Gifts from Europe under your Christmas Tree?

That is a lovely idea Jean ! I hope you will enjoy it (and making your croissants this weekend).

Last night I ordered a bunch of ornaments for my parents from the British company “The Christmas Company” to be sent to my parents (shipping to the U.S. was a flat rate of only £5.95 — of course I have no idea if these items will actually arrive in Oklahoma before Christmas!!).

Someone on Twitter had posted about them, and I recognized that I had bought a couple of their ornaments at Chenonceau a couple of years ago. They are small felt or fabric pieces, embellished an decorated — if you go onto their desktop website, you can look at their items by historical collection or by country or whatever — I searched specifically by France, Scotland, and a England, but they also had Italy, Ireland, and U.S., and I don’t remember what all else. Their mobile website doesn’t seem to have the same ability to dive deep by country.

Anyway here’s a link:

https://www.christmascompany.co.uk/historical-christmas-ornaments

Otherwise, one of my favorite items is always a (too-expensive) candle from Diptyque.

I will be interested to hear what other people say !

Last year, I purchased a Bavarian bracelet (Trachtenschmuck) at Lodenfrey as a potential Christmas gift for a friend, but it was never actually gifted. I think it makes a likely 2020 gift to myself. I also purchased a felt gift bag at Hugendubel which would make a nice gift wrapping. And I have 1 remaining 2019 Dallmayr Christmas chocolate bar - in the fridge. These items, plus maybe a pair of Giesswein boiled wool slippers, will make a nice offering of German presents to myself - all presented in a Viktualienmarkt Christmas tote bag.

Not the same as being there, but still bring good memories.

A tin of Walkers British Shortbread cookies!!!

Or my favorite gift to give, Twinnings London Icon tea tins: Red phone booth, Elizabeth’s Tower and Double Decker bus that can be used as piggy banks after you’ve finished the tea. Tins can also be used to store buttons, marbles, reusable straws, loose change, cotton balls and if filled with coinage as book ends.

I also love buying and giving key chains from Harrods. People love them.

Claudia,
I found the Scottish Walker's shortbread cookies in our local store last month. A nice tartan tin with the Glenfinnan Viaduct on the front. All my anglophile HP fans are going to love them!

Margaret

Oh, that cooking class looks wonderful! I did a macaron class when we were in Paris once and it was a lot of fun. I am order gift certificates for the company you listed and having them sent to our kids for Christmas. Thank you so much for posting this!

Cooking with Class in Paris has a lot of good online classes and sells gift certificates.

In reference to holiday tins, I have some favorites that I have displayed over the years-Amaretti Di Saronno, Walkers Double Decker Bus, & Fortnum & Mason Lemon Curd Biscuits that our daughter brought home from London. Time to add to the collection!

One of our fond memories was receiving Panettone from a Rome friend who visited us during the holidays. Nice holiday treat.

I ordered a box of candy bars from Amazon that are from Great Britain. We tried one, and it is very good!

Margaret,

Simple pleasures! As you said, your friends will love them.

After several visits on this side of the pond and their side, an Irish friend began sending us the makings of an Irish breakfast for Christmas morning: bangers (sausages), rashers (Irish bacon) and the black and white puddings. We round it out with scrambled eggs and toast. When they stopped, I’ve continued the tradition for Christmas morning, plus extras for my sons’ stockings. We enjoy cooking the meal together and lingering after opening presents. (The grandkids come the next day, so there’s time.)

We have ordered olive oil and wine from a wonderful company near Siena...owned in part by Roberto Bechi and his family. The oil was literally days old when it was shipped! Both are given as gifts to those we consider worthy lol! We have also ordered beautiful ceramics from a wonderful family “factory” in Deruta, and because there are many items to choose from (including special orders, such as my “cucina” wall plaque), it’s a wonderful way to support them and find nice gifts for friends and family. We’ve ordered from both three times...always packaged incredibly well and just like Christmas when we open the boxes! I would be happy to share contact information.
Jean, we’ll come visit when you’ve made those macarons!

I'm pretty sure I'm getting something from Skye Silver. I have every year since we were there on our trip in 2013. I think it will be the Celtic Knotwork pendant, with blue abalone stone.

Bets--Cookin' With Class is where we took the in person macaron class. It was wonderful! We purposely did it on our last full day so that we could take home what we made. Surprisingly they traveled well!

One of my favorite online stores for gifting or just dreaming of Italy is Biordi.com. Biordi has been in business in San Francisco since the 40's. My favorite pottery design is Ricco Deruta. They have other regional designs that includes Siena, Sicily, etc. They have a lovely selection of Biscotti jars, tiles, clocks, etc. Some sale items.

On Cathy's recommendation at our last Rick Steves travel group meeting, I ordered wine and olive oil from Roberto Becchi and family's company. It is excellent and I'm excited to give some away as Christmas gifts. Also, another guide Lisa Anderson, did a story on a bakery near where she lives in Italy. I ordered two panetonne and some wonderful chocolate hazelnut candies to share with family and friends.

I've loved all the cooking and virtual tours that people are offering. Something to help get through an eastern Washington winter.

All my friends are receiving a nice bottle of wine from Tuscany. I ordered the Chianti Classico from the Barone Ricasoli winery. This is the oldest winery in Italy and one we visited in Tuscany in 2018. They created the Chianti Classico designation and I thought it would be a great way to share a little toast of Italy over the holidays.

Sandy

We a just received 3 plates of Laderach chocolate from Switzerland. And an "Uno de 50" bracelet for my wife which shipped from Madrid.. Merry Christmas!!!

I'm at the point that getting a package from a foreign country makes me all kinds of happy, so have recently purchased clothes & accessories plus gifts from Smoking Lily in Victoria, BC, Persephone Books in London, some ornaments from the Historic Royal Palaces, and indulged my latest craft obsession with a bunch of delightful felt embroidery kits from Corinne Lapierre in Yorkshire. Yesterday a box from Germany arrived with a Steiff Paddington Bear ornament--the Paddington books nurtured my love of England that led to my first trip abroad so he is a happy reminder of travelling.

Jean--Thank you again for posting that link! I bought certificates for all the kids (and me!) for Christmas and they were a huge hit! They are all looking forward to choosing which classes, just like me;)

I’m not sure they were his favorites, but my 7 year old nephew got both a reading primer and a maths book from England! Don’t worry he also got a Beatles book and a Liverpool shirt so it wasn’t all school stuff.

A Croatian friend sent us a lovely stollen. And my husband always roasts chestnuts on New Year’s Day. We are talking about moving our Christmas visit up to next year. We are just gonna do what is possible when this virus is under control and travel opens up. So hopefully everyone our Christmas list will receive European purchased gifts.