In person at Brookline Booksmith! Celebrate the release of Food Gifts with author Elle Simone Scott.
Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 7 PM
RSVP to let us know you’re coming! Depending on the volume of responses, an RSVP may be required for entrance to the event. You will also be alerted to important details about the program, including safety requirements, cancellations, and book signing updates.
Food Gifts: 150+ Irresistible Recipes for Crafting Personalized Presents
The only all-occasion guide to homemade food gifts that look as fabulous as they taste, with more than 150 recipes, hundreds of packaging ideas, and insider tips from best-selling author and food stylist Elle Simone Scott
Food fosters connection, and there’s no more meaningful way to connect with others than giving a personalized food gift you’ve prepared and packaged yourself. Elle Simone Scott, food stylist, ATK cast member, and author of the bestseller Boards turns her considerable talents to expanding the boundaries of what food gifts are (they’re endlessly customizable) and when they can be given (literally, anytime), proving along the way that food is one of the best (and best-looking) gifts you can give.
- Gifts for every occasion: A unique housewarming or new neighbor gift, celebrating a wedding or a new baby, a birthday, graduation, holiday cookie swap, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day—all these and more are covered.
- Any level gift, from simple to spectacular: Give one gorgeous bottle of Fruits of the Forest Liqueur. Up the ante by adding a jar of Citrus Simple Syrup. Gift a cocktail party basket with the liqueur, syrup, sparkling wine, flute glasses, and a cocktail recipe.
- Spin one item many ways: Make a big batch of homemade granola for gifting, or divide the recipe into thirds and flavor them in different ways. Elle shows how to do this with shortbread cookies, hot cocoa mix, party snack mix, and more.
- Big-batch gifts: Bring Banana Caramel Pie in a Jar or Party Cake Pops to a school or work event. Gift your whole crowd at the holidays with Chocolate-Ginger Truffles, or get them through the winter with Summer Tomato Sauce.
- Playful DIY meal kits: For friends who love to cook, there are DIY Pancake Mix, Turkish Bride Soup in a Jar, and Mushroom Risotto in a Jar.
- Helping hand gifts: Support and comfort someone with a fully cooked meal that’s ready to be popped into the freezer or oven—think Chicken Ramen Soup or Stuffed Shells with Amatriciana Sauce.
You’ll also learn Elle’s favorite ideas for keeping food gifts fresh and packaging items cost-effectively yet creatively using edible garnishes, thrifted tableware, canning jars, cellophane bags, parchment, and more. With her expert help, you’ll never again resort to an expensive, impersonal store-bought basket.
Food-styling guru Elle Simone Scott is a trailblazer who manages to make food both stunning and approachable. She shapes the visual aesthetic for the Cook’s Country brand and her work appears across ATK media platforms.
Moderator Tamika R. Francis is a public health practitioner for the last two decades having worked on food and agriculture policy and programs locally and internationally. As a culinary creative artist by night, she’s worked in agro-eco-tourism, a culinary event producer and as a chef instructor for thousands of youth and adults across New England and the Caribbean. Her work has been featured in Edible Boston, Moveable Feast, Eater Boston and as a talent with WBUR’s Curated Cuisine series and speaker for brands like Toast. Through her company Food & Folklore, she pays homage to unrepresented global food traditions and asks, “What does home taste like?” to explore nostalgia, belonging, identity and the immigrant experience through classes, popups and storytelling. She’s built a community of over a 100 food entrepreneurs in the Boston area who meet annually to collaborate and build community. She’s building DutchPot.app, a back end tool to empower culinary creatives and food freelancers to streamline their work and compliance. She is a graduate of Boston University’s Culinary Arts Program and has a Masters in Sustainable International Development.
