Old style Preparations for Christmas 2010!!

SeaBee

Another lurker coming out of the woodwork on this board.

In the past I've made hampers, flannel/sock muffins, snowman soup, pots of gold, flannel reindeers and towel cakes for gifts with ideas from the special occasions board as previously mentioned by Jaxx46

Last year I made edible gifts such as Nigellas Christmas Bon Bons, Truffles, Baileys Fudge, Chocolate slabs and shards as well as individual Christmas cakes. All were very well received as people really appreciated the effort that had gone into them.

This year I want to make up homemade edible hampers so am going to try my hand at making jam, chutneys and pickles as well as the above.

May now add some of those muffin in a jars thanks to thevicster

upsy-daisy_3

Great thread Looking forward to hearing others ideas and pinching them

claire_tink

upsy-daisy it seems everybody is doing it this year and it's great fun
i've already made pickled eggs, table place set mats and runners. sweet jars, spice mixes, from razzle dazzle site . for my nephews birthday i made him a cooking set, cake mixes, tubes of icing, spoons bowls etc . he thinks he's the next jaime oliver and he's only 6 ! lol .

freyasmum

jaxx46 wrote: »

Have a look on the special occasions forum, loads of ideas on there such as hampers, pots of gold and snowman soup amongst many other things.

I made pots of gold for my daughter to give her grandparents and my sis/BIL. The beauty is you can make them as cheap or expensive as you want, everyone still loves them!

I had ferrero rocher, werthers, wispa gold, anything else in a gold wrapper, a scratch card and I added loads of gold coins - some real in my dads case, chocolate in the others All wrapped up in an ikea 40p gold bowl and gold cellophane with ribbons.

They absolutely loved them! I helped her give them all out at the same time and it was like a bunch of big kids all trying to gets theirs opened first :rotfl:


Oh yea, made Baileys fudge for my daughters nursery teacher and it was absolutely gorgeous. I had to make much more than intended 'cos it kept going walkies :rotfl:

ladylouise62

I like making fruit gins (like sloe gin, but with whichever berry you can find) - last year it was Damson from the local park, using cheap gin/vodka from Asda etc.

One comment about the food pressies - think about who you are giving them to and what sort of Christmas they plan for themselves - what I mean by that is that a lot of people buy miles too much 'treat' food that all has to be eaten in the next few days, so if you are giving them stuff with a short shelf-life, they may not appreciate it as much as something they can use later on.

Wee_Jo

freyasmum wrote: »

Oh yea, made Baileys fudge for my daughters nursery teacher and it was absolutely gorgeous. I had to make much more than intended 'cos it kept going walkies :rotfl:

Hey FreyasMum,

What is your recipe for Baileys fudge? I think I'd like to try [STRIKE]eating [/STRIKE] making it.

Jo

Seakay

bambam0074 wrote: »

I know its still a while until Xmas, but have started to think what I can make for Xmas presents for friends and family..

Numerous ideas have come to mind such as..

Home made wine
Home made chocolate truffles
Home made pate
Home made preserves
Home made pickled veg
Home made flavoured oil
Home made Xmas fruit cake

All home made as you can tell :rotfl:

Anybody else any ideas? The other half took off with fits of laughter as he thought it was a pants idea, and likened me to his mother. Apparently a guy of 35 shouldnt be thinking this way, and I should join the WI with his mom !

Fantastic! Tell him to buy all the presents then, or give you the money to do it. Bet he changes his tune when he realises the inroads this will make on his "guy of 35" recreation budget!

Only thing that I'd say is that truffles and pate should really be in a fridge so are hard to wrap and give, plus they then have to be eaten fairly quickly and Christmas may not be the time when rich foodstuffs are most appreciated as there is so much around!
Preserves of all sorts have a much better shelf life and can provide a little treat when the excesses of Christmas and New Year are long gone, plus you don't have to worry about them being under the tree or whatever.
Last year one of my presents to my MIL who lives alone, was a New Year box - some little treats and nibbles, some home made, some not, that she could have New Years Eve, New Years Day. I included home made pickled shallots and chutnies, regional cheese, special biscuits, home made liqueur. I gave it to her as an "unChristmas present" when I arrived to spend Christmas with her, so that she could put it somewhere cool.

freyasmum

Wee_Jo wrote: »

Hey FreyasMum,

What is your recipe for Baileys fudge? I think I'd like to try [STRIKE]eating [/STRIKE] making it.

Jo

Right:

500g golden granulated sugar
500ml whipping cream
50ml Baileys (there was a free mini bottle on the freebies board a while back, this was the exact right size - you might like to try there before you rush out for a bottle )
150g white chocolate (cheapest available)

1. Butter and line a 22cm x 22cm tin, leaving a small overhang. Put sugar, cream and Baileys in a large pan and, stirring slowly, bring it to a simmer. Make sure the sugar is dissolved (it will stop feeling grainy on the base of the pan), then turn the heat up to a rolling boil.
2. Adjust the heat until the mixture bubbles without getting too near the top of the pan. Keep bubbling, stirring occasionally, until a small amount of mixture dropped into a glass of cold water will form a soft ball that you can pick up on the end of a teaspoon.
3. At this stage, the bubbles will have gone from being large and unruly to smaller and more even. Stir in the chocolate and pour the mixture into the tin. Cool and cut.

I think the portion you can see cut cost a total of 70p.


I cut mine in different sized triangles, dripped with white chocolate and covered in milk chocolate stars. Wrapped in a little cellophane, with some ribbon and you're good to go :j

v8monkeyboy

I'm currently making and therefore giving away:

Jams
Marmelades
Pickled eggs and onions
Chutneys
Pickled beetroot
Cordials
Fruit vodka
Ginger beer
Fruit wine
Heather ale
Chocolates
Chocolate spoons
Mustards
Vinegars
Roast peppers in oil
Jellies
Cakes - fruit
Biscuits
Scarves
Socks

All of the above homemade.

I tend to do themes, so last year my MIL got a lavender hamper - HM lavender bookmark, lavender soap (bought cheaply off eBay but from Norfolk Lavender), lavender chocolates, lavender scones (can be frozen) and assorted other bits.

SIL got a book lovers' hamper: box set of 3 books, new, paid £4 :T, chocolates, scented candles, homemade bailey's biscuits and other things I've forgotten.

You get the idea, anyway. This year, my plan is to have 99% of the gifts homemade. My MIL wants a specific jigsaw as always, so unless I up my game and make one, I'll have to buy it :rotfl:

T x

narabanekeater

I would be most please if any of my friends have me a HM gift this year. So in a hope so start the trend off can I have the choc truffles recipe?