Cat-n-kitchen
A few years ago I started making presents from my kitchen at Christmas for friends. I started off very simple with my microwave peanut butter fudge, put it in small mason jars with a bow and hailed "Merry Christmas from Cat-n-kitchen". Last year was mexican. I made salsa and jalepeno cheese bread. I found these nifty plastic bowls that were decorated with various desert scenary, catus and clay huts for $.50 each. PERFECT! To that I added a couple of limes, a package of margarita mix and two margarita glasses which I got for a dollar a piece.
This year, since we had snow and it will be cold for Christmas, I decided on soup. I make a mean vegetable beef soup. Its hearty and has lots of veggies in it. After Christmas last year I found these holiday decorated baskets and got them for a quarter a piece. So, the soup will be in the mason jars, sourdough bread loafs, my double, double chocolate chip cookies and homemade spiced tea. I've been saving beef broths from cooking steaks or broiling other beef and that will be used for my stock. No need for seasonings as it is all in the broth! The most expensive item will be the beef itself, but Rouse had a 10 for $10 sale so I purchased beef chuck steaks. (In this case it was 10 lbs for $10)
I have found that giving gifts you make yourself is more delightful to the receiver than opening something they will not use, or in my case, cringing over what will I get this person and fighting the mall crowds. You can put just about anything in a mason jar and it will keep for more than a day or two.
Cat is in the kitchen tooling a wooden spoon, red santa hat and being tickled by Josh's rendition of Elvis' "Blue Christmas".
Happy Holidays to Everyone!
This year, since we had snow and it will be cold for Christmas, I decided on soup. I make a mean vegetable beef soup. Its hearty and has lots of veggies in it. After Christmas last year I found these holiday decorated baskets and got them for a quarter a piece. So, the soup will be in the mason jars, sourdough bread loafs, my double, double chocolate chip cookies and homemade spiced tea. I've been saving beef broths from cooking steaks or broiling other beef and that will be used for my stock. No need for seasonings as it is all in the broth! The most expensive item will be the beef itself, but Rouse had a 10 for $10 sale so I purchased beef chuck steaks. (In this case it was 10 lbs for $10)
I have found that giving gifts you make yourself is more delightful to the receiver than opening something they will not use, or in my case, cringing over what will I get this person and fighting the mall crowds. You can put just about anything in a mason jar and it will keep for more than a day or two.
Cat is in the kitchen tooling a wooden spoon, red santa hat and being tickled by Josh's rendition of Elvis' "Blue Christmas".
Happy Holidays to Everyone!