Anyone planning to make, bake or create homemade Christmas gifts this year?

[FarPoint]

I am in the planning stage to do just that with a sampler style basket as the gift.....

First off; I'm making vanilla extract as a gift. Going to use 4 oz. bottles. I just ordered 100 Madagascar vanilla beans for the brew. They should be here September 17th . I will make a batch immediately so I have 3 months for it to set.

Not sure exactly what else to prepare...thinking about pepper jam, apple butter, strawberry-pear butter, crackers.

Let me hear your ideas.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. It looks like it's going to be a decent year for pecans, so we'll be making

spiced nuts this year. We've also thought about fixing cookie and brownie mix in a jar to put in gift baskets this year along with the baked goodies and candies that we usually make.

[FarPoint]

2. I totally forgot all about nuts for a gift.

Great idea! Spiced or candied...yummy!

[pinto]

3. Banana bread loaves with Medjool dates, yogurt and a honey/cinnamon glaze is the plan...

follow through remains to be seen. I'm going to do a trial run with the family at Thanksgiving.

[mopinko]

4. i'm hoping to offload some of these pickles!

if i ever write a book about my farm, i am going to call it 'there's always another cucumber'.
salsas also probably on the list.

[FarPoint]

5. The salsa is a winner for the gift category.

I didn't make any this year...made lots of tomato sauce instead. I still have time... if I can find the time.

[mopinko]

6. we have some awesome peppers.

in fact, we have a huge crop of ghost chilies. enough to wipe out half the city of chicago. if we have a warm fall i might even get some fatalis, which are just as strong. lots of other peppers, too, tho so the taste was very full.
not as good canned as it is fresh, tho.

[The empressof all]

7. I usually make a few Green tomato cakes

But once again this year ..The crop was sparse. So I have no greenies to spare....

[grasswire]

10. it's kind of surprising there are none at farmers market

I've noticed that lack. I wonder why? I think vendors could get a premium for green tomatoes.

I have some, and I think I will have to pick them off by next week, because the slugs have been coming after a few of them.

Dunno if I will have enough to make the enchilada sauce that I like to freeze, though.

[mtnester]

8. Just pulled off some more honey from the hives

going to put them in some pretty muth jars with cork tops like the ones below, a nice ribbon, everyone gets some



also considering some handspun stuff.

[FarPoint]

9. OMG! That is beautiful!

Perfect gift.............I want to be your friend too...

[mtnester]

11. That is very clear grade honey

probably early spring. Mine is more amber, and a perfect wildflower, spicier blend. In another couple of weeks, I will pull off just a small amount of goldenrod honey for my personal use (what I really mean is I will hoard it for myself), which is the best. The rest, I leave a huge store for the bees for the winter.
Sometimes putting honey is nice Ball canning jars also works nicely!

[FarPoint]

15. I am so envious....almost speechless in Ahhh,

An amazing harvest gift. Yum-Oh! Perfect.

[Mojorabbit]

44. Mine is much darker also, a dark amber color with a bite

I gave away a boatload of honey from the spring harvest and should have kept more for my winter tea. The goldenrod in my yard is just starting to open it's blooms. Every year I go out and take photos of all the winged beings enjoying the blossoms.

[Le Taz Hot]

13. Oh, man!

I would SO love to have my own beehive but I live in the city and I think there's laws against it. I do buy all my honey locally from "Bob the Bee Guy". Beautiful!

P.S. Where in the world did you find the jars? Those are so cool!

[Le Taz Hot]

12. What a great idea --

homemade vanilla extract! One of the reasons I LOVE this group is that everyone has such great ideas.

[FarPoint]

16. I bought my Madagascar vanilla beans off of E-Bay.

They have yet to arrive. I'll let you know if the quality measures up....The price was real good. The feedback for over 300 sales were 100%....so I took the plunge.

[WhollyHeretic]

14. I'm going to be doing homemade wine and fudge

I did the same last year but it's going to be different flavors of wine and fudge. My wine this year is a red zinfandel. I'm not sure what type of fudge I'm doing yet. Last year I did chardonnay and peanut butter fudge.

[FarPoint]

17. Ohhhhh yea!!

That makes me want to smack my lips!

Great way to keep friends close.

[FarPoint]

18. I would like to try making wine vinegar.

Any recommendations as to where one can get a really good mother culture?

[susanna]

21. Looking forward to any responses you get.

This is something I've always wanted to try as well!

[WhollyHeretic]

27. I haven't tried that. I'm fairly new to wine making

I have been thinking about it. I have a friend who has been making wine since he was a little kid (he used to stomp the grapes for his grandparents), I've been meaning to ask him about that.

[Ruby Reason]

19. Since we have an herb garden, I'll probably give away dried herbs.

My problem is finding appropriate containers to put them in. Baggies work, but they aren't very festive or easy to store. I might also make some homemade chocolates if I can find my molds.

[susanna]

24. I found some generic herb containers at Bed Bath and Beyond.

You might check there...they are not terribly expensive if I recall.

[Ruby Reason]

29. Thank you, I'll take a look. I have a daughter that loves to frequent that store.

[jackbenimble]

35. Ball has some really cute half pint jars out this year. n/t

[Tanuki]

52. You could easily make your own cute container, like this "yule log"

http://www.marthastewart.com/910081/yule-log-favor-boxes


[img][/img]

[Ruby Reason]

53. Yet another good idea! Thanks.

[susanna]

20. I did an herb salt with the herbs from my garden last year.

Everyone loved it. I just put it in canning jars with a pretty ribbon. This was the method I used:

http://www.bethecook.com/recipes/sauce/homemade-herb-salt.html

I added some granulated garlic, granulated onion and fresh black pepper too.

[FarPoint]

22. Great link...

I bookmarked that one....I know I will do the salt gift now. Thank you.

[susanna]

23. You're welcome! n/t

[susanna]

25. Arkansas Granny just reminded me of one other thing I've done...

Last year I did a homemade "chicken rice" mix (like Rice-a-Roni boxed). I used a chicken bullion base with no MSG. I put some rice and broken up spaghetti in a Ball jar, then added a baggie with the bullion, garlic, parsley flakes and minced dried onion and a "directions" label. I liked it so much I always make my own now. Here's a link:

http://chefmichele.blogspot.com/2005/11/homemade-rice-roni-mix.html

[Glassunion]

26. Yes but not food.

I'm going to lock myself in the basement and lay down about an hour of Christmas music on all my stringed instruments. Package them nice and give out the CDs.

[martheus99]

28. Spam deleted by hlthe2b (MIR Team)

[oneshooter]

30. Pecan fudge, cinnamon pecans, Rum cakes (both regular and injected)

Whiskey cakes ( again, both plain and injected), Jack Danial pies, Pecan pies (deep dish w/2+cups of whole pecan each), English trifle, Old English honey Cakes.

Strange thing is that I can't eat any of these. as I am diabetic.

[FarPoint]

31. Ahhhh you can't eat them...

but...no calories or carbs when you smell the aroma!

[oneshooter]

32. My 14yr old son eats the cookies and tells me how good they are.

The cookies I bake are Molasses Oatmeal w/chopped pecans, Black Eyed Susies, Mint Chocolate chip, and Pecan Pie Bars.


Can't eat any of them either!

[Sentath]

33. Ok, I'm not diabetic* but, Dad and a couple close friends are

So, that is why I stopped doing cookies for Christmas.

Do you have any suggestions for what I can do?



*yet - based on family history and blubber.

[oneshooter]

34. Resrict your consumption of sweets, breads, rice, and potatoes.

Exercise regularly, a fast walk in the evening will go a long way. More protein and vegetables.

Get a blood sugar meter and use it. I keep a log book and check morning and evening. I also check and log my BP at the same time. I include the time I ate my last meal and the time I check my blood sugar.

Diet and exercise are the best. I don't mean a sweating session at the gym. Just a mile at a quick pace ( more of a fast walk) will do wonders for both the BP and sugars.


SWEETS includes sweet tea, sodas, sweet coffee etc.

It ain't easy, it is a life style change. But it will help.
.

[jackbenimble]

36. Candied Ginger

I hope to have enough made to give as gifts in these really neat little Ball half pint jars I bought this year. I have made three big batches of it in the last few months but we keep eating it.

[msanthrope]

39. Post a recipe? nt

[jackbenimble]

40. I just use Alton Brown's recipe from food.com

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/candied-ginger-recipe/index.html

Be careful, it is addicting.

OOPs!! I said food dot com but meant foodnetwork dot com

[msanthrope]

41. THANK YOU!!! nt

[jackbenimble]

42. If you're really adventurous

you can save the 'tea' from boiling the ginger slices, filter then and add sugar and cook down a little to make syrup, or cook it down until it crystalizes and you have a bunch of ginger sugar (this is not easy). You'll have some ginger sugar from making the candied ginger as well.

Oh, and dipping the end of the candied ginger in chocolate is really good if you intend them to be nibbled on.

[msanthrope]

43. Oh-- I have to try this!!! nt

[yellerpup]

47. I like this recipe for Candied Ginger

I made a video of this for my old cooking blog, so I just lifted the copy from that:

"I doubled David Lebovitz’ recipe for Candied Ginger and used that as my base for the Ginger Liqueur. I made candy out of the other 2/3 of the recipe and put them out of my reach. I’ll dip them in chocolate at Christmas and offer them to guests.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/12/candied-ginger/

The labor is all in the candy making, but well worth the effort. However, if you are not a maniac like I am, you may prefer to buy crystallized ginger already made and add it to a simple syrup of 1 Cup water to 1 Cup sugar boiled together while stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.

Ginger Liqueur

1 (generous) Cup Crystallized Ginger in Syrup
4 Cups good quality vodka - just fill the jar.

Dip a good cup of the crystallized ginger in its syrup out of the pot and ladle into a sterilized 1 liter jar. Fill the jar with vodka and seal. Give it a shake to distribute the sugar because it will settle to the bottom in the early stages of the process. Put it away in a cool, dark place. (I use my hall closet) Every three or four days grab the jar and give it a gentle shake. Let it cure for at least two weeks. I let mine go for three weeks and am happy with the result. The taste: distilled essence of ginger – firey, sweet, magical. Cheers!"

[jackbenimble]

48. I'm trying this recipe for candied ginger tonight.

I peeled just under a pound and a half of ginger root so I hope it still turns out well with the extra.

[yellerpup]

49. You won't be sorry you made extra.

I measured carefully the first time I made this recipe and have since made double recipes and fractional recipes and it turns out well every time. Hope you like it!

[jackbenimble]

50. I do like it

I think the difference in cooking times between the recipe I've been using and this recipe may affect the 'hotness' of the ginger though. Or maybe it was because my ginger root was bordering on old. It turned out very well though and I do like it even if it didn't turn out sinus clearing hot! I like the syrup too. Very good. I rolled some in sugar and some I left in the syrup. I've been snacking on the sugar'd slices. Yum, thanks for the great recipe.

[yellerpup]

51. So glad you enjoyed your results.

I think the three boilings get rid of the sting so it's not sinus-clearing. Now that you have the sugared slices that are dried, dip some in melted dark chocolate....bliss!

[yellerpup]

46. I make big batches of candied ginger at the holidays

and keep lots around for us because it's really good for medicinal purposes from heartburn to sea sickness. I make ginger liqueur out of the leftover syrup and premium vodka. I don't make it so often now that our Asian market has closed. Their ginger was so nice.

[Chellee]

37. Coincidence.

I made jars of green tomato red pepper jam today. They'll be Christmas gifts. It's sort of greenish with little red specks. It's very festive looking. And delish.

[FarPoint]

38. I have never had that combination.

Sounds fantastically delicious. Pepper jam is always a holiday special for me so the added green tomato...yummy.

[GoneOffShore]

45. Just took a macaron course so that's what I'm going with

Just have to look out for friends with nut allergies.