DIY Holiday Food Gifts

First off, sorry for the lack of posts the past week.  With the Christmas holiday coming up, I have been very busy.  I am also moving in 2 weeks and haven't started pack(nuts, I know).  Then my MacBook Pro died.  It was a very sad day in my apartment.  But I took it to the Genius Bar at the local Apple Store and they brought my baby back to life :)

This year I had wanted to do homemade food gifts for all my friends and family.  Well, with moving soon and work and life, I haven't gotten around to it yet.  So I will just share my homemade food gift ideas with you.  Hopefully I get around to it next year :)

Candy Cane Vodka : Sounds amazing, right?  I haven't tried it yet, but I believe it is going to be nothing less than amazing.  I did no come up with the recipe, click on the link for the original post.  Basically you put cheap vodka in a mason jar, add sugar candy(candy canes for holiday season), let sit for 2 days.  Then you have flavored vodka!  You can also make cute labels or tags to dress up the jar for to give as a gift.

Cookie Trays:  Ok, so everyone gives cookies this time of year.  But I think it is a fun thing to do.  I give cookies to co workers, office staff, and neighbors.  I make classic spritz cookies with my cookie press.  I will also add fudge to the cookie try, or other simple cookies if I have time to make them.

Ingredients: 

3 sticks butter softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups flour

colored sugar

Start Cooking: 

1.  Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.  

2.  Beat butter and sugar on medium speed, until creamy.  Add egg and vanilla, beat well.  Add flour and mix on a low speed.  

3.  Put dough into cookie press and press the cookies onto a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with colored sugar and bake 10-12 minutes.  Cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  

S'mores Kits:  

I cannot take credit for this one... I got the idea from Essen, a recreational cooking school in Lancaster PA.  I believe I have blogged about my experiences with Essen before.  But I will say it again: I love the classes and I always learn a lot of great new things.  Today I went to a make your own holiday food gift class.  We learned how to make homemade marshmallows and we got the idea to make a s'mores kit with them.  You could also make chocolate bark or chocolate spread to go with the kit.  Make your own gram crackers, or used store bought ones.  I am not a big fan of marshmallows, but these homemade ones were really great.  I will post Essen's marshmallow recipe here.  And I also encourage you to take a class with them, you won't regret it.

Ingredients: 

3 packages unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups light corn syrup

1/4 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Start Cooking: 

1.  Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

2.  Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, homey, salt and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Remove from heat.  

3.  With the mixer on a low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin.  Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes(yes, it really does take that long).  Add the vanilla and mix. 

4.  With a sieve, generously dust an 11 x 7 inch baking dish with confectioners sugar.  Pour marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth top, and dust with more sugar.  Allow to stand uncovered 2-3 hours, or over night. 

5.  Turn the marshmallows onto a board and cut them in squares.  Dust them with more sugar(so the sides are not sticky).  

Well, those are my ideas for DIY holiday food gifts.  Please share your DIY holiday food ideas!  

Enjoy!