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

cdsmiler

beachlou wrote: »

Hi Clare,

Can I ask where abouts you found the cooking apples? I see you're in South Wales too and wondered if it could be close by and worth a visit. Thanks.

Also, what are the best apples to make chutney with?

Hiya,

I live near New Tredegar, and I found this place by accident. Was driving home (up to New Tredegar area from Bargoed) and saw a sign for cooking apples (hand written) at this gate next to a cemetary (!). So I drove on up and it was someone's house! They have a small holding by the sounds of it - she has a few horses, dogs, and apple trees! They have them until the sign disappears! lol

We used some of the cooking apples for the chutney - afterall in most chutney recipes the apples are there to bulk the mixture out really.

Hope that helps!!

Clare x

hogshead

For those that have made the chilli jelly ala Nigella: Did you use the long sweet chillies or the stumpier ones which I know are hotter?

toffeeapple

I made some of this yesterday as a trial.... tastes yummy!! Looks very pretty! :T Grandma will like a box of this for xmas.

I left out the nuts as we don't do nuts in this house due to my sons nut allergy.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/W...hristmas-Fudge

Lizzieanne

hogshead wrote: »

For those that have made the chilli jelly ala Nigella: Did you use the long sweet chillies or the stumpier ones which I know are hotter?

I used the longish chillis - about 3" in length, it took 3 bags at 50p a bag for the recipe.

I put it into little jars, and even though that was a week ago it doesn't seem to have 'set' - should it be solid in the jar, or should it move about like a very thick sauce?:huh:

cdsmiler

Well I made raspberry jam, apple and rhubard jam and 4 apple pies (1 normal, 1 with raspberry, and 2 with blackberries) yesterday! Pies have been mostly cooked and then frozen - not for gifts, just for us! Yummy! Didn't make as much raspberry jam as I'd have liked, and probably not going to give at Christmas now. Booo.

Still going to try the chili jam and sweet onion chutney though.......

Sorry if you've seen me post this on other threads already but... On a side note, and this is a bit of a strange request, do any of you make crafty things and sell them on ebay/online? If you do, can you PM me please? There's something I want to ask you but not sure if I'm strictly speaking allowed to on the forums. Sounds ominous, it isn't I promise! lol

Clare x

chasingsunshine_2

I'm almost there with my test run of melting middle truffles! Has anyone made them before...? My truffle mix is just chillin' but not sure it looks thick enough- seems runny so fingers crossed it works!
Would be dead handy to be able to make them end of Nov and freeze them for Xmas prezzies

lizimuffin

got-it-spend-it wrote: »

Thanks for that. I want to make jam with the apples from my garden.


I'm thinking of doing cream tea hampers with scones (made in advance and probably frozen until needed), HM jams and a selection of teas. I'd also like to include a tub of clotted cream but not sure how practical that would be.

Sounds delish! If you are delivering presents, if you are you can make the hampers upjust before you leave and they can open them there and then and then put the cream in the fridge?

jollymummy

This is a fab thread. We have some HUGE onions on our allotment and I thought I might have a go at making onion marmalade for Xmas pressies. Anyone got an easy , yummy recipe?
thanks

beachlou

Does it matter what type of apples you use to make chutney? Are some varieties better than others? I want to start making them soon as I've picked up some cheap curry jars from Asda (just need to sterilise them now).

Thanks

Claire_Bear

Hello all, I've been away for a while but plan to join you all again now that it's the run-up to Christmas (in my eyes anyway!)

So far for edible gifts I'm planning blackberry vodka, toffee vodka and cola cube vodka to go into a cocktail hamper for my brother's girlfriend.

Chutneys and jams plus other baked goods to go into a food hamper for OHs parents. Last year I made them one with HM mince pies, boozy Christmas fudge (it wouldn't set though so it ended up more like a sludgy sauce, think I might have overdone it on the booze - whoops!) and cranberry and white chocolate cookies, along with some shop bought stuff too.

I tried to make some blackberry and apple jam but a couple of the jars have gone mouldy on top even though I sterilized them Anyone got any ideas what went wrong? I have quite a lot of the blackberries left in the freeer so could always try again. Will try and go on another foraging mission in the next week too to see if there's any left now so I have enough to last me through the winter.

I'm making the OH a coffee hamper too so might make some coffee cake or coffee truffles to go in that.