ccaggiano, I agree that the raspberry chocolate jam is one to make when berries are in season! (And preferably at Pick-your-own prices. This summer I got young nieces who were visiting to help with the picking---definitely the ideal way to go for that one. ;-) ) Your thought to go with something cranberry makes sense to me given the time of year. (Cranberries were on sale here last week for only 1.99 a 3-cup bag; maybe you'll get a sale this week!) I haven't tried the brandied conserve but I've made the Cranberry Pear Lemon jam from Small Batch---it rocks, and makes a lovely deep red-coloured jar for gifting. Decent pears are usually still available from California. Another good option for this time of year might be some kind of orange or tangerine marmalade thing. But I don't have a specific suggestion for a good one, and people's tastes vary widely as to whether they like bitter or sweet marmalades. Habanero gold is another possibility---make it mild (with just a hint of hab and mostly sweet peppers). It looks SO pretty. One package of dried apricots, a four-pack of sweet peppers and one or two hot peppers should do it. Use Carol's big batch "Hot 'n Sweet Confetti Jelly" version to save on pectin costs. The other key to economical gift-giving is to give four-ounce jars---they are cute and the recipients like 'em just as much as half-pint jars. (OTOH, if you HAVE half-pint jars, you won't be saving by buying a new box of jars. ;-) ) Good luck and have fun. I agree with sage721 that your homemade gifts will be deeply appreciated. Z, who gives pretty much EVERYONE homemade gifts these days

Oh believe me, I've received my share of coffee mugs LOL. I got two this year that were filled with goodies, so I was very excited. The love goes both way with these students-I'm a specialty teacher and this is my third year with some of these little ones so I've really gotten to know them and their families. Jessy, aren't your kids older? I'm so impressed that you still give out gifts at all at that age. I'm sure they will love the gift cards! Too funny about the marshmallows Terri! I've made them before and they are really good-definitely a novelty. Stacy,my big boy is in middle school like Will but I didn't get teacher gifts this year-he has so many teachers and I know they really don't expect them so I'm sure Will's teachers will be thrilled with the peppermint bark. That's probably the most popular candy I make. Barnmom, I'm grateful for anything I get. The gifts you sent sound wonderful! I was just so excited about all the goodies that obviously took a lot of time and effort to put together, especially in this day and age where many people don't have the time or inclination to bake.

I would think twice about spending that kind of money on a mug for a teacher. I know many teachers, both elementary and secondary, and all of them say that they receive too many mugs at Christmas. One teacher I know received 5 from her students one year. A much more appreciated gift would be a gift certificate to Office Depot or a teacher store or a book store. A Catholic High School where one of my children went had a school wide collection for the teacher's Christmas gift. The money was totaled up and every employee from the principal to the part time janitor received some money -- all an equal amount. It was done by the PTA. The teacher's loved it. Another school had the room mom take up a collection, and the teacher received a very nice gift certificate to the mall. She was thrilled!

This is a little late for this year but I wanted to share the response to the teacher appreciation gift I made for a 1st grade niece. She is always "designing" things for herself for us to embroidery. Last fall she came up with her idea but it didn't get stitched out until much later. It was the name of her school on the first row, elementary school on the next row, 5 stick kids on the 3rd row & "a fun place to learn" on the 4th row. She wore her's to school around spring break & her teacher commented that she needed one of those. She also had some flip flops she'd tied gingham check strips of fabric onto to match the pants she wore with her shirt. The teacher was admiring those too. As it got closer to school ending, she wanted to do flip flops for her herself & me make her a shirt. She gave it to her the day before school ended & she wore it the last day. I picked my niece up when school let out & she had a note with names & phone numbers of teachers that wanted to purchase one for themselves. Her teacher told her to give the note to her Mom so it wouldn't do for me to get it. Her Mom got with me on a price & started calling the teachers. She spoke with one she knew personally & she told her that all the first grade teachers had seen it on their hall, but when they went to lunch, the poor teacher couldn't eat for answering questions & standing up to model her outfit. She told her they were having a final teacher's meeting the following morning & she would pass the info on to those who may not have seen the gift. So ever who wanted to know what everybody was doing????? My answer is "Embroiderying shirts for school teachers".