"Artisanal" Holiday Presents

[Lindacakes]

Happy to see this thread again. I went looking for it the other day and couldn't find it.

I'm doing gingerbread gift tags this year because I couldn't find anything to go with foil paper.

Names piped on, looped through the package bow.

Of course, fruitcake, I now have black walnut and candied ginger in the mix.

[TeakettleSlim]

I'm making mustard this year! It's something I've wanted to do for a while now, but was never brave enough (not wanting to injure anyone's sinuses with badly made mustard). A couple of weeks ago I discovered andiesenji's mustard recipe, made a couple of test batches with great success (Thank you Andie!), so now it's on. I've ordered 6 lbs of mustard seeds. So far I've done apple, thyme, and white wine, and a curry-honey mustard. Still scheming about the rest...I think we're going to be sending samplers of 3-4 mustards to the entire extended family, complete with a little booklet of recipe suggestions.

[Darienne]

Nothing exciting or new: Enstrom copycat chocolate coated toffee, chocolate dipped ginger and orange peels, lollipops for the libraries, ice creams for neighbors who will help move our new-to-us freezer. Yay! Two freezers. Finally.

[Tri2Cook]

I made a large batch of limoncello and some house-spiced rum. I'm aging some eggnog I made with the rum and some bourbon and brandy, using some of the limoncello to make crema di limoncello and making a batch of advocaat. I'm going to give a set of a bottle of each to a few select people on my list.

[andiesenji]

I made a large batch of limoncello and some house-spiced rum. I'm aging some eggnog I made with the rum and some bourbon and brandy, using some of the limoncello to make crema di limoncello and making a batch of advocaat. I'm going to give a set of a bottle of each to a few select people on my list.

So, are you making Rompope?

My Mexican neighbors prepare it in big batches, put it in quart jars and can it in a pressure canner. They use an aged, very smooth tequila. Sadly, I am allergic to alcohol so can't even taste it with the liquor added but she saves some for me that has no spirits and the flavor is incredible.

[LizD518]

I'm going to put together a box to send to my friend's family in Indiana and I;m thinking of including fudge. I'd like to make penuche, which is my favorite flavor - can anyone point me to a good recipe?

[Tri2Cook]

So, are you making Rompope?

My Mexican neighbors prepare it in big batches, put it in quart jars and can it in a pressure canner. They use an aged, very smooth tequila. Sadly, I am allergic to alcohol so can't even taste it with the liquor added but she saves some for me that has no spirits and the flavor is incredible.

I wasn't... but I might be now. Thanks!

[Jenni]

This year I have made a number of edible Christmas gifts. For my Gran and Nanny I have made candied watermelon rind flavoured with vanilla. I have made some general Christmas gifts (for everyone to enjoy over Christmas) of spiced gooseberry jam and nan khatai (a ghee-rich, spiced biscuit). For my immediate family I am taking a very personal approach:

*For my Dad I have made mooli and cauliflower pickle (made last Sunday). This is a quick pickled that will be ready in about 1-2 weeks. He really loves mooli and cauliflower, especially as a pickle and I know he will really enjoy this.

*For my brother I am making a rice-podi-ghee kit (to be made next Monday). Podi is a South Indian condiment made from spices, there are various different kinds. It is traditionally mixed with ghee and eaten with rice or idlis, dosa, etc. The reason I am making this is that my brother likes to cook, but sometimes when I give him recipes he does not have the ingredients. Therefore I thought I would bag up some rice, make ghee and give him all the spices ready in the podi so that he can make the recipe! I will also write him a little instruction sheet for preparing it all.

*For my Mum I am making peanut pakoda (to be made next Tuesday). My Mum loves to munch on interesting snacks so I know she will really like this.

I am really in a Christmas-y mood now!

[chemprof]

Hi Folks-

I've always gotten a lot of great ideas from this thread so I thought I'd bump it back up for 2011 and see if folks wanted to contribute. The rolo/pecan/pretzels upthread, along with the butterscotch pretzels, have been very popular!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'm doing Maple-Walnut Shortbreads, a huge assortment of pickled things (everything from dilled green beans and carrots to mango chutney), and fresh candied gingerroot this year, on top of the regular Artesanal menu that I offer daily as a matter of course in the bakery.

And possibly some gingerbread casas de campo, if I can get them to stop collapsing under the weight of their cookie-tile roofs.... I think I've got the solution this time.

[Zachary]

Where to begin?

Every Christmas, we typically make a dozen or more kinds of Christmas cookies and confections, and this year is no different. So far, we have:

Cranberry orange biscotti

"Tropical" chocolate bark - macadamias, dried mango, candied ginger

Smoked almond and dried fig bark

Peppermint Oreo bark

Rose-cardamom marshmallows (following the excellent Nightscotsman recipe from eG - thanks!)

Panettone

Ginger Molasses cookies

Chocolate Chip cookies with Pecan and Coconut

Chocolate chocolate chip with dried cherries

Mexican chocolate truffles (with chile and cumin)

Dipped dried fruits

Cardamom sugar cookies (these will probably be cut out and Royal iced)

Spiced nuts

Oatmeal Raspberry bars

"Sienese" cookies - these are sort of almond and orange meringues

Most of this will be delivered this weekend - I've got 6 pounds of butter in the fridge, the starter for the panettone in the closet where it's warmer, and marshmallows cooling in a pan in the kitchen right now

Thanks,

Zachary

(edit) P.S. Also bottles of homemade orgeat and bitter orange liqueur for a Mai Tai kit, along with a nice bottle of rum (sadly, not homemade)

Edited December 13, 2011 by Zachary (log)

[janeer]

Hi Folks-

I've always gotten a lot of great ideas from this thread so I thought I'd bump it back up for 2011 and see if folks wanted to contribute. The rolo/pecan/pretzels upthread, along with the butterscotch pretzels, have been very popular!

see current discussion here

[Herbprincess]

I love this topic. Let's get some more posts.

Planning on: copycat bailey's irish cream, Christmas cookies all in shape of a golfball, snack mix and cheese straws and oyster crackers, and a cheese spread. Handmade pillowcases, and wine bottle bags.

How about you? Never to soon to start planning.

[Darienne]

Copycat Enstrom's Chocolate-coated toffee is always a winner for me. Candied ginger and orange peels dipped in chocolate is another one. And this year I am thinking of making Chocolate Salami. I found a good recipe by A Canadian Foodie that I have tweaked slightly and really like.

I'm interested in copycat Bailey's Irish Cream. We prefer a Canadian product called Panama Jack which is in the fortified wine section and is much like Bailey's except that it has a tiny bit more kick to it. Not quite so smoooooth which I am not really crazy about. A recipe please? Or a place to look? Thanks.

[janeer]

As I sit grading 200 papers, and it is not even midterm yet, nothing like making me feel way, way behind. But I do like this topic an awful lot.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

This year in addition to the candied ginger, I'm doing Ume (plum wines; they've been maturing for a year now and I just had the first shot out of the red; it's fantastic), Limoncello, Whiskey Cream (Darienne - the recipe I use produces something very similar to Panama Jack; let me know if you want to try it out), and probably some handmade truffle chocolates if I can get the really good 75% dark from Bios.

And then all the other stuff I usually make; this year the NS Black Fruitcakes are ageing in fine domestic amber rums.

[Darienne]

Whiskey Cream (Darienne - the recipe I use produces something very similar to Panama Jack; let me know if you want to try it out)

And then all the other stuff I usually make; this year the NS Black Fruitcakes are ageing in fine domestic amber rums.

Yes, to the Whiskey Cream. Thanks PanaCan.

I still have the boozy fruit from three years ago when I was going to make Black Fruitcakes...well, a lot less of it. I have been using it up in a lot of other desserts. Our daughter's BF is from Grenada and I was going to make it for him. Never quite got there. I would love your recipe although it's too late for this year I guess. I still have an unopened bottle of Mixed Essence and one of Caramel Burnt Sugar. Maybe I could make him a cupcake.

[blue_dolphin]

Good idea to start thinking about this now. I might just resurrect my long abandoned fruitcake tradition. It could happen. They were very popular but I got embarrassed by all the fruitcake jokes and stopped.

For a group of 9 friends, I'm thinking to give each a bottle of limoncello from my backyard lemon tree and a packet of lemon-rosemary pressed cookies in holiday shapes. I'll tie on a card with the recipe for Tuscan Rosemary Lemondrop cocktails and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary

The limoncello is made but I need to get bottles, cellophane packets for the cookies and make up some labels

[Darienne]

Good idea to start thinking about this now. I might just resurrect my long abandoned fruitcake tradition. It could happen. They were very popular but I got embarrassed by all the fruitcake jokes and stopped.

Don't stop making fruitcakes. We have a friend who makes them every year...bakes them right in fancy tins...which we ALWAYS clean and return...and I love them. I think she empties the local liquor store basting them weekly. Yummm... :wub:

[Lindacakes]

Screw people who tell fruitcake jokes. I support Fruitcake Liberation for Christmas of 2012. I am forming a Fruitcake Party and you can come to my house for tea.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Whiskey Cream (Darienne - the recipe I use produces something very similar to Panama Jack; let me know if you want to try it out)

And then all the other stuff I usually make; this year the NS Black Fruitcakes are ageing in fine domestic amber rums.

Yes, to the Whiskey Cream. Thanks PanaCan.

I still have the boozy fruit from three years ago when I was going to make Black Fruitcakes...well, a lot less of it. I have been using it up in a lot of other desserts. Our daughter's BF is from Grenada and I was going to make it for him. Never quite got there. I would love your recipe although it's too late for this year I guess. I still have an unopened bottle of Mixed Essence and one of Caramel Burnt Sugar. Maybe I could make him a cupcake.

It's not too late for black fruitcakes - I started about a week ago with mine. If you let them go too long, they're far too flammable.....

I'll look for that whiskey creme recipe and PM you when I find it.

EDIT - And yes, fruitcake jokers suck. More power to the FLF (Fruitcake Liberation Front) and our candied fruity goodness this holiday season!

Edited October 12, 2012 by Panaderia Canadiense (log)

[pquinene]

I'm doing jam for Christmas, both sweet and the sweet & spicy.

[judiu]

My mom made fruitcake every year, and people begged for those little suckers! Pale batter, no dark fruits (dates, black raisins, figs, etc.) Totally yummy, and the slices looked like stained glass!

[pquinene]

Here are some pics of the jam; I've gotten a start on Christmas:

Sweet pineapple jam

Strawberry-jalapeno

[chemprof]

So what are folks cooking up for Christmas presents? I'm thinking of making cheese straws w/ chipotle (adapted Southern Living recipe), chocolate hazelnut biscotti (Food Network) and gingerbread biscotti (Fine Cooking linked upthread) and some spicy pecans. I also might think make some spice rubs....I saw this one in Eating Well that looked interesting: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/tuscan_spice_rub.html)