The best gifts for elderly grandparents are absorbing rather than demanding: something with a clear set of steps, ordinary kitchen equipment and a proper result at the end of the afternoon. A make your own kit does exactly that, and it can be put down and picked up again, which is more than can be said for most days out. It also leaves nothing behind to store, which matters when the cupboards have been full since about 1994.
Three of ours fit a slower afternoon well: a beginners cheese kit that produces something to eat within the hour, a gin kit that does its work while nobody watches, and a kintsugi kit that rewards a steady hand and a bit of patience.
What makes a kit suit an older person?
Not simplification. Grandparents who have cooked, gardened, decorated and fixed things for fifty years do not want a toy, and there is nothing patronising about a proper project. What actually helps is structure: measured ingredients so nothing has to be weighed out or hunted down, a printed booklet rather than a video, and steps that stop and start rather than running for six unbroken hours.
Time is the resource they usually have more of than you do. That changes which kits are good gifts. Something that infuses for a week while they get on with other things is ideal. Something that needs a full day of unbroken attention is not. Every kit we sell is written for a complete beginner, with the ingredients measured out in the box, so the only decision left is when to start.
The beginners cheese kit, for a result in about an hour
The Cheese Making Kit for Beginners is the one we would hand to someone who wants a finished thing today rather than in a fortnight. It makes five fresh cheeses including mozzarella, ricotta and mascarpone, with vegetarian rennet, citric acid and cheese salt in the box, and the first cheese is ready in about an hour.
What makes it a good afternoon is that it is mostly standing and stirring gently rather than heavy work. Milk is warmed, acid or rennet goes in, the curd sets, and it is drained through the cloth. Ricotta is the easiest and the sensible place to start. What to add: fresh whole milk, never UHT or ultra pasteurised, which simply will not curdle, and a large stainless steel pan, since aluminium and copper react with the acid. Two litres of whole milk tucked in with the box makes the gift complete.
The gin kit, for something that works while they sit down
The Gin Making Kit asks for about ten minutes of attention and then leaves them alone. Juniper and a botanical blend of coriander, citrus peel, allspice and lemongrass go into a bottle of vodka, the lid goes on, and it infuses in under a week. They taste it with the pipette as the days pass and strain it through the sieve when it tastes right to them, which puts the whole thing under their control rather than a timer's.
It is also the kit that was named a top pick on ITV's How to Spend It Well at Christmas, where chef Matt Tebbutt tasted it, which tends to reassure anyone who suspects a home made gin will be rough. What to add: a bottle of inexpensive vodka, 700ml. Supermarket own brand is genuinely right here, since the character of an expensive vodka disappears under the juniper. A smart 700ml swing top bottle to decant the finished gin into makes it feel like a present rather than an experiment. For adults aged 18 and over.
The kintsugi kit, for a steady hand and an unhurried hour
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery so the repair shows, the crack picked out in gold rather than disguised. It suits someone who has kept a chipped teapot for thirty years because of who gave it to them, and the wabi-sabi idea behind it, that something which has been through a lot is more interesting for it, lands rather well at eighty.
Our Kintsugi Kit uses a two part epoxy instead of traditional lacquer, with gold effect mica pigment, a spreader and mixing card, gloves, a booklet and two practice bowls, so the first attempt is not on the treasured piece. There is no kiln and no oven: each join is held for thirty to sixty seconds, then the whole piece is left alone to cure. What to add: nothing at all, though good light and a clear table help more than any tool. It is an adults only kit, the adhesive is strong and wants a well ventilated room and the gloves worn, and a repaired piece is decorative from then on, kept away from food, drink and the dishwasher.
How do you hand it over so it gets used?
Buy the extra item at the same time. A cheese kit with milk already in the fridge and a gin kit with the vodka beside it both get started within the week. A kit with a shopping trip attached to it can sit in a cupboard until spring.
Offer to do the first one together if you are visiting anyway. Ricotta takes an hour, and it is a far better way to spend a Saturday than sitting across a coffee table asking whether they need anything. If they live too far for that, you can have a kit posted straight to them by entering their address as the delivery address at checkout, and ring while they open it.
Kits keep, so there is no rush on their side either. Our food and drink kits have an eighteen month shelf life from packing and the cheese kits twenty four months, with at least twelve months left on the best before date when they leave us.
Gifts for elderly grandparents FAQs
Are these kits fiddly to do?
They are designed for beginners, with the ingredients measured out and a printed booklet that takes one step at a time. Cheese and gin are mostly warming, stirring and waiting rather than anything intricate.
Which kit gives the quickest result?
The beginners cheese kit. The first cheese is ready in about an hour, so there is something to eat the same afternoon rather than a wait of days or weeks.
Do they need special equipment?
No. A large stainless steel pan, a colander and a slotted spoon cover the cheese kit, the gin kit needs only a bottle of vodka and a jug, and the kintsugi kit needs nothing added.
Is the kintsugi kit safe to use at home?
It is an adults only kit. The epoxy is a strong adhesive, so it should be used in a well ventilated room with the gloves on and kept away from children, and a repaired piece is decorative rather than something to eat or drink from.
Can I have a kit delivered to their address?
Yes. Enter their address as the delivery address at checkout and the kit goes directly to them. Orders placed before 2pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same day by Royal Mail.
Looking for something for the other side of the family too? Browse the full range of gift kits and pick by the sort of afternoon they would enjoy.
