How about cheese straws/cookies???

Shelley

Our neighbor gave us a large container of granola on the second Christmas we lived here. What a wonderful present that was. Everyone in the family enjoyed it, it looked and tasted good and was much appreciated. I think that is a great gift.

We have given Sugar Coated Pecans in the past and they have been very well received. And super simple to make. If you haven't had these before they are very hard to quit eating once you've started! I think they make a good gift with a nice presentation.

Kate

Thank you Shelley and Kate! I have been looking at cheese straw recipes just now but I might eat all of them before they made it to the packaging but definitely a consideration. I still like the granola idea so thanks for the reinforcement.

This treat is always a hit in my Christmas baskets.

Sharon's Peppermint Bark

1 Lb chopped bittersweet chocolate
8 Drops peppermint oil (NOTE must be peppermint oil not peppermint extract or your chocolate will seize)
1 Lb chopped white chocolate
3/4 Cup chopped candy canes

Line a 11 X 17 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside

Melt bittersweet chocolate in a heavy pan over low heat, stirring constantly. Stir in 4 drops of peppermint oil. Spread evenly over pan and chill for about 1 hour.

Melt white chocolate in a heavy pot over low heat, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 4 drops of peppermint oil and then add in candy cane.

Spread white chocolate over chilled dark chocolate, spreading to the edge of the pan. Chill 4 hours.

Break into pieces. Will keep stored in the fridge for 3 weeks (yeah right!!! LOL)

I always appreciate spiced nuts.

During November, I usually make a selction of soups that are good for freezing and portion them and freeze in two-serving plastic containers. I package a selection of four to six different kinds for my older relatives or those who live alone. It's a treat for them on a snowy winter night.

In my opinion cheese straws are as time consuming as cookies. What about bar cookies or biscotti? And tea breads are always good: lemon bread, blueberry bread, cranberry nut bread, pumpkin apple bread, etc. I have some recipes if you need them.

Biscotti are awesome! I guess they are a little bit more work than granola, because of the slicing, but I, too, would be excited to receive them.

I loved the "baskets" idea so much that I wrote them down. That's what I will be doing for Christmas this year.
I also like the spiced nuts and peppermint bark idea.

I appreciate all the ideas and thanks for taking the time to post.
I have a weird group of people to give things to: half are old, some don't love sweets much and the rest, well, are just weird. (A grown man who only eats corn and iceberg lettuce for vegetables)
For the past several weeks I had been planning on making pumpkin bread which has given me rhapsodies the last month it is so good and I've been making it a lot lately. But it doesn't seem very special now.
Sharon, I have made your bark to put in my cookie tins and it's very good.
Most of the people would like some soup but I don't want to do that- I want something room temperature.

Again, I appreciate having so many options and I will be saving this thread for next year.

Over the years I have given and gotten many things as small neighborly gifts.
Among them tins of cookies, or fudge or hard candy, loaf of date bread, orange currant bread, banana bread, honey pecan bread.
A bundle of home made crisp bread sticks, a jar of hot chocolate mix, with a couple of candy canes tied on.
A jar of pepper jelly, pickles, pickled beets or pickled green beans ( somethings I know the giver knows nothing about safety and I won't eat.)
Biscotti, in a jar in a bag in a tin, dipped in chocolate both white and dark sprinkled with nuts or not....and someone always gave a quart jar of home made soup! I have gotten a Christmas dish with about 8 truffles, a pound of spicy pecans or BBQ flavor almonds. I have gotten butter molded in the shape of Santa's face or a holly wreath to use on my christmas table, and I have given home made cheese balls.
All these things I love!....
Things I don't love....a platter of mixed cookies and sliced breads covered with saran, where all achieves the taste and texture of a soggy spicy peppermint soggy cookie!
And a jar or a mug of a home made mix...one of those soup in a jar or brownies in a jar things. Who wants a Christmas mug full of brownie mix when other people are giving me the brownies?
I know...it's the thought that counts! LOL! And I try to remember that.
But the gift I gave that seemed to be most appreciated was when I would send a kid around on Christmas eve about 5 PM with a pan of hot cinnamon rolls! It was a huge task to make and deliver about 8 to 10 pans of cinnamon rolls.....so I stopped that!
Linda C

Another idea would be making some "gifts in a jar". These could be soup mixes, brownie and cookie mixes, muffin mixes, hot chocolate mixes, etc. Most only need water or something easy added to make a fresh, hot meal.

Below is a link to give you some ideas, I have not personally tried any of the recipes on this site, but it should give you some ideas.

Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Gifts in a Jar

HereÂs something I want to try this year:

Spicy Football Crunch Mix

Equal parts sesame sticks
Equal parts rice crackers
Add to cracker mix: corn nuts, toasted pumpkin seeds, and pistachio nuts

Spread cracker/nut mix on a cookie sheet; preheat oven to 300°. Spray cracker/nut mix with cooking spray and sprinkle on a combo of chili powder, garlic powder, ground red pepper or other hot spices. Toast in oven for about 10 -15 minutes to mellow spices. Cool and serve.

As for the "gifts in a jar," I think it depends on who you give them too. My brother loves chocolate chip cookies and they are not a common item in Germany where he lives so he loved the chocolate chip cookie mix I gave him one year. Someone else who was a real baker might not have liked it as much. One year a friend gave me homeade scone mix and I enjoyed making those. I would love some homeade granola, only because I would be very unlikely to make that kind of thing myself. Although they are fun, I don't like to get cookies around the holidays only because I cannot eat a lot of sweets, I have to limit myself so a plate or tin of candy or cookies gets stale long before I can eat it up. I do canned goods some years when I have time but they are not a quicker alternative to cookies, just different. This year I am making spiced liqueur. This of course will not be good for everyone either, only the people likely to enjoy drinking something like that. I made instant chai mix one year to give to a friend, that was quick and fun, but only worked because she loved that rich, sweet kind of chai, which I do not so that wouldn't work for everyone either. It was easy though. This year I am making fancy applesauce for my one canned item. It takes a couple of hours though. Might go faster if I bit the bullet and bought an apple peeler.
Vanilla or other spiced sugars are easy to make and might make a nice gift for some folks.

I recently bought 2 lbs of freeze dried strawberries and 2 lbs of freeze dried blueberries. I have some pretty pint jars and was thinking of using my Mom's vacuum sealer to pack and seal pint jars. Then maybe print up some pretty labels. Thought these would be good in a Christmas basket.

1pinkmountain, tell us about your spiced liqueur! (I love anything boozey). A friend of mine always makes a huge batch of glog, and gives little bottles of it to everyone. If you're lucky you also get her wonderful fruitcake (I know...). She made a gorgeous panforte last year.
I made loaves of stolen one year. They were beautiful, easy to package, and easy to mail.
Check out lindac's blue cheese cocktail wafers she contributed in a recent post:

Here is a link that might be useful: blue cheese cocktail wafers

ktmast, I'd melt some dark chocolate, add those dried fruits and make little chocolate cups or clusters. Mmmm, thanks for the idea. I'm thinking dark chocolate, dried cherries and pecans or walnuts....

Annie

If you start now, you can make some lemoncello in time for Holiday giving!

The special *special* people in my life are getting lemoncello...our friend John will receive lemoncello AND pickled garlic if I can perfect the recipe!

Sooz

Here is a link that might be useful: The Lemoncello Link

A suggestion regarding food gifts at Christmastime...

We receive so many home-baked food gifts within a few days right before Christmas that lots end up past their prime before we can enjoy them, since we were off visiting relatives, etc.

One year I began delivering my holiday cookie/fudge gifts to close friends and family the first week or two of December. So many people told me they love getting them then. They enjoy them with coffee or tea while they write out their Christmas cards. Some look forward to snacking on them when they decorate their tree and home, or while wrapping gifts. I think they're more savored then than when I used to deliver right before Christmas when folks were often swamped with sweets from the office, cheese & sausage baskets and piles of cookie tins.

This might not fit everybody's schedule, but it always helps put me in the holiday spirit.

I wish I would get some of these gifts! Such good ideas and so yummy!

I think amck makes a great point. Our neighbors across the street have many children, lots of friends and the husband is a pastor. They receive so much around Christmas time that even that large, busy family cannot make a dent in it. One year I watched their cat over the holidays and found my food gift buried under a huge pile of other food gifts left at home for a week over Christmas time. They just could not get through it all. Now I know they are the exception because they get TONS of stuff. But I have never given them sweets since. I would sooner take them homemade bread, a casserole or a large kettle of soup that I know would be eaten.

Although myself I think the goodies above sound fantastic! But my husband and I get just about what we can eat as far as treats go and truly relish them.

Kate

I feel really bad, because last year I was given a link to a whole Web site on making liqueur, (maybe even by Readinglady, or someone from the Harvest forum), and I either filed it somewhere I can't find, or didn't bookmark it. Anyway, maybe you can find it by Googling. Meanwhile, here's the recipes I am using. They come out of one of my FAVORITE books, sadly no longer in print. It is called "The Herbal Pantry" by Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead, Clarkson Potter Publisher, New York 1992. It is a visual as well as culinary treat. It is LOADED with ideas for using herbs to make thing that would be great gifts, like herbal vinegars and mixes, and special cordials, jams, chutnies, etc.

Apricot Thyme Liqueur

1 lb. dried apricots (I spent extra for unsulphered, organic for obvious reasons)
4 cups vodka (I used a 750 ml. bottle)
1/2 cup brandy (I used another 750 ml. bottle because that's what was needed to cover the apricots)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon thyme (I used double that, but it may be a mistake. It was so late in the season and had been so cold when I harvested the thyme, it doesn't seem to have all that much taste left. Time will tell.)

Combine fruit and booze and herbs in a large jar (I used a quart canning jar) with a tight fitting cover. Place in a cool dark place to steep for one month. I have it in the back of the fridge and it's going to be there for two months. Occasionally moosh the fruit around in the liquid using a wooden spoon or potato masher.

When adequately steeped, strain the liquid from the fruit as much as possible. Boil the sugar and water together and add to the fruit mixture. Add sugar syrup slowly to taste, stop when it is sweet enough for you. Bottle and age for an additional 3 weeks.

This weekend I hope to put up a jar of pear ginger and raspberry mint.

The raspberry mint calls for 4 half pints of raspberries, which I have about half frozen right now so I'll add some more store bought frozen ones, and 3/4 cup tightly packed mint leaves, which I am no way going to use because I don't like mint all that much. I'll probably use 1/4 cup. Can also add 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa.

Pear ginger calls for 8 very ripe pears (4 cups) and a 2 inch piec of ginger. Also calls for increasing the sugar to 2 cups water and 1 cup sugar. Which seems like a lot to me, but she says OK to add to taste.

Using the pear recipe above, apple cinnamon brandy would be easy enough to figure out.

1pinkmountain, thank you so much for posting your rx! I just so happen to have lemon thyme growing in a pot with my chives (I love it in spinach quiche). I also have some huge jars just waiting for this. yahoo!!

My pecans go over very well, and keep well, too

spicy Bourbon pecans

1/2 cup good bourbon
1 lb pecan halves
1 T. corn oil
1 T. worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon angostura bitters
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350.
1) in small saucepan, simmer bouron over medium heat until reduced by 1/4. Blanch pecans in boiling water for 1 minute, then drain.

2) In large bowl, combine bourbon, oil, worcestershire, bitters, sugar. Add hot pecans and toss well. Let stand for 10 minutes.

3) spread pecans in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, or until they are crisp and liquid has evaporated.

4) Transfer to large clean bowl and toss with spices (as follows), about 1-1/2 teaspoon spices, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper.

Spices---Emeril's "Essence" (This makes a lot more than this recipe needs, but I use it for a lot of other things. You can just reduce the recipe proportionally, if you like)

2-1/2 T. paprika
2 T. salt
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. black pepper
1 T. onion powder
1 T. cayenne pepper
1 T. dried leaf oregano
1 T. dried thyme.

Store in airtight container.

Hints: the recipe does not seem to work with Splenda. And make sure the pecans are crisp... better slightly overdone than underdone.

Just so you know, I have never made this apricot liqueur before, so I'd follow the recipe if you have fresh lemon thyme. I have no idea if it is going to be any good or not, it was just something to do with the thyme so I thought I'd experiment. I soaked a bunch of regular apricots in brandy last year, and that was good. No thyme in that batch. I also added the syrup from my canned pears in port, to hot wine for a mulled effect, also very good. So this year I am being a little more systematic about it.

Here are some of the "boozy" things I have made in the past that I can recommend.....

Pear Liqueur

3 cups 80 proof vodka
1 cup water
6 ripe pears
1 orange cut into 8ths and mashed
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole peppercorns
4 cups sugar

Seed and stem the pears and chop coarsely. Combine all but the
sugar in a jar with a cover and let infuse for at least two weeks
in a cool, dark place. Strain through coarse, medium and fine
strainers. Add sugar and shake or stir until completely dissolved.
Leave to settle and clear. This takes 10 to 15 days. Very gently
pour off the sediment into a decanter. The peppercorns add a tiny
but interesting bite. They can be omitted if you prefer.

________________________________________________________

Cranberry Cordial

12 oz pkg fresh cranberries
1 c sugar
2 c light corn syrup
2 c vodka
1 c water
1/2 c brandy

Coarsely chop the cranberries in a food processor fitted with the
metal blade, or chop with a knife. Stir the cranberries and sugar
in a large bowl until the berries are well coated. Stir in the
remaining ingredients until blended. Pour the mixture into a large
glass jar, cover, and store in a cool, dark place for at least 1
month, stirring or shaking the jar every few days.

Before serving, strain the liquid from the cranberries through a
fine strainer or dampened cheesecloth. It may be stored tightly
covered at room temperature up to 3 months. Refrigerate it for
longer storage. Makes about 4 cups.

__________________________________________________________

Raspberry Cordial

2 cups granulated sugar
2 pints ripe raspberries, picked over
1 quart vodka

Place the sugar in a 3-quart glass jar with a lid. Add the
raspberries and the vodka, and cover. (The sugar may not dissolve
completely at first. It will eventually, however). Place in a
dark cool place. Each week, for about 2 months, open the jar and
stir the cordial. Strain the finished cordial through a very fine
sieve into a decanter.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to addtl non T&T recipes

lilpink, I might have posted that link. I like Gunther Anderson's site; it's very thorough and helpful, like a book online.

For a seasonal liqueur, check out the cranberry at the link. If money's tight, cranberries might be more affordable and flavorful than some other fruits.

Also, don't forget another gift possibility - homemade vanilla extract. There are also mustards, infused oils (be careful with food safety and refer to reliable sources), compound butter with a loaf of bread or scones, chutneys and various winter preserves using cranberries or dried fruits.

I have a million ideas for this sort of thing.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Gunther Anderson's Cranberry Liqueur