Before I embarked on my weeks of traveling, I raided my dad’s garden and made piles of homemade zucchini bread with cinnamon-vanilla honey butter to bring to all my hosts. I love making it in these individual paper pans from ABC Baking Cake Decorating in Phoenix, which make gifting so easy and the results look so professional. I can pretend I’m Tammie Coe.

The paper pans come in every size and shape and are just a few dollars for a half-dozen. Remember this, my darlings, come Christmas. ABC is on 28th St. and Indian School.

This bread recipe is the best there is — created by my mom, even — and even better if you load it with walnuts and dried cherries. It makes an excellent carrier vehicle for truly gorgeous (and simple) evil:cinnamon-vanilla honey butter, which takes five minutes to make and elicits a swoon heard ’round the table.

I love adding labels. These are from Paper Source.

Now, if you make your bed everyday, and leave the space as you found it, and help with the dishes, and take your hosts to dinner and supplement with a photo book or two, I think you’ll be sure to be invited back.