-recipes baked, and little tchotchkes packaged. That's right, the holidays are here, so cue the influx of the well-intentioned gifting of foods that neither you, nor your kitchen, want or need.

Maybe I sound like a bonafide Scrooge; maybe you're thinking, Jeez, it's not the actual gift that counts, but the act of giving! And I couldn't agree more that it is the thought that counts. But let me ask you this: What exactly is the thought behind a flavored popcorn trio tin? Because no, caramel corn, cheddar corn, and movie-theater butter corn do not go together. And no, I will not be craving that loaf of powdered-sugar covered, crusty bread with chunks of indeterminable dried fruit inside that got stashed behind the Keurig. Do you really want me to come to you house and leave a bottle of chocolate dessert wine on your counter to collect dusk for years to come?

So call me a regular old Grinch, but I am taking a stand against all the holiday hostess gifts that we should stop giving for good. Because I have a theory that all this crap was purchased one time, long ago, and has just been recirculating year after year, holiday after holiday — passing unwanted through hands and kitchens across the world. Ahead, find 10 holiday food gifts we hope won't end up in our pantries this year. Oh, and we'll be passing on the peanut brittle too.