A new handmade food gift is cherished every bit as much as an heirloom. Like the work of those who lived before us, we can get by with little or no formal training.

The important thing is to continue to create our own unique signature and pass it along to others who will appreciate and respect the work of those who created cockerel crowing weather vanes, sculptures, teapots and tabletop and kitchen utensils.

Here’s an example of a simple gift for a friend: Fill a rubber (medical) glove with Hershey’s kisses. Attach a note with the words:

“I’d like to give you a hand.”

(ICDT!) (I Can Do That!)

Windows on the World iconic logo

The Windows on the World collection of restaurants and bars – WOW – sitting aloft 107 stories in the sky took a virtual village to create and maintain. Developed under the visionary leadership of restaurateur Joe Baum and his partners, here are a few facts that made “Windows” hum.

• Windows sat 1,314 feet high in the sky; 1,274 feet above mean sea level.
• Over 2,450 food items were ordered every week.
• 2,000 bottles of beer were on hand at any give time in the Greatest Bar on Earth.
• There were over 20,000 bottles of wine in the cellar. (If you laid their corks end to end, the corks would measure 3,333 feet.)
• 700 wines from around the world made it to Windows’ wine list.
• The Greatest Bar on Earth featured 16 different kinds of vodka.
• Over 27,000 bottles of champagne would be sold in one year (imbibed with 51 lbs. of caviar per week!)
• 1,000 calls or more were made to the Reservations office every day.
• There was always a seat in the house — in one of the 2,500 chairs.
• 3,600 eggs were bought every week (that’s a lot of chickens).
• 700 lbs. of shrimp were consumed every week.
• It took a lot of cooks to cook up all of that shrimp and caviar — 52, to be exact.
• A rose by any other name would smell as sweet — 3,000 flowers were ordered every week!
• The dishwashers would clean 3,000 forks a day.
• Windows’ panorama of color included 145 different shades of paint, 19 fabric wall coverings and 11 custom carpets.
• The oldest member of the staff was born in 1921; the youngest in 1978.
• Windows had the Manhattan’s youngest sommelier — 25 years old.
• There were more than 500 people employed at Windows on the World, speaking 25 different languages.
• The beaded glass curtain on the 107th floor contained 430,000 imported glass beads on 1,178 strands of steel cable.
• On a clear day, you could see 90 miles in every direction from the 107th floor.
• In high winds, the tower could sway 11 inches.

I asked a young student what she would like to do when she graduates.

With a heavy sigh she confessed all she likes to do is to make decorative flowers for cakes. “Who’s going to pay me to do that for eight hours a day?” she whispered.

She now has a high-paying job.

She works for a caterer whose venue is a botanical garden.

She creates decorative flowers for eight hours a day.

She matches the flowers on wedding cakes to the seasonal flowers in bridal bouquets.