Some Holiday Gifts you can make, from Martha Stewart:

From:
Martha Stewart Living

Recipe Booklet How-To

A collection of holiday recipes, accompanied by a sweet sample, is a gift that will be appreciated for years. The cheery presentation adds to its appeal. Pass on your culinary traditions to friends.

Recipe Booklet How-To
1. To make one booklet, cover the exterior of a blank greeting card with patterned wrapping paper using a glue stick.

2. Remove the flap from an envelope that will accommodate 3-by-5-inch recipe cards.

3. Glue the front of the envelope to the inner right-hand side of the greeting card.

4. Stuff the envelope with recipe cards, printed by hand or on a computer.

5. Finish by affixing a label to the front of the booklet.

First Published: December 2004

From:
Martha Stewart Living

Quick Breads, Easy Presents

When done with a little flair, a small gesture is much more meaningful. Look, for example, at the quick bread. It takes almost no time to make -- quick breads don't require rising or kneading -- but can be a wonderful gift for a hostess or a neighbor.

Quick breads are quick because they're yeast-free; the batter is mixed and put straight into the oven, with baking soda, baking powder, or eggs to give it lift. (Baking powder should be no more than a year old; baking soda, however, will last about three years, as long as it's protected from humidity.) The result is something that seems more like cake than bread (think classic banana bread). The flavors, often sweet, can also be savory.

All are ideal gifts. They taste good and look good, particularly when prettily packaged. Offering quick breads to friends with such care is more than a small gesture. It is a personal one, showing the best sentiments of the season. Give one of these delicious homemade breads as a special holiday present:

Chocolate Marble Bread with Ganache
Carrot and Dried-Currant Muffins
Rosemary Cornbread

It's a Wrap
Try these simple packaging ideas -- they're as easy as the breads themselves. Present muffins in the tin they were baked in, with any drips wiped off, of course. Wrap it in a cellophane bag and then in linen with frayed edges; tie on a tag -- and the recipe if you like -- with twill tape. Bake cornbread in wooden molds, which then serve as gift boxes (they can't be reused for baking). Cover bread in cellophane, then put in a loaf box from a baking-supply store and wrap with loose-weave cotton fabric and sewing thread. Bake bread in a can and cover with rounds of waxed paper, then a round of tissue paper or striped cotton; the whole is neatly tied with waxed-linen thread.

First Published: December 2004

Personalized Blend

Spice up a gift of coffee by creating a distinctive flavor. Mix one or two teaspoons of cinnamon or nutmeg into a pound of freshly ground coffee beans; or scrape the seeds from four vanilla beans with a paring knife, and add them to a pound of coffee. For the best flavor, use a medium-bodied coffee, such as one from Kenya or Colombia. Scoop into a coffee bag with a coated lining, available at kitchen-supply stores. Finish with a ribbon and a decorative sticker.

Download our sticker template.

From:
Martha Stewart Living

Mulling Sachets

They're warmhearted gifts: spice bundles for hot cider. Cut cheesecloth into two 6-inch rounds; layer. In center, place 1/2-inch cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 2 pods cardamom, 4 black peppercorns, and 1/4 teaspoon cloves. Tie with twine. Set several in tin, and tie with bow and holly sprig. Adhere decorative label.

Attach a note with the following directions: "Place one sachet in mug, fill with hot cider, and steep 3 to 5 minutes."

First Published: December 2005

From:
Martha Stewart Living

Popcorn Tins

Pack two kinds of homemade flavored popcorn in one bucket tin. Follow the recipes to make Macadamia Butter-Crunch Popcorn and Chocolate-Almond Popcorn. Purchase bucket tins at a home store. Then cut card-stock dividers to fit the diameter and height of the tins. Fill the containers by holding the divider in place and adding popcorn a handful at a time, alternating between the two flavors to keep divider from slipping. Finish with curled paper ribbon and gift tags.

First Published: December 2004

Excellent gift ideas.

I baked cookies for years, Bill liked to take them to those who he wanted to remember, his special customers, favorite waitresses, etc........if he was late with them, they would ask if they had been forgotten.

We moved to a little town of Chloride, and I baked cakes for the ‘bake sale’ and threw in a few loaves of sourdough bread.

I was told that they had a waiting list for my bread, seems all the old miners wanted it, and the other ladies could bake the cakes.........it was a once a month sale.

To me, this is the year to give food, in any form you can, it is all more expensive than it was a short time ago.

I have 8 pages of links open, and when I try to close them out, I wind up lost in posting...and opening more links.

The mixes recipes are always handy, when I feel like it and use my bread machine, I line up 4 or 5 bags and put the ingredients in the bags for a loaf of bread, then it is dump and water, oil and yeast and in the machine in 3 minutes.

Teacup Lights

Antique teacups that have lost their saucers still make sweet gifts when fitted with candles.

Tools and Materials
Nested pans
Partially burned candles
Candy or candle thermometer
Tongs
New wicking
Teacups
Wick sustainers
Wooden skewers

Teacup Lights How-To
1. In a small pan set over a larger pan of simmering water, melt down old candles; clip the thermometer to the upper pot, and keep temperature at about 185 degrees. Remove old wicks with tongs.

2. Cut a piece of wicking to the cup's height plus 2 inches. Clamp one end to a wick sustainer; tie the other end around a skewer. Dip wicking and sustainer into melted wax to coat them. Remove and stick sustainer to cup's bottom.

3. Pour in the wax, stopping 1/2 inch below the cup's rim. Allow wax to set, about 1 hour. The candle will harden with a well in the center. To even it out, use another skewer to prick a circle of holes about 1/16 inch deep around the wick. Pour in melted wax until surface is 1/4 inch below rim. Cut wick.

From:
Martha Stewart Living

Table Decorations: Cinnamon Candle

Look for 8-and 16-inch cinnamon sticks at floral-supply stores.

Tools and Materials
Pillar candle, at least 3-inches in diameter
Cinnamon sticks
Floral shears
Hot-glue gun
Dish or coaster

Cinnamon Candle How-To
1. Measure candle height; cut cinnamon sticks to size with floral shears. You'll need about 20 lengths per candle.

2. Run hot glue along cinnamon stick; affix it vertically to side of candle. (Use low-temperature setting to minimize melting.)

3. When first stick is dry, glue next stick snugly against it; repeat to cover candle.

4. Place finished candle on a dish or coaster.

Return to Table Decorations.

Homemade Bath Salts

Turn a plain old soak into a real retreat with bath salts you make yourself. Start with about 4 cups of sea salt or kosher salt. Mix in several drops of an aromatic bath oil (available at bath and beauty stores) and, if you wish, dried fragrant plants, such as lavender or eucalyptus. Pour into a jar for yourself or to give as a gift. Use a few spoonfuls of salts per bath; to keep herbs from floating, spoon the mixture into a spice sachet (available at gourmet grocery stores).

Candy-Shop Gifts

The sweets are nestled all snug in their jars; soon they'll be given to friends near and far. Before delivering these playful presents, you can set them out for all to see in a candy-counter-style display. Collect peanut-butter, jelly, and olive jars -- or buy inexpensive containers at a discount store -- and fill them with treats for loved ones. Soon visions of sugar will dance in their heads.

Select peppermint sticks, jelly beans, chocolate straws, jawbreakers, foil-wrapped chocolates, and other colorful candy. Layer them in a jar or arrange them to form patterns. Coat metal lids with red spray paint (working in a ventilated area); cover plastic tops with decorative paper. Finish packages with ribbon and gift tags.