T-Al,
Great thread! Here are some more ideas:
1. JD at
Get Rich Slowly had a post today on homemade gift ideas. There are a couple of food ideas in there, including granola, which might make a great gift idea -- just package it in a cellophane bag from a craft store and you're in business. Ships well, is relatively lightweight, and college students would probably love it.
2. For co-workers, etc. I make a small "assorted treats" box. I make cookies (small chocolate chip cookies, shortbreads, molasses crisps, snickerdoodles, gingerbread -- usually using the recipes I find in Joy of Cooking) and also usually include a candy (fudge, toffee, peanut brittle). This year's candy is going to be a knockoff of some amazing stuff we bought from a farm stand last summer. Basically, you take dark chocolate, melt it, then mix in dried tart cherries, pecans, and mini marshmallows. Pour it out on parchment paper to harden and then cut into squares. So good! I'll also probably dip dried apricots halfway into melted white chocolate and then sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Looks fancy, tastes good, is really easy.
3. I make homemade jam in the summer and always make some small (4-oz) jars to give as gifts in the winter. This year we have strawberry and apricot. A nice gift idea is to send a quick-bread mix (either homemade or purchased) with a couple of jars of jam and a gourmet tea. Brunch in a box! The jam ships well so long as it's wrapped carefully -- I use bubble wrap and make sure it can't shift around inside the box much. If you're looking for something to make now, try
apple butter.
4. This year we were going to make homemade
limoncello and
kahlua, but haven't yet. If we don't do it this weekend we probably won't get it done. So, we'll make some when the citrus crop comes in after the holidays and see how it tastes.
5. One year one of my cousins cut herbs from her garden, dried them, and made her own spice/herb mix. She put it in little cellophane bags, designed a pretty tag with the story on it, and sent it to all the cousins and aunts/uncles. It was a great gift, since we all like food. It also had the benefit of being lightweight.
6. This year we'll give some good friends of ours a week's worth of dinners -- delivered. They both work full-time, he goes to school and they have a toddler. They're swamped. So I'll have them pick seven dinners they'd like and I make them and take them over. Some items (like enchiladas, soup and lasagna) are easy to make in advance and freeze, but sometimes I bring the meal over hot at dinnertime. It works out well -- I like cooking, they like eating.
7. Last year my mom bought handmade pottery bowls and sent them to family members with a couple of pre-made soup mixes and the family recipe for clam chowder. She made the soup mixes -- something along the lines of 13-bean-soup. She found the recipes for the mixes in a book at the library. Add in a mix for a savory quick bread and you've got dinner-in-a-box.
I'll send more later if I think of any.
