Grandparents who have everything do not need another object, they need an afternoon with something at the end of it. The gift that works here is a kit: a box of measured ingredients and a booklet that turns a quiet Sunday into a ball of fresh mozzarella, a gallon of blackberry wine or a chipped bowl mended with a gold seam. It gets used up rather than put on a shelf, and it gives them something to tell you about the next time you ring.
Three kits suit this brief particularly well, for three different sorts of grandparent: the cheese kit for the one who potters in the kitchen, the hedgerow wine kit for the one with fruit in the garden and no hurry, and the kintsugi kit for the one who mends things instead of replacing them.
Why does "they have everything" nearly always mean "no more things"?
Someone who has run a household for forty or fifty years has settled taste and full cupboards. They are not short of mugs, scarves, photo frames or gadgets with a manual. What they are often short of is a reason to give up an afternoon to something absorbing, and something to show for it afterwards.
That is the whole case for a kit. It arrives as a box, becomes a few hours of concentration, and then becomes cheese, wine or a repaired piece of pottery. Nothing is left over to store or dust. If they enjoyed it, most of our booklets include the recipes, so they can carry on with their own ingredients rather than waiting for you to buy them another box.
The cheese kit, for the one who potters in the kitchen
If they are happiest with a pan on the hob and the radio on, the Cheese Making Kit, Cheeses of the World gives them genuinely new territory. It covers ten fresh cheeses including mozzarella, halloumi, paneer, ricotta, mascarpone, chevre and burrata, and the box holds vegetarian rennet, citric acid, cheese salt, a thermometer, moulds and cheesecloth. Most of the cheeses are ready in about an hour.
The appeal for an experienced cook is that it is not a better version of something they already do well. Watching milk separate into curds and whey on your own hob is a small revelation even after decades of cooking, and the result goes straight onto the table. What to add: fresh whole milk, and only fresh whole milk. UHT and ultra pasteurised milk will not curdle, and lactose free milk is best avoided. A couple of litres in the fridge, or a note promising it, makes the gift ready to start.
The wine kit, for the one with fruit going to waste
Plenty of grandparents have a blackberry hedge, an apple tree that produces more than anyone can eat, or a rhubarb patch that has outlived several dogs. The Hedgerow Wine Making Kit turns that glut into a gallon of country wine, about four and a half litres or six bottles per batch, ready in eight to twelve weeks. In the box are wine yeast, yeast nutrient, pectolase, finings, citric acid, a stabiliser tablet and steriliser, with a recipe table covering everything from elderflower and blackberry to plum, apple and parsnip.
This is the kit for someone who likes a long game. Most of those eight to twelve weeks is waiting, and the pleasure is in the checking: the airlock bubbling in the first week, the wine slowly clearing in the second month. What to add: a 5 litre food grade bucket with a lid for the first fermentation, a demijohn or second bucket with an airlock for the second, a siphon tube and some reused screw top bottles. Sugar and their own fruit do the rest. The wine kit is for adults aged 18 and over.
The kintsugi kit, for the one who mends rather than replaces
Kintsugi is the Japanese craft of repairing broken pottery so that the repair is visible, the crack traced in gold instead of hidden. It comes from wabi-sabi, the idea that a thing which has been through something is more interesting than a thing that has not, which is a generous sentiment to hand to someone in their seventies or eighties.
Our Kintsugi Kit uses a two part epoxy rather than traditional lacquer, with gold effect mica pigment powder, a spreader and mixing card, gloves, a booklet and two practice bowls so the first attempt is not on anything precious. There is no kiln and no oven, and each join is held for thirty to sixty seconds before you move on. What to add: nothing, thanks to the practice bowls, though if you know of a broken piece they have never been able to throw away, wrapping it up alongside is the thoughtful move. It is an adults only kit, the adhesive is strong and should be used in a well ventilated room, and a mended piece is decorative rather than crockery, so it should be kept away from food and drink.
How do you give a kit so it actually gets made?
Attach the missing item. A gin kit with no vodka or a cheese kit with no milk waits for the next big shop, and a kit that waits often keeps waiting. Buy the one supermarket item at the same time and the project can start the same week.
Say when, too. A vague "you must have a go at this" is easy to put off, whereas "shall we do the cheese one when we come at half term" turns a box into a date. Grandparents who say they want nothing are usually happy to be given a reason to see you.
If they live elsewhere, you can post a kit straight to them by entering their address as the delivery address at checkout. Our kits are hand packed in Britain and go out by Royal Mail, with same day dispatch on orders placed before 2pm Monday to Friday.
Gifts for grandparents FAQs
Are these kits suitable for complete beginners?
Yes. Every kit is written for someone who has never done it before, with a printed booklet that takes the steps in order and troubleshooting for the usual wobbles. No previous experience is assumed anywhere.
What do they need to buy themselves?
Usually one ordinary item. The cheese kit needs fresh whole milk, the wine kit needs fruit and sugar plus a bucket, demijohn and airlock, and the kintsugi kit needs nothing added at all.
Do the drinks kits contain alcohol?
No. None of our kits contain alcohol. They hold the ingredients, equipment and instructions, and the spirit or the finished wine is the recipient's own, so the drinks kits are for adults aged 18 and over.
How long does a kit keep before it is opened?
Our food and drink kits have a shelf life of eighteen months from packing and the cheese kits twenty four months, and every kit leaves us with at least twelve months on the best before date printed on the box.
Can I send the kit straight to my grandparents?
Yes. Enter their address as the delivery address at checkout and the kit is posted directly to them rather than coming to you first.
Not sure which of the three is most like them? Have a look through the full range of gift kits and pick the project that sounds most like their sort of afternoon.
