"Artisanal" Holiday Presents

[JaneMC]

Maggiethecat, it really isn't all that hard. Now to get the cheddar down and I would be very happy....but it's not doing that, there is always next year.

I'm amazed by the talent here!

Jane

I bend my knee to you. Artisinal cream cheese and butter? I am not worthy.

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[JaneMC]

Andiesenji,

Hope you don't mind but I'm going to give it a try. May be not for this holiday season. I use a lot of it in my baking and it's always more fun to say, that you made it.

Jane

I don't boil it, it would take too long with using mature ginger.  I steam it until it is tender then put it into the syrup and cook it until it is translucent all the way through.

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[JaneMC]

Been baking again today. Also giving out heath bar butter cookies and caramel pound cake. The cakes are baked and as soon as 2 of them are cooled, going into the freezer. The cookie dough in the freezer for the week of. Been cutting fabric for the can jams that I'm giving away.

Any one else getting ready??

Jane

[andiesenji]

gfron1 did a 5-pound batch last month and his only complaint was that the ginger was too "hot" in that it had quite a bit of "bite" and it is true that ginger varies quite a bit.

I really never have had the problem of it being too "hot" but conversely, too mild. It will mellow with time and if it is to be used in baking, I would want it more spicy because it does lose some of that spiciness when mixed with other ingredients.

When I was mostly growing my own, I used to harvest half of it in the late fall and leave the rest in the ground over the winter, blanketed with a thick layer of mulch, straw and also a tarp during the years when we had a huge amount of rain. (The El Niño year.) Then I would harvest the rest in the spring, have the gardener spade up the entire bed and break off the smaller segments and immediately replant them for that year's crop.

I sometimes noted that the "spring" crop was a bit spicier than the fall crop.

Edited December 4, 2008 by andiesenji (log)

[JaneMC]

Thank you for the info. I did find your recipe, I think something gfron1 had a link to. Can't figure out how to find recipes but I guess all in time. I want to thank you for it now. I've decided to wait to try my hand at growing it. It's always fun to see the look on peoples faces when you say, I grew it and candied (well that is my goal!).

Jane

gfron1 did a 5-pound batch last month and his only complaint was that the ginger was too "hot" in that it had quite a bit of "bite" and it is true that ginger varies quite a bit.

I really never have had the problem of it being too "hot" but conversely, too mild.  It will mellow with time and if it is to be used in baking, I would want it more spicy because it does lose some of that spiciness when mixed with other ingredients. 

When I was mostly growing my own, I used to harvest half of it in the late fall and leave the rest in the ground over the winter, blanketed with a thick layer of mulch, straw and also a tarp during the years when we had a huge amount of rain. (The El Niño year.)  Then I would harvest the rest in the spring, have the gardener spade up the entire bed and break off the smaller segments and immediately replant them for that year's crop. 

I sometimes noted that the "spring" crop was a bit spicier than the fall crop.

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[CKatCook]

So far the ideas I have read though the years have been wonderful. I'm also doing a bread basket for a few. Bagels, jam and cream cheese all made by myself. Thinking about adding butter also, which is so easy to do.

Jane

I bend my knee to you. Artisinal cream cheese and butter? I am not worthy.

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No joke...I bow to the master...

[sazji]

In the past I've made quince liqueur, but even after filtering, it comes out cloudy and has to precipitate before it goes beautifully clear. This means that to make it by Christmas, I have to kind of rush it. So this year I'm doing Limoncello.

Brownies have become popular in Turkey in recent years but most versions are dry (the prevailing opinion is that brownies should be dry, and can't be eaten without the "sauce"). These are usually made with cheap cocoa to boot. So I also give presents of brownies, with the ulterior motive I admit, to show that they can be a lot better!

[moosnsqrl]

Oh, Man - I was looking at this for inspiration. I saw these picks and am so depressed at my lack of creativity I think I'll just crawl back into bed and read a trashy novel instead.

These are absolutely beautiful! And now back to swilling Grolsch so I can fill the stoppered empties with my lame homemade Irish cream. I am humbled. Bravo to you, though!

ETA: This was meant for Kim Shook and her lovely turkey lacer skewers - in my zeal to save space and not include the photos I deleted the entire reference!

Edited December 7, 2008 by moosnsqrl (log)

[KatieLoeb]

I'm going to be making several sets of those lovely picks as gifts. What a great and easy idea. There's a bead store half a block from my house so that makes it just a bit easier. I found a vendor of stainless steel turkey lacers on eBay and bought up several sets for less than $2/each. As soon as they arrive I'll go over to the bead shop and start finding pretty beads to string on. I might even hang charms off of the top.

Kim - if you're reading this please tell me the name of the dishwasher safe craft glue. If I don't find that I might use Superglue. That's always held up for me on repaired mug handles and such.

I'll take pictures if they come out as nicely as Kim's did...

[baroness]

A Safety Note -- for those lovely cocktail picks:

Most inexpensive glass beads, particularly those made in China and India, have not been annealed, or properly annealed.

This means that there is a great deal of stress and tension from the lampworking process in the glass, and the beads may suddenly pop or split, seemingly for no reason. One way to cull the chanciest of these beads would be to freeze them for several days, then dump them straight into a large pot of boiling water -- while wearing safety glasses.

If you buy your beads from an artisan on etsy, justbeads, ebay, or the like you will get properly annealed beads. They may be more expensive, but they are worth it.

Disclosure: Yes, I am a glass artist, but do not sell on any of the above venues.

Please be safe as well as pretty!

[KatieLoeb]

baroness:

Thank you for the tip. I will certainly inquire about the treatment to the beads I intend to purchase at my local bead shop.

[Zeemanb]

Lazy, cheap yet incredibly popular and well received (just like me, there, beat you to it Judy).......... home roasted coffee in cute little gift bags. I stocked up on my favorite bean this year, Ethiopian Harar. The fifteen bucks I spent on a Poppery II popcorn popper several years ago has provided caffeinated Christmas joy for family and friends year after year!

[Kim Shook]

moosnsqrl and Katie - thank you so much for your compliments! I got the idea from a Taste of Home magazine and really liked how they turned out. Katie - when I get home, I'll find the glue and tell you the name - can't remember it right off the bat.

baroness - I did NOT know that about the beads! Thank you for the info - I'm afraid that it's too late to 'test' them, but I'll do it next time I use them for a food project and I'll warn everyone to be careful with temperature extremes.

Jerry - that's a very cool gift idea! PM me soon to let me know your plans re: Richmond!

[Jaymes]

Lazy, cheap yet incredibly popular and well received (just like me, there, beat you to it Judy).......... home roasted coffee in cute little gift bags.  I stocked up on my favorite bean this year, Ethiopian Harar.  The fifteen bucks I spent on a Poppery II popcorn popper several years ago has provided caffeinated Christmas joy for family and friends year after year!

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Are you saying that you roast coffee beans in your popcorn popper? If so, that's the best tip I've had in absolute years.

[andiesenji]

Lazy, cheap yet incredibly popular and well received (just like me, there, beat you to it Judy).......... home roasted coffee in cute little gift bags.  I stocked up on my favorite bean this year, Ethiopian Harar.  The fifteen bucks I spent on a Poppery II popcorn popper several years ago has provided caffeinated Christmas joy for family and friends year after year!

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Are you saying that you roast coffee beans in your popcorn popper? If so, that's the best tip I've had in absolute years.

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For many years the stovetop popcorn popper made by Whirley-Pop included instructions for roasting coffee in it.

I don't recall just when they stopped including the instructions, but somebody has continued it as can be seen HERE

[Jaymes]

Lazy, cheap yet incredibly popular and well received (just like me, there, beat you to it Judy).......... home roasted coffee in cute little gift bags.  I stocked up on my favorite bean this year, Ethiopian Harar.  The fifteen bucks I spent on a Poppery II popcorn popper several years ago has provided caffeinated Christmas joy for family and friends year after year!

←

Are you saying that you roast coffee beans in your popcorn popper? If so, that's the best tip I've had in absolute years.

←

For many years the stovetop popcorn popper made by Whirley-Pop included instructions for roasting coffee in it.

I don't recall just when they stopped including the instructions, but somebody has continued it as can be seen HERE

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Thanks!

[Kim Shook]

Katie - that glue is Elmer's Craft Bond - I got it at Michael's craft store

[snowangel]

One of the coolest gifts we received:

An empty wine bottle, de-nuded of it's label(s).

Drill a small hole close to the bottom of the bottle with a glass bit, and feed in a 25-light string of mini-lights. My BIL (who made this) did say it was easier to feed from top to bottom, so cut off the plug and re-soldered it on, which we could do in a split second.

This is so cool, and we are going to be doing this for next year, and did empty a coupla wine bottles today that will be candidates. We've decided it's all about the shape of the bottle, and my 18 year old daughter wants one with white lights.

[KatieLoeb]

So here is the first set of martini picks I've created, as inspired by Kim. Apologies in advance for the poor quality photos. It's late and the cell phone is handier...

This is the full set of six that I made. The beads are handmade lampwork that are black with pink flowers and green swirls. The flat diamond shaped beads are vintage Czech glass.

Here's a closeup:

I'm sure the future sets will look a bit nicer. This was sort of the first shot/experimental set to get my feet wet. But they look very pretty. This all turned into a much bigger project than I imagined. Between having supplies delivered late, spacers having the wrong sized holes in them, having to purchase a bead reamer to enlarge the holes in some of the glass beads, this has really turned into a bit more of an ordeal than I anticipated. But I think now that everything is here, I can create these at my leisure and gift them for birthdays etc. since I've already missed the Xmas deadline. I have some very pretty beads and spacers I'm looking forward to combining in future sets of martini picks. I'd love to use them at my bar, but I'm sure they'd get stolen and that would really piss me off!

Edited December 31, 2008 by KatieLoeb (log)

[snowangel]

It's time to start thinking again. I once again have made peach/raspberry jam, as well as canned some raspberry syrup (from some raspberry juice in the freezer -- home-grown raspberries, BTW).

I'm thinking some pickled green beans and perhaps some home-made Bloody Mary Mix?

And, I need to come up with some needle-craft (think doing it in the car on trips to the cabin, or in front of a movie -- not the sewing machine). I'm quite tired of doing potholders and dishrags with peaches and cream yarn, and my great supply of "groovy" feltable yarn is gone (and wool is expensive). More Aunt Martha's iron-on transfer dishtowels (which do double as a wrapper for the gift. Any other knittable ideas for the kitchen?

I'm also noodling the idea of using those little plastic bowl scrapers (think about 2" x 2") that you can buy from a bucket at the cash register at a kitchen store as a gift tag.

Ideas. The time is ripe, or at least the fruit and veg are, and I got 2 dozen canning jars at an estate sale down the street for $1.00 (new in the box, to boot!)

[Jaymes]

I'm wondering about the martini picks. Aren't the heavy glass beads at the end a problem when it comes to keeping the picks in the martini glass? Doesn't the weight of the beads pull the picks out of the glass and send the whole shebang crashing to the floor?

[baroness]

And, I need to come up with some needle-craft (think doing it in the car on trips to the cabin, or in front of a movie -- not the sewing machine). I'm quite tired of doing potholders and dishrags with peaches and cream yarn, and my great supply of "groovy" feltable yarn is gone (and wool is expensive). More Aunt Martha's iron-on transfer dishtowels (which do double as a wrapper for the gift. Any other knittable ideas for the kitchen?

Knit placemats and table runners are fun.

If you like lace patterns, they can be quite lovely.

For a more casual look, try stripes or other colorwork.

Edited September 7, 2009 by heidih
Correct quote tags (log)

[annecros]

I've got some small copper molds I am thinking about doing mini-rum cakes in this year. I had some leftover pound cake batter the other day that I folded into one and it made a nice two person sized cake.

Would like to play with candy more this year. Intimidating because my humidity doesn't always cooperate.

Homemade jerky is definite this year, but I want to put a twist on it.

Still thinking...

[lesliec]

I had some success with my own herb-infused olive oils last Christmas.

I've seen a couple of recipes (even followed one!) but the basic thing is to get the oil above 90 Celsius to kill, or at least annoy, any bugs on the herbs (which you've already washed to get rid of the bigger ones). You'll need a selection of bottles (250ml is about right), some oil of your choice and sprigs of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarragon, bay, ...).

The first method I used was to heat the herbs in the oil, but you may then have problems getting them into the bottle - they may be slightly crunchy and tend to fall apart. I think the way I'll do it next time is to put the herbs in their bottles and pour the heated oil on top. I may not get quite as much flavour (need to prove this one way or the other), but I expect to have less trouble getting the herbs to stay herby-looking.

[CKatCook]

For many years the stovetop popcorn popper made by Whirley-Pop included instructions for roasting coffee in it.

I don't recall just when they stopped including the instructions, but somebody has continued it as can be seen HERE

The link here no longer works, does anyone have directions? This would be a perfect gift for a friend of mine!

I have been thinking I was too early to think of Christmas, but I guess not. I want to send people "a party in a box" but I like the martini picks, cheese straws, maybe some home marinaded olives, lemoncello, I don't know what else though...