Today's featured edible gift (although you might want to keep at least one batch for yourself) is from Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake. It's her mom's recipe and looks to be simple and addictively tasty. It's just freshly popped corn, a couple of cups of nuts (your choice - Rebecca used pecans, but I bet it would be delicious with almonds or peanuts) and a homemade caramel syrup. You mix the popcorn and nuts with the caramel sauce and bake in a low oven for an hour. Get the exact recipe over at Ezra Pound Cake.
I've gone a little crazy for the Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe Joe's this year. In previous years, I've managed to avoid their siren call, but this year, my will power just wasn't strong enough and a box of those delicious, minty, better-than-Oreos, cookies leaped from the shelf into my shopping basket. I've been pretty good, rationing them out in sets of two every night as an end-of-day treat but really, what I want to do is dive head first into the box and devour them all.
I have about half a box left and I'm planning on transforming them into a small batch of this chocolate bark from the girls at Fries With That Shake. They've used white and dark chocolate in addition to the crushed cookies to awesome, chocolately, minty effect.
The first time I tasted homemade candied citrus peel was last Christmas, when my friend Jamie made it as part of her holiday cookie plate. I was wowed by the pungency and flavor that she had gotten out of grapefruit peel and I added it to my mental list of things I wanted to make someday.
I still haven't gotten around to it yet this season, but the YumSugar crew made it this year as part of their 12 Days of Edible Gifts feature. They used oranges, but you could also use lemons or grapefruit (as Jamie did). They've included, as part of their post, a step by step slide show that will walk you through the process of making your candied peel, which is very helpful for the first timers.
First, a confession: I am not a chocoholic. I don't generally crave the stuff. Faced with a typical assorted box, I can stop after just one. But when the right chocolate product comes along, I morph into both fiend and pusher. Here are three of my very favorite indulgences, all available for purchase online.
See's Candy Toffee-Ettes. The ultimate bite-sized morsel. At the center, Danish butter toffee, perfectly salted, encases toasted whole almonds. Around that is a layer of luscious milk chocolate. Then the whole tiny chocolate parcel is rolled in more coarsely chopped almonds. By now, See's, which began in Los Angeles, has much more than a cult following; in my opinion, they could have made their name on the strength of Toffee-Ettes alone. Fifteen bucks for a pound.
poco dolce Aztec Chili Bittersweet Tiles. Another California find. If See's is all about down-home comfort, poco dolce appeals to the more uptown or Continental area of the taste bud map. Grey sea salt, roasted pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and an swift kick of ground chili all meld beautifully with the silky dark chocolate. The price is a bit more uptown, too, at $18 for a box of eight tiles.
sweetriot Cacao Nibs. A Slashfood colleague wrote about these two Decembers ago, so I will defer to her thorough description. I have only these three words to add: Perfect. Stocking. Stuffer.
I have a good friend who used to bring a bowl of homemade glazed and roasted nuts to every party she attended. I would make sure to station myself near her vessel of nuts as soon as she placed them on the buffet, so to make sure I was able to gorge myself on those sweet, spicy, rosemary-flecked cashews, peanuts and pecans. Sadly, she moved out of state about a year ago, and so these days, if I want a taste of that flavor, I have to make it myself.
I think I've hit on something close to her recipe, melting together four tablespoons of butter with the same amount of maple syrup and then adding two tablespoons of recently dried, crushed rosemary (fresh is probably best, but I have a bunch from a friend's garden that I dried this summer so I've been trying to use it) and a scant 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
These gorgeous, deeply roasted nuts are sweet, crunchy, fragrant and have just a bit of a peppery kick. Once they cool, I'm planning on filling up a collection of canning jars and giving them to some of my co-workers (only the deserving ones!).
My dad's cousin used to keep chickens in her backyard and each year, she'd use some of her egg-y bounty to whip up jars of lemon curd to send out to family for the holidays. I looked forward to this jar arriving in the mail because it was essentially a little jar of lemon pie filling and I would sneak it away and eat tiny bites of it with a spoon until one of my parents caught me and took it away.
This year, I found myself with an abundance of Meyer lemons and so decided to combine their juice and zest with some good farmers market eggs and butter to make a batch of lemon curd to add to my edible gift stash. I adapted a recipe from The Martha Stewart Cookbook and got to work. It's sort of a fussy recipe, because all the lemons need to be zested and juiced and a dozen eggs needed to be divided into whites and yolks. However, once that's done, the rest is a breeze and it worth it for the giddy reaction you'll get from people when you tell them that you've got homemade lemon curd for them to spread on their morning toast. The recipe is after the jump.
When you think of good edibles for holiday giving, pancake mix doesn't naturally spring to mind. However, it's what my parents give out to their friends and family just about every year. My dad spent some time working at IHOP during the seventies and that experience with their mediocre pancake recipe led him to develop his own special blend. It's a mix of flours and whole grains, that when mixed with milk, beaten and egg and oil, turns out some truly awesome pancakes (it also makes a darn fine waffle). The recipe for Mo's Famous Pancakes (my dad's name is Morris) is after the jump.
We always gave it away packed in gallon-sized zip-top bags, with an instruction sheet tucked inside the bag. However, if you wanted to get fancy, you could also package it in wide-mouth quart size jars. If you're feeling flush, you can also give a bottle of real maple syrup along with your jar/bag of mix, but these days, that stuff is darn pricey.
Must like the Rosemary Scented Salt I mentioned earlier in the month, Vanilla Sugar is one those things that requires very little effort for a whole lot of payout. All it takes is a jar, sugar and a vanilla bean. When making vanilla sugar at home for your own use, you can use beans that you've already split and scraped for other baking projects. However, when you're giving it as a gift, it's nice to use fresh beans. They can be a little spendy, but it's possible to get some really terrific deals on vanilla beans if you shop around.
To make the sugar, lay a vanilla bean down on a cutting board. Using the tip of a paring knife, score the bean, leaving the ends intact so that it holds together but releases its fragrance and flavor. Fill a jar with sugar (I like to use the less-processed cane sugar) and nestle the vanilla bean down into the sugar. Let it sit for at least a couple days before using or gifting.
When I was growing up, Christmas time was just about the only time of year when my sister and I would be allowed to have hot chocolate. It was a super special treat and we looked forward to it with great anticipation, reminding our mom repeatedly in the weeks before the holiday to pick up the box of mix at Safeway or Fred Meyers.
Homemade hot chocolate mix makes a wonderful holiday gift, especially for families with young kids who look forward to a mug of cocoa before Santa comes to make his yearly visit. Alison Lewis has posted a terrific recipe for homemade mix on her site, Ingredients, Inc. that makes an excellent holiday gift. Packaged in pint-sized canning jars, deliciousness will ensue if you make this for your friends and family.
For more of our edible gift suggestions, click on the image below.
This particular edible gift suggestion is designed especially for those among you who love food but hate to cook. Buy a unique or charming bowl or basket (if you're gift-giving on the cheap, I suggest hitting thrift stores for your vessel) and then filling it with mandarin oranges. Don't buy a pre-packed bag or box when prepping for these gifts, as often you'll find some rotten fruit in with the good ones. Instead, spend a few minutes sorting through the display at your grocery store, hand selecting the best fruit. For a more visually interesting offering, get several different kinds of citrus. Tie an old-fashioned cloth ribbon (or a handmade cloth napkin, if you want to get fancy) around the bowl for added holiday cheer.
For more of our edible gift suggestions, click on the image below.
The marshmallows most of us know are fluffy, useless things that are best melted down into rice krispies treats or toasted on pointy sticks over open fires. However, there's another version of marshmallow, one that you can make in your own kitchen, that are far superior to the ones you buy at the local grocery store for $1.29 a bag and they make an excellent edible holiday gift.
Two years ago, Nicole Weston (during her Slashfood years) posted an excellent recipe for homemade marshmallows that will wow your friends and make your family praise your name (if you have questions about the recipe, make sure to read the comment section on the old post, it contains a bunch of helpful tips). The recipe is after the jump.
I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. Fudge is one of the easiest things in the world to make and it never fails to delight a chocolate lover. My favorite recipe requires just three ingredients - 1 pound of chocolate, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and half a stick of butter (you can also add a couple of glugs of booze for a more adult treat). Sure, there are more complex recipes that require you to work harder, but everyone I've ever served this quick fudge to happily laps it up and then comes back for more.
Simply melt the ingredients together in double boiler until smooth and combined. While it's melting, line a 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper. When the chocolate mixture is melted, pour into the lined pan and smooth with spatula. Let sit until cool (I put it into a pan of cold water to speed the process) and then refrigerate for at least two hours to let it set. Cutting while cold will ease the process and keep the cuts smooth. Give to chocolate loving friends and family in small boxes or tins.
By this time of the year, most jammable fruit has long since left the produce and farmers markets. However, the humble pear makes a mighty good butter that's simple to prepare, delicious on toast and makes a great gift. This year, I was lucky enough to receive a gift of pears from a friend's neighbor's tree. They were a little bruised up (they were all windfall pears), but a little careful knife work left them free of spots and they cooked up some of the sweetest, evenly textured pear butter I've ever tasted.
I don't have a specific recipe for pear butter, I just chop the fruit and let it cook down in a slow cooker for 6-8 hours (I often do it overnight) until it is reduced by half. Then I run the fruit through a food mill or strainer to get rid of the skins into a smaller pot. Puree it with a hand mixer, stir in some cinnamon, nutmeg and a little lemon juice and taste for sweetness.
Sometimes pear butter is sweet enough all on its own that no sugar is required, but sometimes it needs a little perking up. Brown sugar or maple syrup plays best with the pear flavor. You can can and process if you feel comfortable doing that, or you can simply spoon the pear butter into jars and refrigerate until it's time to distribute them to friends and family. In the fridge, it will last up to a month. The more sugar you put into the butter, the longer its shelf life will be.
For most of my childhood, my dad had a business partner who was famous for her holiday goodies. Mid-December, she's arrive at the door with a bag bursting with sugar cookies, homemade caramels and a huge zip-top bag bursting with her take on the classic Chex Party Mix. We looked forward to that Chex Mix for months before it arrived and my mom would ration it out, making sure it lasted at least a week.
Part of the appeal of Eleanor's Chex Mix was that she included Cheerios and let it toast until everything was a uniform nutty brown. It's been years since I've had it, but I can still conjure up the flavor and crunch. If you choose to give your friends and family some Chex Mix for the holidays, you can package it up in plastic bags like Eleanor always did, or you could add a festive accent with some holiday-themed tins. My favorite Chex Mix recipe, which is based on the one we used to receive, is after the jump.
Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at 
First, a confession: I am not a chocoholic. I don't generally crave the stuff. Faced with a typical assorted box, I can stop after just one. But when the right chocolate product comes along, I morph into both fiend and pusher. Here are three of my very favorite indulgences, all available for purchase online.
When I was growing up, Christmas time was just about the only time of year when my sister and I would be allowed to have hot chocolate. It was a super special treat and we looked forward to it with great anticipation, reminding our mom repeatedly in the weeks before the holiday to pick up the box of mix at Safeway or Fred Meyers. 
The marshmallows most of us know are fluffy, useless things that are best melted down into rice krispies treats or toasted on pointy sticks over open fires. However, there's another version of marshmallow, one that you can make in your own kitchen, that are far superior to the ones you buy at the local grocery store for $1.29 a bag and they make an excellent edible holiday gift. 
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