Edible Xmas gifts that can be made well in advance.....

chasingsunshine_2

SugarSpun wrote: »

Me too - what a coincidence!

I'm using a variation on Nigella's recipe with dried fruit and plums instead of apples though. It's based primarily on what we had/what was on offer.

I'm planning to make cherry jam this week too, once I have enough jars, and then after that chilli jam

It must be the day for it I'm almost ready to jar mine up and it looks and smells fantastic! Just hope it tastes as nice! Going to do some chilli pickle next Not sure I understand the recipe though so that could go wrong heehee

SugarSpun

Mine's just gone in the jars and it smells and tastes great. The recipe claims to make 2 litres though and it only made 1.2 and about half a 200g jar. Mr Sugar has taken over the kitchen to make pasta sauce or else I'd start making jam

chasingsunshine_2

SugarSpun wrote: »

Mine's just gone in the jars and it smells and tastes great. The recipe claims to make 2 litres though and it only made 1.2 and about half a 200g jar. Mr Sugar has taken over the kitchen to make pasta sauce or else I'd start making jam

Ah! The one I did claimed to be 6lbs of chutney but only filled 3 1lb jars! Gonn need loads more!

SugarSpun

I've really enjoyed making it - can't wait for the baby to have eaten enough jars of baby food for me to have enough empty jars to make jam. I'm wondering if I might be able to manage fig jam as well or if I'm just being excessive :rotfl:

I started out with a Nigella recipe but she wanted fresh cranberries and where do you find those in summer?! So I used a ton of dried fruit, some fresh plums, some onion and some spices.

jollymummy

I made my first ever jam today, with blackberries from the hedgerows near our allotment. It tastes scrummy and wasn't as scarey as I thought it would be. I used a bag of preserving sugar and used jars I already had so 5 jars of lovely jam for about 28p each Will scoff a couple and save the rest for Christmas pressies.

li'l_p

Someone quite early on in this thread recommended the Usbourne book of Yummy Treats.

Today I managed to pick up 3x Usbourne books: Chocolates and sweets to make, Christmas cooking, and Christmas Fairy Cooking. They were 50p each and contain various gift style treats to make including fudge, truffles, peppermint creams and other such small baked items.

They are aimed at kids so have really easy to follow, step-by-step instructions. I have got my ingredients and am going to have a go at making fudge tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes...

SugarSpun

For people making stuff in jars who needs to buy jars, Asda smart price red cabbage is only 10p a jar :money:

You'd have to get rid of the contents though *yuck*

Sarah_Joanne

SugarSpun wrote: »

For people making stuff in jars who needs to buy jars, Asda smart price red cabbage is only 10p a jar :money:

You'd have to get rid of the contents though *yuck*

That's a fab idea

Also, they have smart price beetroot for 24p and I hear Nigella has a great beetroot and ginger chutney recipe

SugarSpun

Sarah_Joanne wrote: »

That's a fab idea

I stole it from you

And the recipe is available via the BBC

The only thing to add is that she claimed the other chutney would make 2 litres and it made about 1.2.

lizimuffin

SugarSpun wrote: »

For people making stuff in jars who needs to buy jars, Asda smart price red cabbage is only 10p a jar :money:

You'd have to get rid of the contents though *yuck*

lol! I love red cabbage! However, on the subject of buying cheapy stuff for the jars, if they have had strong smelling items in them how do you get the smell out?
For some of my jars of rosehip syrup I'm using mustard jars and I cannot get the smell out .....smells ok once they've been washed, but once the lids have been on while the smell comes back. I've tried everything, boiling, heating in the oven, milton, bicarb.....I've done the lids and jars, anyone else had this problem?
Thanks.