What is a good San Francisco gift to give family in Hungary?

Giants caps. Less worry about sized than buying t-shirts or jerseys.

Not Rice-A-Roni

Something unique to San Fran that the city is known for like some Ghiardelli coffee. (NOT the chocolate. Most Europeans think American chocolate is awful.)

Other possibilities:
Sour Dough bread mix (San Fran is apparently famous for Sour Dough bread)
Spice packets not available in Hungary for cooking them a special “American” meal while you’re there.. Example: Taco Spice mix (to make them tacos)

Why not ask them what they might enjoy?

Find books with extensive history and photos of San Francisco. Maybe one on the founding and early 19th/20th centuries of the city itself and another one on the history of the battlements and building of the Presidio and a third one of the history of Chinatown.

@geeky_mama But when Europeans talk of awful American chocolate, is it not more Hershey’s and the like that they are referring to, not the more gourmet stuff? I know Ghiardelli makes coffee, but it’s a chocolate company, so to bring them something other than chocolate seems to defeat the point of bringing Ghiardelli. It’d be like bringing a Nike shirt instead of Nike sneakers.

What about creating a food basket with a loaf of sourdough bread (or a box of bread mix), some Ghirardhelli chocolate, a can or two of dungeness crab.

American chocolate sucks, yo.

You guys are awesome! Thank you! Jaytkay, I thought that hats were a great idea yesterday until I walked around the stores in the Mission and saw that all the hats that weren’t crappy knock offs are on average $25. That is going to add up pretty fast. Geeky mama, the sour dough bread mix/starter is a great idea – any ideas of where to get it? They do have fresh bread bakeries on just about every urban corner since that is the every day bread they eat (yes, fresh bread is cheaper than prepackaged bread unlike here), but I can’t remember if they make sourdough (I don’t think so). Gailcalled, I could ask them, but they always say “nothing please” out of politeness and when they do ask for something, it can come off as a favor you are doing them rather than a gift that needs no payback. It is better to just show up with something good and they are always happy even if they told you not to bring something. Aethelflaed, Ghirardhelli is good, but we brought that last time and for some reason, it didn’t get eaten. Thanks for all the ideas! Keep ‘em coming if you have any more!

A box of Rice Aroni and a scale version of a trolley.

john65penniington Ha ha! I love it. That is great. I can just imagine the confused look on their faces and their attempt at polite gratitude!

Neizvestnaya, thanks for the idea of the history/photo book. If I could find one in Hungarian, that would be the best b/c they don’t speak English and it would be good if they could read the captions and know what they are looking at. But maybe it would be cool for the pictures alone regardless of what they think they are looking at…hmmm, perhaps like a literary Mystery Science Theater 3000….

Marinelife – dungeness crab is a great idea! Where could I find it?

A calendar with pictures of S.F. if you can find one for 2012 this early. (computer search.)
Not strictly SF, but definitely American, take chocolate chips and nuts and make cookies for them while you are there. They will have the rest of the ingredients.