A Homemade Gift Is Always In Style
The art of the homemade Christmas gifts was not lost on me even as a young child thanks to the craftiness of my mother. Growing up I watched my mom, an excellent baker, spend an entire week preparing edible gifts to be doled out before the holidays to everyone from our next door neighbors to our teachers to her colleagues.
In the kitchen I’d watch and help where I could as she turned out loaves of homemade whole wheat bread doing everything herself--even down to grinding the wheat. There would be roasting pans full of caramel corn and cookies in the hundreds. She would carefully package each treat in a decorative bag, tie it with curling ribbon, and attach a gift tag making each baked good as elegant looking as any gift you would find under the tree.
Over the years I have followed in her footsteps firmly believing that a homemade Christmas gift is always in fashion. There was the year in high school where I stayed up all night decorating Chinese take-out boxes with personalized messages before I filled them with caramel corn and handed them out to my classmates at school. Then there was the year I decided to make homemade vinegars for my grandparents and my father helped me seal the decorative vessels with wax.
These days I get my girlfriends together before Christmas for a cookie party where we exchange sugary treats and I make sure everyone goes home with their fair share by decorating take-home bags in advance of the get-together.
Venturing into the world of DIY Christmas gifts can be a rewarding process. Not only does it save you from the stress of shopping malls and needing to find the perfect gift but it most certainly can ease the strain on your wallet.
The shopping for edible gifts is limited to a few places, none of which are near as daunting as a mall. A good place to start is finding the containers to hold the gift in question. The home section of discount stores like Marshalls and TJ Maxx can be a treasure trove for unique bottles to hold homemade vinegar and infused oils, or mason jars for lentil soup and cookie mixes. Antique stores not only can turn up one-of-a-kind bottles and jars, but also interesting plates that can be given as the receptacle for a homemade cookies, old cast-iron muffin tins or bread pans that can be given along with baked good they help to bake. For even less expensive and festive receptacles for foodie gifts, the craft store can help liven up bread bags and paper boxes for cookies with ribbon, stickers, or sparkling paints.
As far as putting together the perfect homemade gift, I like to think there are more options than the standard cookie and quick bread routine. Assembling edible gifts can still be as personal as anything you could buy. If it is coming from your kitchen, think about what you are good at making and go from there. For instance, if you are known more for your barbeque than your biscuits, think of bottling your secret sauce or mixing up your favorite spice rub. Put it in a cool container, label it “Joe’s Secret Sauce” and your friends will feel like they have been given the gift of your culinary talent next time they hit the grill.
Another way to personalize your Christmas gift is to pair something drinkable with something edible. For example, if you have a girlfriend who you meet with regularly at your local coffee shop for a latte and scone, you might pair a bag of her favorite French Roast beans with a batch of your own cranberry-orange scones. Or if you have a chocolate fiend for a friend, give her some fine imported hot chocolate with a bag of homemade marshmallows. A tea connoisseur might be wowed by a present of rare Darjeeling Nouveau, a basket of biscuits, and some homemade jam.
One of the best gifts my mother gave me was the example of her own Christmas present creativity. Over the years my technique has been refined beyond the puffy paint embellished Chinese take-out boxes to include antique jars filled with cookie mix, tins of my favorite spice mix, and bags of just baked biscotti to pair with coffee beans from my local roaster. Whether in boom times or in bust, a homemade gift never goes out of style.
Made with heavy cream, semisweet chocolate chips, orange zest, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter
Serves/Makes: 18
- 3 cups flour
- 1/3 cup sugar PLUS
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup cold butter cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, 1/3 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Working a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into the flour mixture until butter pieces are no larger than pea-sized. Using a large fork, stir orange zest and chocolate chips into the flour mixture.
Add 1 cup of cream and stir until mixture comes together, adding more cream if necessary. When dough just comes together, working with hands in the bowl to bring it together. Turn dough out onto a large cutting board and knead three or four times.
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle about 1-inch thick, 9-inches long and 8-inches wide. Cut the rectangle into three long strips, 3-inches wide. Cut each long strip into equal sized rectangles. Cut each small rectangle in half on the diagonal to form two triangles. Brush each triangle with melted butter and sprinkle with extra sugar.
Spread the mini scones out on two ungreased baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake the scones at 425 degrees F for 15-17 minutes until golden brown.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the scones cool for 1 minute, then transfer them to a wire rack. Let cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature.
Made with ground onion, garlic powder, black pepper, brown sugar, paprika, sea salt, cayenne pepper
Serves/Makes: 18 Tbs.
- 3 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
- 3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons ground onion
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Use immediately as a dry rub for a pork shoulder or store in an airtight container for a future use.
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