Since we don’t plan on entertaining much during this COVID holiday season, curbside delivery or mailing edible food gifts are the best way to express our love to family, friends, and neighbors. My friends and I have practiced edible gift-giving for years and refer to these gifts as consumables.
“No gifts please, we don’t need more stuff, consumables only!”
Looking back through the Sur le Plat favorites and recipes that are adaptable for packaging and gift-giving, I discovered lots of possibilities suitable for edible gift-giving to make your holiday season more exciting in the kitchen and guaranteed to bring great happiness to your family and friends.
My husband’s famous BBQ sauce!
The packaging is one part and an important part of the process. I collect old and new canning jars of all sizes, brown kraft bags, bright ribbons, cellophane bags, Chinese take out boxes, colorful cotton dishtowels, vintage plates, and antique soup tureens and pottery bowls to package everything from cheeses to soups and appetizers to cookies, brownies, and breads.
Scones make the perfect gift!
Who doesn’t delight in a kitchen that is filled with the luring aromas of fresh-baked cookies, or a simmering pot of soup? I greatly enjoy gifting friends and neighbors with small bags of scones or buttery mini brioche. And they greatly enjoy receiving! Add a jar of homemade lemon curd or fig preserves to these baked goods and you will be sure to get a smile and a big thank you.
You may want to bake a batch of my traditional raisin or currant scones, pumpkin scones, or my latest cherry pecan scones. A half dozen scones or some of my best savory biscuits in a cellophane bag or wrapped in a colorful dishtowel tied with a bright bow is a tasty gift suitable for a holiday breakfast or afternoon tea. You could also package some cocoons or lavender or Irish shortbread or for the chocolate lovers in your life, deep dark chocolate cookies or a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie. I know that I love to be surprised with a bag of freshly baked goods on my front porch!
I have packaged pimento cheese and my better cheddar, kumquat chutney, and spicy cajun pecans in small canning jars for gift giving.
This packaging is not only good for gift-giving but also for serving the appetizers directly from the jar. Think about filling a 2-quart canning jar with one of my homemade soups such as my minestrone or gumbo, or chickpea and sweet potato stew for a family gift. Or think about filling the jar with my spicy Cajun Bloody Mary mix or Dr. BBQ’s Secret Sauce. The possibilities are endless. I am hoping that my recipes will inspire your gift-giving this year and make the holidays for your family and friends merry and bright!
From my kitchen to yours, Happy Holidays!
Comments are closed.