It’s entertainment. It’s a meal. It’s fun. It’s hard to go wrong with a “Lady and the Tramp” dinner basket.

Though the price tag is a bit beyond the usual Simple Gifts budget, the idea’s too cute not to throw out there.

The package will weigh in at $30 or so, but that’s still an affordable gift if it’s aimed at a family. And men shouldn’t overlook this as a gift idea for a lady they’d like to impress. The guy who first took me to a Disney movie definitely got a second date. And a third. And a fourth. And …

I digress.

The entrée, of course, is spaghetti and meatballs. You could easily buy jarred sauce, frozen meatballs, pasta and breadsticks. Go as economical or as upscale as you wish. If you’re planning it as a kids’ gift, I wouldn’t waste money on high-end food. Kids are notoriously undiscriminating when it comes to skabetti.

To get back to the Simple Gifts, I would, of course, make the sauce, meatballs and breadsticks, but, then, I make marinara sauce five gallons at a time, so there’s always some in stock. Back in the day before egg allergies invaded my house, I made pasta as well.

Add a candle in a bottle, chianti if you’re aiming for authenticity. And, of course, you’ll need the movie, available for $20.99 at amazon.com. Or you could just throw in a video store gift certificate — are they still called video stores?

Arrange the gifts in a big white pasta bowl – that’s what Lady and Tramp ate from – or in a big dog dish if there’s a real canine in the house. Wrap it in a table cloth – the one from the movie is white with big red squares if you really want to replicate the scene. If you’re handy with a sewing machine – I’m not – you could make one.

For dessert, you could either make bone-shaped cookies – Michaels usually has the cutter in stock – or throw in a box of graham cracker dog bones.
Bella notte!

Copyright 2008 Debra Legg. All rights reserved

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