Before I commit a major faux pas...

Seaxwyn

If you haven't met them yet, I think it would be better just to knock on the door and introduce yourself first. Then take cookies another time.

My neighbours sometimes exchange stuff - garden produce and yes even home-baked cakes - and that's taken as a sign of friendship and trust. To do it with people you don't know could come over as a bit insincere and gushing.

BUt the name thing - I'm astonished. I know lots of people with surnames as middle names, including my own mother and grandparents, who are Scottish.

tawnyowls

Chipps wrote:

Well, if anyone is offended by being given a lovely gift of home made biscuits - and is rude enough to say so, under the guise of being "too British"... then I despair!
Anyway, it's the sort of thing people used to do here too. Before we all stopped speaking to one another!

Absolutely. What a miserable git that other person sounds! Maybe they were hitting out because they never cook? I baked biscuits when I moved into my new house and took them round to the neighbours, and I'm not American. They brought stuff round to us too (not in answer, if you get me - they sort of overlapped). Anyone churlish enough to refuse a gift like that isn't really worth wasting time over.

Peem wrote:

I don't think this is a purely american thing at all.
I'm a Scot - my mum and my sisters and my dad all have "surnames" for middle

My MIL, who is very English, used her maiden name as a middle name for all her kids, and this was over 50 years agor. It was quite common practice in the upper classes in England in particular, as a way of keeping the wife's name going.

kiwichick

I think it a lovely gesture. I'm from NZ (as the name and avatar suggest ) and this sort of thing is really common there. We always bake for people, have pot luck dinners with our neighbours and are generally more involved at a community level in everything our children are doing. I miss it to be honest and do everything I can to encourage it in my village, I've already given out some mince pies this year and bake for all my PTA meetings.

GardenMillie

When I do home baking I always give some to my neighbour - she is training to be a nurse and always appreciates it. If people don't appreciate kindness it's their loss. I always endeavour to get on with neighbours (without living in each others pockets) you never know when you might be able to help each other out.:T

Penny_Watcher

What a lovely idea. Go for it. My address is ........

tawnyowls wrote:

My MIL, who is very English, used her maiden name as a middle name for all her kids, and this was over 50 years agor. It was quite common practice in the upper classes in England in particular, as a way of keeping the wife's name going.

My Aunty Shirley (only child of two only children) had her mother's maiden name as her middle name. Although she is English her parents were very ordinary, her Dad was the milkman - no - seriously, he was a milkman.;)

dolly_day_dream

Well I am as English as Yorkshire Pudding - trust me I am I have been researching my family tree:D and I am making my next door neighbours some cookies for Christmas. Over 20 years ago I started making them and 'trading' them in return for baby sitting etc but now the children are grown and I don't have that form of barter system in place.:o My neighbours are relatively new and I wanted a small gift that they would all enjoy Mum Dad and 2 small children.

If it is seen as American I am sorry, I just considered it to be neighbourliness.

Go ahead and give your cookies - those who are worth knowing will accept and be happy - those who are not will grumble, but I bet they will all grab your hand off.

Zed42

BND - I say "go for it".

If you were buying each cottage a gift, I would say "no" with big capitals all over it, but the fact of the matter is, you want to bake something and introduce yourself ... I think that's a lovely gesture.

I hope you meet some friendly people

Penelope_Penguin

Hi, BND! I think it's a lovely idea! I'm sure the only people who'd make snide comments will only do so because they're unable to bake delicious cookies/biscuits themselves.

My BIL is from Belfast, and his daughter (my niece) has a surname as a middle name, which also happens to be a boy's name. The registrar was very confused!

Penny. x

BrandNewDay

Well, a Brit on the expat board (WHY do they persist in posting there?) explained to me that this is seen as pushy and a source of anxiety because most Brits will feel obligated to reciprocate, so I should limit myself to group situations. Which is what I will do, in addition to a couple of neighbors. The people who live in the castle down the lane are nice enough to have given us free run of their property (access to the loch via their property, my kid can play in their garden) so I feel like I totally OWE them some cookies! Also, they own a Christmas tree farm and they told me we could have one, so that would be a nice way to break the ice to say "Hi, can you point to the tree I can cut down, now?"

Hello

If I don't get a knock on the door with cookies on offer very soon I am going to be sooo disappointed!!

Don't take any notice, you know how us British can be! :rolleyes: Sooooo sensitive!

H
x