Holiday treats 2010

A few people have asked for a recap of this year’s Christmas cookie boxes and other gifts, and particulary because we discovered some great new additions this year, I thought I’d include a little inventory here. This year we made treat boxes, two kinds of liqueur, and a slightly sweeter version of our everyday (everyweek, everymonth, everymorning) granola.

Besides the obvious benefits of homemade food items as gifts, making a variety of food items means you also get to eat a variety of food items. Instead of making batches of just a couple items you then have to eat, you can eat the extras, the broken pieces, the castoffs of a wide variety of treats. And if you’re me and you have a hard time deciding which items to pick, giving them as gifts mean you get to make everything you want! Well, maybe not everything, but this year I came pretty close …

Cookie Box 2010

Top row, from left: Ginger oat shorties, “gut bomb” peanut butter-chocolate truffles (a godly-but-unholy recipe from Brett’s godmother), peanut brittle (Tartine recipe), vanilla-cardamom spritz
Bottom row, from left: Peppermint bark, sables with ganache, macaroons, benne wafers (from The Wednesday Chef)

I packaged everything mainly with supplies still leftover from the wedding – I think our supply of wax and plastic bags might be self-refreshing – which made this a pretty easy and low-cost gift.

It all came together like this:

Flavored liqueurs: We’ve certainly been enjoying holiday-related beverages lately, and we think you should too. A few weeks back I started two batches of infused liqueurs, to stock us through the new year and to give to our luckier friends and family. I sat on my hands for two weeks before I filtered and bottled, and have since been enjoying an array of cranberry-flavored seltzers, gimlets, and champagne cocktails. This week I’m looking forward to some lattes, hot chocolate, and eggnog spruced up with a bit of vanilla-spiked coffee liqueur. All in moderation, of course, but hey – it’s Christmas.

Recipes to come for both cranberry and coffee liqueurs!

Holiday granola: We’re also sending out a few gift packages to friends and family far away, so I put together a few jars of our favorite granola to send along, with a bit of extra honey and coconut to make the holiday season a bit sweeter …

So that’s how we’ve decided to share the holiday season with our friends and family. I had a lot of fun with the boxes this year, and have already begun thinking about additions for next year (no joke). It’s unlikely we’ll have much time for cooking and posting before Christmas weekend, so I’ll leave you here with hopes for a relaxing, peaceful, and delicious Christmas weekend (whether or not that’s what you celebrate …). We’ll be in Minnesota, trying not to freeze to death.