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Taking the Kids: 20+ holiday gifts for travelers that they can use at home this strange holiday season

Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on

Pongu Lumpia, anyone? They are a sweet (or savory) fried wrap served on the planet Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

And they are really good! You’ve likely got a favorite dish or drink from a visit to Disneyland, or Disney World or other past travels, whether to a favorite city, island, hotel or cruise line.

As public health officials urge us to stay put this holiday season, I was thinking about how much fun it could be to whip up some of those dishes or drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) at home this holiday season, perhaps together via Zoom. Send your Disney fans the new “Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook,” which includes 100 recipes for everything from Pongu Lumpia to Dole Whip to Jack’s Cookie Num Nums from Pixar Pier, penned by blogger Ashley Craft whose Ashley Crafted is best known for recipes inspired by Disney Park Foods.

Send your American Girl fans “the American Girl: Around the World Cookbook” with a map and description of where the dishes originate or Harry Potter fans the “Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook,” including Knickerbocker Glories and Rock Cakes. There’s “The International Cookbook for Kids” with dishes they already love (think pizza with a little cultural context) and even “Cook Me a Story,” with recipes inspired by classic tales. (All available from Amazon.)

Check out Delish.com for more ideas Of course, you have had really memorable restaurant meals during your pre-COVID travels — I still think about the skinny grilled sausage on a freshly baked baguette at an outdoor market in Normandy and the lobsters we devoured outdoors at picnic tables in Maine; oysters at a little local joint in South Africa and huckleberry pancakes in Montana, the fresh seafood on an Alaska cruise, as well as the chowder in a sourdough bowl in San Francisco and the frothy cocktails shared with my oldest friends at a villa in Jamaica.

See if you can gift a cookbook about a city, a region, or from a specific chef or cruise line to someone who has waxed eloquent about what they ate and where. That gift would not only be enjoyed but conjure memories of happy travel times.

 

Of course, you might rather send food — a reminder of a memorable meal, or in hopes of one to come — blueberry jam from Maine, cheesecake from New York, pralines from New Orleans, barbecue from Texas. Goldbelly is a huge online marketplace where you can search for foods from specific cities, including Austin, Chicago, Nashville, New York and San Francisco. Yu can also reach out to local vendors who need help right now, like Get Maine Lobster, Maine’s top lobster delivery service or New Braunfels Smokehouse for Texas smoked meats since 1945 or Frango chocolate mints popularized by Marshall Field stores in Chicago and now sold at Macy’s.

Send your coffee snobs some locally produced beans from a place they enjoyed visiting and a French Press travel mug from BruTrek that is made of ultra-insulated stainless steel, ideal not only for outdoors but for hotel stays in the future when a better brew will be wanted ($50).

For those who celebrate Chanukah, there is a new Chanukah House Cookie Kit from, Manischewitz, the iconic brand for traditional kosher products, that comes with everything kids need to build their holiday house, even a candy menorah — a partnership with the P.J. Library that provides free Jewish children’s books to families. (Just $12.99 to $15.99 and available at retailers, including Walmart, Amazon and Stop & Shop.)

If food — or cooking — isn’t your favorite travelers’ passion, think about what would make them smile this strange holiday season.

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