I won’t bore you with tales of my 50th birthday since I pretty much filled you in last week. But, I will say that everyone who came brought great presents, some funny, others having something to do with food, mostly bottles of great wines to help restock my cabinet. But, my friend Dianne Cosper, owner of Blue Ribbon Cafe in Soddy-Daisy, brought a gift that I plan to copy many times over when I need to take a present to someone who has everything she needs.

Dianne, who has always come up with clever gifts, outdid herself this time. She bought a pretty large container, then packed it with the ingredients for pineapple gazpacho. Her husband, Dennis, said he’d never been a fan of cold soup, but one bite of this changed his mind. I loved it, too. Here’s what she did:

In a pretty container, center a fresh pineapple, then surround it with 2 cucumbers, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper and a bottle of hot sauce. Then, attach the recipe and wrap the whole thing in netting so that the colorful display of vegetables and fruit show through. There are a few things the gift recipient will need to purchase herself, or himself if you know a guy who loves to cook. This makes a great gift for either sex.

Pineapple Gazpacho

1 medium-size fresh pineapple, cored and cut into chunks

2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and quartered

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 (48-ounce) can pineapple juice

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1-2 teaspoons hot sauce

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Process first 7 ingredients in a blender or food processor, in batches, until minced, stopping to scrape down sides. Stir together pineapple mixture, diced red and green bell peppers and cilantro in a bowl. Cover and chill for 2 hours before serving. Makes 3 quarts.