Homemade Christmas Food and Drink Gifts - Part Two

I am spectacularly late on this. Seriously. The production time on this post would rival that spent on any Hollywood blockbuster. The budget was ever so slightly lower though. 

On the 14th November, on the spur of the moment, I decided I would film the making of my homemade foodie gifts. What I neglected to take into account was the amount of editing a spur of the moment vlog needs. Especially when there are countless star appearances by Number Three. He even attempted a few stunts, but I literally caught him in time. 

But anyway, back to the matter at hand - making a few cheap and cheerful, quick and easy food gifts.

Are you in need of some last minute gifts? Does your creativity need a culinary outlet? Or do you just need a way to get rid of all the bottles and jars you've been hoarding all year? 

Whatever the answer, you have come to the right place. Take a look at my short vlog and see the gorgeous, tasty edible gifts you can make in no time, with very little effort, no cooking and very few ingredients. 

In this vlog you'll learn how to make:

 - Candy Sugar in Grand Marnier, for pepping up punch, mulled wine black tea or coffee

 - Homemade Vanilla Sugar, for adding an extra depth of flavour to baking

 - Layered Seasonings in a Jar or Grinder

 - Homemade Seeded Brown Bread Mix, just add buttermilk before baking (get the full recipe here)

You'll be amazed how much you can make in five minutes!

Your shopping list:
Caster sugar
Vanilla pods
Orange liqueur
Candy sugar
Sea salt (coarse)
Black pepper
Oregano
Chili flakes
Brown flour
White plain flour
Bicarbonate of soda (bread soda)
Fine salt
A selection of seeds (linseed, poppy, pumpkin)

P.S. In an ideal world (or on a better organised blog) you would find here at the end of the post some lovely printables to pin, print or download. But this is the real world, my real world to  be exact, so maybe there'll be printables next year. If I think of it on time.

Homemade Christmas Food and Drink Gifts - Part One

So, the "in a few days" I wrote in my initial post on Christmas food has turned into eleven days and I am very sorry about that. Somehow the days just flew by in a blur and here I am with my photos and my half-editied vlog, desperately trying to get my recipes out to you before Christmas Eve.

You'll be glad to hear that I have a whole host of easy, tasty and quick-to-make edible gifts for you. Of course, you don't even have to give them away. You can keep them all for your own enjoyment. It is up to you.

So now to get down to the recipes. First up is my non-alcoholic punch. With so many friends and family members dropping in over the Christmas period, it is handy to have something a bit more festive than tea on hand to offer any non-drinkers or those driving. Click here for my delicious spiced punch with a rooibush tea base. You can bottle it and store it in the fridge for a few days, heating as necessary. 

Visitors like nibbles but mince pies or the same boring crackers with cheese everywhere you turn can get old fairly quickly. That's why I've made my own crispbreads this year. So easy and a great way to use up stale bread. I make my own bread, but you can use any loaf bread or baguette-style bread. I like to use my white, multi-seed bread.

Before the bread goes completely stale, slice it into very fine slices, almost wafer-thin. Lay the slices out on baking trays and brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool completely before stacking in tall, wide-neck air-tight jars. Tie with a ribbon and give as as present or keep in your own cupboard for nibbling with wine or port and cheese. 

For a sweet treat for yourself, your guests or to give as a gift, try making your own marzipan truffles. I flavour mine with walnut and orange, both Christmassy flavours, and coat them in cocoa. Click here for the full recipe. Pack the finished truffles into a jar or clear plastic gift bag and tie with a pretty ribbon to finish.

Jams, jellies, chutneys and relishes make excellent gifts at this time of year. If you are a jam-maker, you'll have a stock of jars at the back of a cupboard somewhere, bursting with all the flavours of late Summer and early Autumn. Some of the recipes I use are:

Green Cherry Tomato Relish 

Rosehip and Apple Jelly

Windfall Pear and Apple Chutney

Cherry Jam

I hope I've been able to provide you with a little bit of insiration here. A combination of the gifts listed above can make a gorgeous and inexpensive hamper for neighbours, teachers or friends. Why not give some of them a go to get you in the festive, generous spirit?