# Ideas for thank you gifts



## grammymissy (Jun 21, 2009)

Can anyone give us ideas for thank you gifts for our Portuguese neighbors, that are gifting us fruits, vegetables and home made wine? Is store bought wine an acceptable gift, we wouldn't wish to insult. Are baked treats like cookies, or chocolate sweets okay to say thanks? We are visiting and saying thanks, also we are trying to learn the language as quickly as we can, but it will take time, so gift ideas would be great! We are at a loss, so much kindness has been shown, and in the states I would send flowers and wine, just not sure if that is okay here. All assistance appreciated!


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

Baked treats would be most acceptable. I make jam, chutney etc and always pass a jar to neighbours.


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## grammymissy (Jun 21, 2009)

Siobhanwf, thank you, I was hoping baked treats are okay, cookies and such I can do! Never tried to make jam, but I was thinking of trying, so that is another good idea! Thank you!


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Home made or home produced items are appreciated far more than shop bought....... I give eggs from my ducks and also home made marmalade/jam etc and it's a doddle to make.


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## grammymissy (Jun 21, 2009)

Traveling-man, I am going to give home made jams a try, we don't have a garden this year, but next year . Probably won't have animals, we tend to travel a lot, so that would be tough. We have raspberries and blueberries . I have tried a tomato jam, I want to give a try soon. I can get tomatoes at the market . Thanks for your input, much appreciated!


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## In 2 bikes (Apr 18, 2013)

Portuguese people are some of the world's kindest but I have to say we have found some that like to do the 'scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' on an ever increasing sliding scale to the point that the exchange of gifts and pleasantries started to morph in to favours and then hard labour. Just keep an eye on how deep that hook goes in to your gills ..


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## grammymissy (Jun 21, 2009)

In 2 bikes, so far, we have the impression nothing is expected in return, we want to gift back. We have been told when being gifted that we are now to think of them as family and good friends. I do hope we are never led to believe anything else, that is the kinda of thing we saw in the states...thank you for the heads up...


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## izian (Nov 21, 2013)

Hi, Might be on a different scale, but I second the home made gifts as thank yous.
There doesn't seem to be a big 'Thank your teacher' thing going on at the end of the school year, but I wanted my children to give a little something to their teachers who have done so much more than they needed to to help us settle here. We made biscuits together & my children presented them to the teachers on the last day of term. The teachers were delighted with them, even more so I think, because the children had put effort into making them too.

I have found the Portuguese people to be really generous when it comes to veg grown in their garden. I've often found bags of veg etc hanging over my fence and no idea who it's from! The people in my village know we are a family with young children so and I think it's just the Portuguese way to help where they can (i.e. lots of mouths to feed!!). It certainly makes me feel very welcomed into this tiny village


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## grammymissy (Jun 21, 2009)

Izian, we are not used to such generosity from strangers, so this is new for us. I am going to bag up some homemade goodies, and my husband wants to add a small bottle of whiskey , to each bag, and see if they enjoy that. He says, what if they don't like cookies, they will like whiskey lol...


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