My grandmother gave my mom the Betty Crocker cookbook when she left home and in turn my mother gave me the Betty Crocker cookbook when I left home. I guess if I have a daughter I have to give one to her right?

I probably will but I would also consider giving her a TasteBook. TasteBook is a site that allows you to create your own cookbook from recipes in their database (they have a ton from Epicurious…mmm) and/or recipes of your own.

The application is easy to use and for $35 you get a hardcover cookbook featuring 100 recipes and you can even include personal photos and your own title.

I really think this would make a great graduation gift, housewarming gift, wedding gift or birthday gift for someone special to you. It may take some time to create but the personalization can really mean a lot to someone. Plus $35 is a great deal!

Visit TasteBook to find out more. Tell them we helped you un-stump your brain.

Update: All Recipes and Big Oven also offer personalized cookbooks around the same price.

OK, you have a sports fan, music fan, or theater fan you want to give a gift to. And it would be great to send them to the game or the show.

But, what if they’re busy that night?

If it’s too hard to figure out your gift recipient’s schedule, or if you’re not sure what kind of event they would prefer to go to - just them them a gift certificate to choose their own tickets!

There are at least two places I can think of that have a wide variety of ticket types, and offer gift certificates:

StubHub -		StubHub Gift Certificates
TicketsNow -		TicketsNow Gift Certificates

Maybe they’ll bring back their ticket stubs for your collection…

Changing the Present is an absolutely wonderful site dedicated to helping those around the world who are less fortunate.

They are a non-profit organization offering people the opportunity to buy ‘gifts’ for others. Each gift listed on the site is dedicated to a specific cause or organization. They have everything from ‘Feed a Family‘ ($75 buys two weeks of food) to ‘Save an Elephant‘ ($15 provides one hour of student research) to ‘Unite for Sight‘ ($60 covers the cost of one surgery). They even have Facebook gifts!

This really is a great site and an even better gift idea. Not sure what charity someone you know would be interested in? Part of the reason we like the site so much (aside from the good-natured aspect of it) is they also provide a ‘gift ideas’ section for those who are unsure of what to choose. You can search by person, occasion and even price.

Visit Changing the Present and give someone you know the gift of charity.