One of the true joys of the holidays for me is always making and baking gifts for my family, friends, and neighbors. I tend to prefer to gift homemade things over the holidays as opposed to the latest whose-its or what-its for many on my list. To me, there is something truly special about gifting something that I spent time creating with my own hands. I also love receiving homemade gifts, as I know that the gifter spent time–the most precious commodity–crafting something just for me.
A few suggestions
To that end, I wanted to offer a few suggestions for figuring out what works best for gifts during the holidays. If, when you started to read this, you immediately thought, but I can’t cook/bake/create, don’t fret–you definitely can! I have a few different recipes that span from completely simple all the way up to labor of love. Before we dive into the recipes, I thought it may be helpful to have a few basic ( and in some cases very basic) guidelines:
Choose something that brings you joy to make!
If you are trying something new, give yourself at least one trial run first, so you know what to expect and how it turns out. Choose something you know the recipient will like. This is your opportunity to spend some time thinking about them!
Make it unique
It is totally okay, even super cool, to have a house gift–a thing you are known for. This is definitely the time to bust out your Grandmother’s famous scones (gift it in mix form?), or your Uncle’s best bbq sauce. The great thing about the tradition is that if you like the way it turned out, you can gift it in the future and people will look forward to it each year.
Presentation is everything
Think outside the box. It doesn’t need to be the standard fare of cookies or dessert. This time of year, savory items are often really loved and tend to stand out a bit more. Don’t forget the presentation or wrapping. I gift a lot of homemade goods and it never takes much to make them look great, but it’s helpful to have a few items on hand: nice simple tags, baker’s twine, new tea towels (great for wrapping bread), mason jars, a decorative pen or stamp, and maybe a cardboard bakery-style box. What you want to avoid is not thinking about the wrapping until the last minute. Take a few minutes to plan before you make it, so you are not unprepared at the end.
The beauty of muesli
I make a big batch of Muesli every week that my husband adds to other cereal and I eat plain with milk. The beauty of muesli is it is a 5-minute dump everything together and stir recipe, it makes a fantastic and beautiful looking gift, and it has the rare quality of being a healthy treat during a season decidedly less healthy. Oh, and it is endlessly adaptable. You can add pretty much your favorite mix-ins to individualize it, and people can do overnight bircher muesli (mixed with their milk of choice and left to plump overnight in the fridge), can cook it like oatmeal, or they can have it plain with milk like traditional cereal (my favorite), or even over yogurt and fresh fruit. This base recipe makes about ½ gallon-sized mason jar of muesli, give or take a bit depending on the number of mix-ins you use. Gifting in 8 oz (1 serving), pint, or quart jars for smaller quantities would be lovely.
Base Recipe:
4 cups of Old Fashioned Oats (not steel cut or minute)
¼ cup brown sugar
2 cups of dried fruit (I like a blend of raisins, cranberries or cherries and or blueberries), but do whatever makes sense to you.
Mix-Ins:
1 ½ cups sliced almonds (or other nuts)
1-2 cups coconut flakes or chips (I often do 1 cup of each)
¼ cup chia seeds
¼ cup flax seeds
1 ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Mix all together and store in a cool dry container. Don’t like any of the above mix-ins? Skip! Prefer pecans, do it. Want to add dried apricots and dates? Have at ut! Prefer a little less cinnamon? A little more? Detest coconut? All fine. You can make your own house blend! Lovely gifted in mason jars and tied with twine, you can decide which size suits you best. The deal with muesli is that you basically need old fashioned oats, a little sugar, and dried fruit, everything else is just for fun and to make it yours.
