Pro Tip: A Gift to Send Instead of Flowers

I’ve never really disagreed with a COJ rec until today!! This feels like rage bait lol or maybe I’m just too Latino to think this would be a gift jaja. Like hi! Happy new baby – here’s a raw hunk of garlic in a braid that’s going to sprinkle little chunks of garlic paper crust all over your floors or counter. Wipe you enjoy it before it goes bad! 🤣

This could be a great idea for a foodie friend who loves to cook! As a general rule, though, flowers are the safer option. Sure they don’t last as long as a garlic braid but they’re beautiful, enliven a space and let the recipient know someone is thinking of them.

My favorite part of this series is how strongly people are feeling about garlic braids and their ex’s! Lately, my go-to gift is a pretty bag of Trader Joe’s treats with flowers sticking out the top. For my sweet tooth sister-in-law, it was pastries and candies. For my single, hard working niece, it was a stack of small frozen dinners. For my new mom friend, it was charcuterie foods with lots of fresh fruits.

This is a hard no for me lol. My friends and family would laugh in my face if I sent this. Who needs this much garlic in their life?!!

I’m one of the weirdos who would love to receive a garlic braid for any occasion! Rajiv Surendra answers all your pressing garlic braid questions on his delightfully specific YouTube channel! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jggMGbzFbzo

I’m kinda sick of this type of advice. Especially from someone of great privilege who can profit off of the recipes of many cultures but barely has POC in her life. I said what I said!!!

rather tactful way of weeding out any potential vampires disguised as your friends lol

I thought this was a fun idea. I was laughing while reading the comments though. When my 11 year old asked why I was laughing I explained the garlic braid as a gift and she was like, “Why? To ward off vampires or something?” Omg. I suppose this column’s purpose is not meant for a laugh, but thanks for providing it anyway!

I read garlic bread! That I would have taken as a new mom. But a garlic braid? When would I cook that up?

For a start, I read bread instead of braid. I was envisaging a plaited loaf of garlic bread. To be honest, I would rather receive bread than garlic. My daughter had just had her first baby and would have been perplexed by a braid of garlic! Her favourite post birth present was a delivery of soft cheese and cured meats which she wasn’t allowed to eat while pregnant. Tucking into soft brie was a wonderful snack and a treat. She said it was a genius present.

I’d love to receive a garlic braid! They are beautiful and useful. I use enough garlic to run out fairly quickly but not enough to remember to buy it at the shop. And good garlic is not always easy to find. A great idea, I’ll keep it in mind.

I misunderstood this for a second and imagined it was like a braided bread loaf that was stuffed with garlic and herbs and then could be baked up at the recipient’s leisure. Which I think I would appreciate receiving!

I’ll admit, I hadn’t double check if this one was satire. For the right people, I’m sure a garlic braid is lovely. In rural WNC, getting a garlic braid would result in a story retold at every family event. Appalachians bring a meal, not an ingredient!

When I had my first child, my sister sent me 3 months of frozen croissants from Williams and Sonoma. Don’t know if they still offer them, but I am sure others do. So indulgent and easy: defrost overnight and pop in the oven. Great breakfast solution when the inlaws came to see the baby.

A super thoughtful gesture was when friends delivered dinners when we’d first come home from hospital. I am a little conflicted about flowers, too, but they’re such a rare extravagance it feels super special and celebratory/comforting.

HAHAHAHAHA nooooooo!!!! Do not give me this! But totally agree about flowers! My siblings SO loving brought flowers to my hospital room and all three days I just kept thinking how did I get these home and take care of them along with a WHOLE NEW HUMAN!

These pro tips are amaze-balls! Great addition to the weekly offerings, CoJ!!!

My favorite gift after a new baby is born is very luxurious hand soap! There’s so much hand washing when a new baby is in the house, and a true splurge makes both parents, and guests, feel taken care of.

This tip feels random, but not really pro. I’m a HUGE Caro fan, but I think I agree with “unhinged” and “niche” here. But I’m also certain she knows her audience. Also, I need to pick at the semantics… the first line was about sending flowers for birthdays and new babies, but then it says the replacement for flowers for housewarming and thank you gifts is the garlic braid. The scenarios are not apples to apples at all. I’ll just add my random, niche gift here, if we’re looking at specialty shipped items: Greek EVOO from Food By Maria. It’s unreal.

The comments are so funny. I will take garlic bread any day! ha ha ha.

I am convinced this new column is partially meant to troll us!! 😂 I’m finding it very entertaining, sparks a lot of debate! Happy Friday all.

At first I thought you meant garlic braided bread and I was like GREAT idea!

While I like garlic, a garlic braid is not for me. Chocolates,please.

I like using fresh garlic but agree that I would not give anything that needs to be peeled (with two hands) and minced to be used. Would definitely go for garlic bread or a gallon-sized bag of pre chopped onions or other veggies that could be pulled from the freezer though!

Oh, goodness – you get through so much garlic when you have a newborn, don’t you? Nobody warns you, but the garlic bill has gone through the roof! Where does it all go?! I don’t know. Don’t ask me. What I wouldn’t do for a couple of braids of garlic. Sigh. PS I would actually quite like a garlic braid as a gift, but would have been slightly baffled to receive one as a new mum

To each their own, but if someone had given me garlic after any of my kids were born, I would have thought they were totally insane. Now that I am cooking for a family of 5, I get the idea, but for a new mom?! No way! A bag of Trader Joe’s one handed snacks for the win, forever and always.

I was warned off garlic tasting foods as a new mum – I was told if you’re breastfeeding it can make the milk taste funny and put the baby off! I’m not sure how true it is (I certainly didn’t notice any issues after eating garlic bread) but I’m always a bit cautious cooking for a new mum just in case! Either way I don’t think this is a helpful gift – it’s not a meal, it’s almost a chore to work out how to use it before it goes bad! Hard pass from me, I’ll stick with flowers, cards, a meal, a treat for the new parents, offers to help with chores…

The saddest thing about when I had a baby was I didn’t receive even half the flowers I hoped for. I love flowers – I would have an early funeral just to see the flowers. Just saying, I am totally team flowers. But, a garlic braid is awesome and I would say kind of sits in the flowers side of thing given they grew out of the soil. Really great idea.

I think the best gift tip is to know your audience, and buy appropriately. I love garlic but my two-person household would never use all of a braid before it went bad. Some of the other suggestions in the thread are also just not for me! Cookie delivery is delicious but a sugar crash in the works. I absolutely don’t want a Lego set ever–to me, that’s just a pile of plastic (which I have to assemble myself??) to get dusty and clutter up my house. I have extremely reactive skin and don’t use gifted skincare if it’s outside my safe brands. Etc. But I’m sincerely thrilled to get flowers or a houseplant, even though it’s something I need to take care of. We’re mostly vegetarian but I’ll eat a gifted meal no matter the cuisine or ingredients. (And I absolutely will demolish a cookie delivery against my better judgement.) It’s funny how a perfect gift for one person is a hard pass for another.

i had never heard of a garlic braid before this, but my mom has a chile ristra in her kitchen that is very pretty and cheerful!

Please do not send me a garlic braid that will rot and spill paper in my kitchen, please just send garlic bread.

this is a completely unhinged recommendation

The Los Angeles go to birth/sickness go to is the Jone’s on Third food basket. It comes with some prepared food, some cookies, and a few other odds and ends. It can feed you for a few days. It’s amazing! A little pricey, but it can be split among friends. What are other cities versions of this?

Brilliant!

Haha I don’t know about this one! Definitely a “know your audience” kind of gift. I think it could be a fun housewarming gift for someone who likes to cook, but for most other occasions I would just give (and prefer to receive) food.

Hahaha dying at this because I’m a vegetable farmer and have been trying to make garlic as a gift happen for years! Sorry to my friends and family whose reaction to opening a box of garlic every christmas has been “that’s a lot of garlic”. I’ve thought about packaging up a pound of garlic in fancy boxes with tissue paper to sell at market but chickened out. Maybe I should try it??

Best gift I received after having a baby was hands down a big basket of fresh fruit. I had no time to grocery shop and I can’t tell you how delicious the gifted oranges and pears tasted. Years later, I still think of my dear friend whenever I see fruit at the market.

Another vote for bread over braid. Not least bc I exclusively cook with TJs frozen garlic cubes

This feels very niche to me . . . I’d much rather receive a small indulgence that I would never spend money on myself – new slippers, a fancy hand cream, lush kitchen or bathroom hand towels, a fancy candle, a beautiful serving dish, cute S&P shakers . . . there are so many good gifts out there and this one wouldn’t do it for me. This is a case of good for her, not for me!

When I have friends with kids who need a pick-me-up, I send Crumbl cookies. They are nation-wide and in many cities, and they deliver. The kids get so excited to find cookies on their doorstep, that it helps at least momentarily bring some joy.

Okay, I’m sorry but I’m imagining opening this gift as a new mom- and being like “WTF? A garlic braid?” I’m sorry, it just makes me chuckle.

Incredible! I love love love garlic and this is so thoughtful and fun!

Naive questions that could be answered on google: Do you hang it on a nail on the wall? (“Hanging in the kitchen.”) Do you just peel off a clove when you need one? is it papery and messy? How long does it keep? Is it cute for like, a few uses and then looks half-eaten? the garlic stems still braided or do they unravel? So curious!

When I read “garlic braid” I pictured some sort of braided garlic bread similar to the “butter braid” fruity-danish type thing that is a favorite school fundraiser product here in MN/WI. I would absolutely love to receive something like that!

A dear friend gave me a beautiful tote bag with brownies, bread, and a blanket during a difficult time in my life. It was the best gift I have ever received!

I LOVE this, and I have to give a shout-out to my friend Gia, who taught me how to braid garlic (it’s so hard!) and owns Deschutes Canyon Garlic. Besides garlic braids, she has the coolest merch! https://deschutescanyongarlic.com/collections/apparel

Maybe it’s because I rarely buy them for myself, but at this stage in my life, I’d love to receive flowers! I wouldn’t turn up my nose at a gift of garlic, either, of course, or coffee beans, tea or anything I don’t have to store! This is a good reminder that people like to receive gifts :)

I remember getting lots of flowers after the birth of my daughter. It felt like one more thing to take care of, on top of googling “signs of colic.” Garlic is an ingredient, but not a meal. It doesn’t help. It would be great as a thank-you or housewarming gift. It’s not great for new babies or surgery recovery.

For new parents or just busy times – frozen smoothie bags. *Flattened* Ziplock bags (because I am NOT fighting to stuff the contents into a narrow blender) filled with spinach, half a banana, quartered avocado, cubed yogurt, plus whatever berries, fruit, nuts, seeds, and peanut butter or protein powder. Similarly, if it’s winter, frozen, cooked, steel-cut oatmeal cups that can be thrown in the microwave. I cannot imagine a better trick to power through the day than having breakfast sorted.

I see it now, but at first I thought this was an illustration of a giant pile of dumplings, which would also be an awesome gift! I just went to Mother’s dumplings in Toronto… Omg! So good!!

When I was 16 a guy I didn t even know (but he had noticed me) sent me white roses. He was at least 25. I felt so uncomfortable but my mom and my sister were excited. I felt weird to feel uncomfortable. Now I know I was right, it was creepy! The 90s… i send cards and books, always! Love from Paris

I like sending an Edible Arrangement or a Zingerman’s coffee cake. They are always a hit!

I appreciate gifts that I wouldn’t have thought of – when my husband was first diagnosed with long COVID, friends dropped off library books and had board games mailed to our place for me to play with our little kids! Genius. Just having new things to enjoy helped SO much!

And as a bonus, it keeps the vampires away! Fun gift idea ;)

I love the thought of sending this for a house warming as “vampire repellent”

I feel I need and want (!) to learn how to celebrate again, basically everything. I seldom send parcels, whereas 5 years ago sending at least Christmas parcels to people dear (but far from me) with selfmade surprises (dare I say really nice ones) was such a joy to make. How did I fall out of creating joyous moments myself for me and others? This fatigue of everything and anything needs to stop & life needs to start again, I am here now. Anyway, instead of looking back, I will do Christmas parcels again this year for people who make me happy. This goes from long lost & found again friends, probably the bakery lady in my street (she is amazing) to my neighbours. I find it so helpful to be seen & cherished in a time where I myself am more glued to a screen than to life. It is time to buckle up and feel joy again!

I send the gift of food. Depending on the occasion, I will send a soup gift if it’s an illness or death, soup or charcuterie board if it’s a birth, some snacky treat if it’s a birthday or milestone event like engagement, etc. I still send flowers, but only if I know the person actually likes having them. Some find flowers to be too much work or reminders of life and death.

Oooh that is pretty genius! My own go to are Lego flowers. Especially the cherry blossoms. Last forever, not as polluting as cut flowers, pet safe and if you like building Lego they’re the gift that keeps on giving. (And if you don’t like building Lego: the smaller sets aren’t too much work.

I like giving a pretty cake stand with instructions (more like an insistence) to use it for the everyday – last time wearing those mesh underwear? Put pizza on it at dinner. First morning after the baby sleeps 5 hours? Stack it with donuts – the hope is they find a way to celebrate all the hard and good things along the way

This is brilliant. It’s beautiful, delicious, and medicinal!

I misread it as garlic bread. Also a great gift!

My mind is blown – I would be thrilled to receive a garlic braid as a gift! I am bookmarking that website ASAP!

OMG this is my dream gift

I personally find flowers a lot of work…you have to snip them, find a vase, fill the vase, refresh the water every few days, clean up the falling petals, throw away the bouquet once it’s completely wilted, wash and dry the vase, and put it away. I would never bring flowers to a new mom lol.