There's nothing wrong with monogrammed French soaps or a programmable ice bucket that chills wine on demand in minutes. It's just that our minds are in a different place this year.

When the reporters and writers for Home&Garden got together to brainstorm ideas for our annual, "Staff Picks" holiday gifts roundup, many of us blurted out things like: "What I really would like is for someone to find me a handyman and pay for him to come to my house for half a day."

And: "Wouldn't it be great if someone hired a landscape designer for me, just to come up with a plan for my garden? I can do the planting."

Clearly, these aren't your scoop-'em-up, wrap-'em-up kinds of gifts. They require a mindfulness of your loved ones' inner passions and/or pathos -- and the savvy to locate the satisfaction/antidote.

We stepped in with a gift of our own -- a list of ideas for such mind-over-material gifts. We came up with services, adventures, experiences that make wonderful presents, all with a focus on the home. And then we offer help in tracking down these "non-things."

To those who say "good things come in small boxes," we say "even better things come in no box at all."

Really know the people you're giving to -- the things they value and have room for in their lives -- and you'll have a meaningful and treasured gift.

One of my all-time favorite gifts came from my sister. She (being the better cook and the more organized one) compiled for me a handwritten family recipe book with sections for appetizers, vegetables, pasta, meat and poultry, seafood, breads and baked goods, sweets, beverages and memorable meals. She included classic family recipes from my mother and grandmothers and the more esoteric party fare (all of which I previously had a hard time finding in my semblance of recipe organization). It's now a cherished cookbook on my shelf -- and a wonderful link to my past and some of the best meals I have ever eaten.

How to make one: My sister handwrote her entries into a ring-bound cook's journal (with pockets for stashing more recipes and notes) that she found at a bookstore. (Check out www.borders.com and www.barnesandnoble.com; search for recipe journal and/or family recipe organizer). You can print out your recipes from your computer, if typing is faster and easier for you. And you could use any type of notebook with tabbed dividers. (Check out the mini-binders from Russell + Hazel, www.russellandhazel.com, which allow you to personalize -- you pick from a number of stylish binders and then the appropriate inserts.)

Wouldn't it be a great present to make a quilt out of Grandma's vintage napkins or Dad's old ties or Josh's old baseball T-shirts? Don't know how
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