"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
...
> My niece is getting married, and I'm currently
> thinking about giving the Waring WCT704 toaster.
> It has two long wide slots which can do four
> slices of regular bread at once, or a couple
> slices of crudely thick-sliced rustic bread.
>
> I don't know whether my niece cooks, but it's
> doubtful because her mother doesn't. Therefore
> a toaster oven or microwave oven might not be
> useful. And they might already have a microwave,
> but not a mighty toaster like the WCT704.
>
> They're Mormons, so no coffee gadgets.
>
> I gave some thought to a SodaStream, but I can't
> be sure that would be used. That's more of a
> foodie type item. Same thing for a juicer or
> water distiller. For sure, no deep fryer or
> sous vide cooker. I did consider a Ronco
> rotissiere, but that's probably too far out
> of the box.
>
> A toaster might be the closest thing that would
> actually get used. I'm thinking toaster + a
> good bread knife.
>
> I'd like to hear suggestions. Does anyone know
> of an unexpected gift that would be spectacularly
> useful for a young couple? (Not necessarily
> food-related, of course.)

I don't know how it is where you are, but here, it is much more common to
simply give money. Most people have all of the things that they need by the
time they are married. She may well already have a toaster. And she may
not even eat toast. A lot of people don't.

When I got married, I got mostly money because most people knew I was moving
right away to another state. I did get a nice set of fancy towels in a
cream color so they would pretty much go in any bathroom. I did use those a
lot, mainly just putting them out when we had visitors. But now some 19
years later, they don't look as good as the once did and we are actually
using them.

Things I didn't use at all or rarely used were a crystal salad bowl, and a
crystal candy dish. I already had tons of candy dishes and bowls that were
big and nice enough to serve a salad in, should I ever have the need to do
that. Although the crystal bowl was pretty, it was very heavy to have to
hoist up and down off of the shelf and the silver plated serving pieces that
came with it required polishing. So not for me. I also got some kitchen
towels and pot holders which I did use. Those things don't last forever.

Other things that I really never used were a fancy photo album (I think they
either made it or bought it at a craft fair) and some fancy picture frames.
I am simply not a picture person and I am pretty picky about my frames. I
don't necessarily think that all of the frames in the house have to match,
but I like them to at least coordinate. Mine are either oak, oak and gold
or gold. I was gifted with white ceramic ones, presumably to put the
wedding pics in. But since ours was a very rushed wedding, and we didn't
have a professional photographer, they are not things that I want to
display.

My mom often gives heating pads which I think is a rather odd wedding gift.
Not sure of her reasoning on that but she did say once that she would bet
they didn't have one. It would seem to me that if they didn't have one,
they didn't need one. I've had one forever. I used to get a lot of ear
infections and they are soothing for that.

A couple of things that I personally would have liked to get were a
Crock-Pot (I did actually get one not long after we were married as a
Christmas present) and a fondue pot. But... I do like to cook!