Try several of the Dollar stores in your area! I see tall decorative jars and also one's with wide mouths. If all else fails, resort to using mason jars! I love mason jars for just about anything!!! Top the jar with a decorative fabric (maybe a small fruit pattern) or just tie a fabric ribbon around the rim of the jar. You could even glue a little fruit cluster to the top! Sangria is a more casual drink, so you don't have to get to fancy.....I think the gift itself will be "festive". Wish I was on your Christmas list! :) Gail

blizlady, that would be Sherry (sheshebop), she makes the spinach "brownies" and I love 'em. How many people do you have to serve appetizers to, Dawn? Little pate choux puffs, tiny cream puffs, can be filled with various fillings including chicken salad, egg, tuna or seafood salad, a thick southwestern chicken kind of filling, whatever you like. I make rye puffs and fill with reuben fillings and they can be done ahead of time easily. Reuben Puffs 1 cup water 1/2 cup butter, cubed 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup rye flour 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 eggs Caraway seeds CORNED BEEF FILLING: 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened 2 packages (2 ounces each) thinly sliced deli corned beef, chopped 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons minced chives 2 tablespoons diced onion 1 teaspoon spicy brown or horseradish mustard 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flours, parsley, garlic powder and salt all at once; stir until a smooth balls forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat until smooth. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets or make puffs with a pastry bag. Sprinkle with caraway. Bake at 400° for 18-20 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire racks. Immediately cut a slit in each puff to allow steam to escape; cool. In a large bowl, combine the first eight filling ingredients. Split puffs; add filling. Refrigerate. Yield: 4-1/2 dozen. I make these cheese thumbprints filled with hot pepper jelly, they are pretty popular. I make my own habanero jelly to fill them with, but anything you like could be used, including salsa. I got the recipe from Carol (Readinglady) and she's never given me a bad recipe! Savory Cheddar And Jalapeno Jelly Cookies 8 oz (about 2 1/2 cups) finely grated (use smallest holes on grater box) extra-sharp cheddar cheese 6 tbs (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup all purpose flour 1/3 cup jalapeno jelly, apple butter, or chopped chutney Place cheese ad butter in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add flour and process until mixture forms a soft dough. Gather up dough and divide into two flat disks. Wrap in wax paper and freeze until chilled, about 45 minutes. Position two racks in center and top third of oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone pads. Place the jelly in a small plastic bag and force it into one corner. Snip off the corner of the bag to make a small hole. Set bag aside. Using 1 tsp of dough for each, roll the dough into small balls. Place the balls 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Using the end of a wooden spoon or a 1/2-inch wide dowel, poke an indentation in each cookie. Pipe the jelly from bag into the indentation. Return to the oven and bake, switching the position of the sheets from top to bottom, halfway through baking, until the tops are lightly browned, about 10 minutes (the cookies will continue to crisp as they cool). Transfer to a wire cake racks and cool completely. Can be prepared 2 days in advance in stored in air tight containers at room temperature. OK, first I use a spoon, not a bag, for the jelly, I made a big mess with that ziplock bag thing. Second I bake them one pan at a time, I don't do the remove/switch thing, it's easier for me to do one pan at a time. Third, this dough is very similar to another one posted here by Weed, so you could wrap it around an olive or pecan, etc., and make a whole difrferent kind of appetizer. I doubt I'd take the time to wrap the dough, I'd probably plunk an olive in the middle of the "cookie" and call it good, LOL. If you don't do something like the puffed sandwiches, Ann T's Gougiere would be lovely, I think. An antipasta plate could be nice and could be entirely assembled ahead of time and I've had Caprese-on-a-stick, which was basically a cherry tomato, a chunk of marinated mozzarella, an olive and a leaf of basil, all skewered for serving. Meatballs would stay hot in a crockpot or small Nesco roaster without any last minute prep at all, as would chicken wings, although those could be messy unless they are boneless. Do you need something sweet, or just savory stuff? Annie

The first time I had a hot buttered rum was at a lady's home in Brown County, Indiana. Brown County is hilly and wooded (at least back then) and very beautiful on a snowy winter day. This lady's house was amazing. She had traveled the world, literally, and had decorated her home with the beautiful things she found on her trips. We went to visit and she made us this drink on a cold night in winter with snow outside and a big fire in the fireplace. While we sipped, she told of stories of her travels. It was a wonderful and memorable night. (This would also be good for a sore throat, I would think!) HOT BUTTERED RUM (Rachael Ray) 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/4 cup honey 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves Pinch salt 3/4 cup spiced rum 2 cups boiling water 4 sticks cinnamon, for garnish Using an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar, butter, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a 4-cup (or larger) measuring cup. Add the rum and then 2 cups of boiling water. Stir until the butter mixture dissolves. Divide the buttered rum among 4 mugs. Garnish with the cinnamon sticks and serve.

En route home from the library, after my comment here last Friday ... there was a "RIDE" check, with a couple of cop cars with lights flashing at a road junction, and we all had to roll down the window to let one of the cops get a sniff of our breath. If one blows too heavy on the breathalyzer - give up keys, right there ... walk home. Didn't envy the cops their task, on that snowy, rather blowy, night ... ... but, 10 mi.from town, with no phone nearby to call a cab (expensive!) ... it'd be a long walk home! And the fine for drinking and driving is massive! ole joyfuelled ... and fuelled by just gas in the car, that night