My wife's family has a "gift list." This is something you write in word so that your relatives can buy you shit you need, shit you want. I hate it. I hate it mostly because my sister-in-law used to write things like "these socks (amazon link), but only in blue, and only if you're also getting me these shoes." Bitch. But because xmas can be catastrophic without (example: ask for earbuds, get a Motorola Douchetag), I put together a list. My mother in law lost it. So she asked my wife what I like. Apparently I like biscotti. Four pounds worth. I've been having a biscotti for breakfast for, like, a week now. If I keep it up, I'll be done with them in February some time.
My favorite presents are almost invariably consumables (I already feel like I have too much shit, and I don't really want much more). However, I might laugh out loud if I were to open the world's most giant box of biscotti. That's pretty funny, actually. This year I pretty much told everyone who was buying a gift for me that I would only accept gifts of whisk(e)y. And it worked! I received three really nice bottles of scotch, which made my day (except that half of the people at our family Christmas Eve party contracted the stomach flu, myself included, so I couldn't so much as smell the whisky for a couple days).
Are they at least $48 tasty? Man, those are pricey. That holiday gift buying style does seem pretty shitty, given the way it can be taken advantage of. Seems like a prime opportunity for messing with them though. For example, my cousin desperately wanted rollerblades (this was in the '90's, of course) and so our uncle bought the best ones available, then took them out and put a pair of girl's panties (I assume they were new and un-worn) and put them in the box with something to simulate the correct weight. My cousin was so elated when he unwrapped the box and then so crushed when he opened it that he actually started to cry. Good one, uncle P. My cousin got the skates a bit later. I bet he'd stop being pissed off about it if we all stopped laughing about it, but y'know, family.