A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity Our Favorite Recipes Winter's Coming Time for holiday Fun Reciepe's

I thought I'd Bring this back, we have a lot of new Members here with young families Here are a few Ideas for this winter and stocking stuffers or small gifts with recipes attached on decorative paper for teachers, students, mailman, co workers,, etc,,,

Snowman's Soup

SNOWMAN's SOUP
1 Coffee Mug filled 3/4 full of HOT water
1 individual pkg instant hot chocolate
a few minature marshmellows
a few chocolate chips
1 candy cane to stir( candy canes comes in many flavors some of them are now chocolate coated)
Stir and Blend well with candy cane
Bottoms up and melt away the chill!
All of this Minus water of course can be placed in a holiday Ziploc bag or small drawstring gift bag and given as a small gift with a card ,,

If this is going to an adult a tiny bottle of kahula, peppermint shnapps, bailey, etc can go in the bag to add in the "soup",,


MAGIC REINDEER FOOD

In a 1 gallon ziplock bag combine...

1 cup uncooked oats
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup red and/or green sugar crytals(for cake decorating)
1/4 cup silver balls(for cake decorating)
(originally this called for glitter, but we don't want to hurt birds or wildlife, so I subsituted for sugar crystal)
shake ziplock bag so it's well mixed.

On the night before Christmas present this to your little one with the following message..

"Be sure to take this magic food and sprinkle on your lawn
On Christmas, Santa's reindeer travel miles before the dawn
The smell of oats and glitter path
will guide them on their way
and you'll wake up to Santa's gifts
next 'morn on Christmas Day!"


I have More And will post more later,, Do you have any?? Not too early to start on Ideas for small inexpensive gifts for the winter holidays,,

just remembered another one,,,
it's kind of like rock candy on a spoon or a spoon lollipop

Candied Teaspoons

this is to make *8* Candied Teaspoons

one cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or just sprayed with cooking spray

8 heavy plastic spoon
one bag of jolly ranchers or like hard flavored clear candies,
2 TBlspoons white corn syrup

in a small sauce pan combine corn syrup and 34 pinches yes 34 pinches of finely crushed candies,, ( best to separate flavors if bag of candies is mixed),, on low heat stirring frequently until candy melts,, dip spoons into melted candies making sure bowl of spoons are full,,and place on cookie sheet with handles of spoons on edge of cookie sheet keeping spoon level,

allow candy to harden and keep in air tight container,,
wrap with color plastic wrap and tie with a nice ribbons , group different flavors, this also can be done with chocolate then dip in crushed nuts or mini m&m;s as a decorated treat,, possibilities are endless with the chocolate

Thanks for these Diane! It seems that I have somehow missed these in the past. Great ideas!

This is an "Adult" recipe but good for "teacher or co-worker gifts"

HOLIDAY TEA

2 (10 oz. Jars) Tang
1 (24 oz. Jar) Lemon Flavored Ice Tea Mix (Pre-sweetened)
1 (10 oz. pkg) Red Hots--another name is "cinnamon imperials"
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground Cloves

Mix the above ingredients together well. Store in tightly covered jars. Keep dry

To serve: Add 1-2 tsp, or to taste, per 1 cup of very hot/boiling water. Stir.

(I used 6-8 oz jars--(like jelly jars). one could cut a 6 inch round of holiday cloth and put it over the 'flat' before they added the 'ring' he top for a festive look. I then printed the name of the tea and serving directions out on an address label and added to the jar.

THIS IS A SMALLER BATCH

2-1/2 Cups Tang
3 cups Lemon Flavored Tea mix
6-7 oz red hots (2/3 cups??)
2 tsp grd. cinnamoln
1 tsp grd. cloves

Yummmmmmmmmmm Carol,, That sounds good!!!!!!! I love red hots,, I've never thought of using those in a hot drink,, I'm going to make this recipe for sure!!!!!!

I put red hots in hot apple cider all the time.

Thanks for this recipe Carol!!

Diane, I texed Valarie and told her to come and look at your recipes--I thought she might could use them for her kids around the holidays???
__________________________

Diane: This IS a really good recipe.--and it is good for say when a person is not feeling well, like with a cold.

Jess--do you have a hot apple cider recipe< or are you talking the kind one buys at the store???

THanks to you both.

Good Idea for a classroom Carol. I have a few more I'll post over the weekend, that;s fun for kids,, and also some for adults,

*
I was thinking your recipe sounded like a hot tottie with out the bourbon,,

what about the most famous and easiest halloween recipe????
popcorn balls.
equal amounts of karo syrup and sugar.
cook the karo till it boils a couple of minutes, add the sugar and cook a couple more minutes. drizzel over popcorn and form into balls. a bit of butter on your hands while making the balls will help them not stick to your hands.

I haven't eaten popcorn balls in YEARS!I won't buy corn syrup 'cause it's too expensive.

I just buy the apple cider, Carol! I have never thought to make it myself. It is good with cinnamon schnapps but when I was pregnant I used Red Hots and it was good. I do that for Tristen now too.

Oh, I must make the magic reindeer food for Athena....she'll love that! With her being 7 I don't know how many years I have left to do that kind of thing with her.

OKI love you ladies but your yummy recipes are going to kill my diet. LOL
~Must not read... Must not read!

[color:#CC0000][size:20pt]Must read, must read, must read[/size][/color]

Didn't we have some recipes that could be made and put in jars that people could do as gifts? I'm thinking there were some cookie recipes and stuff that were in a topic on the old site. Have no idea what the topic was called.

Yep we did TK,

Here's another one,,,,,, For your coffee drinking friends that love flavored creamers,,, Put in a decorative jar w/ a ribbon with the reciepe on a tag attached to the ribbon,

Chocolate Mint Creamer

3/4 cup non-dairy creamer
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake to blend thoroughly.
Makes 15 (2 tablespoon
) servings. Stir into hot coffee.

Tammy--the Holiday Tea recipe I posted up above is an excellent gift. AND as an added bonus you can put it in any size jar. The first time I was presented with this tea, it was in a baby food jar.---it made several cups of tea.

This sounds really good! I am going to have to try that!!

Anyone have say an Irish Creme creamer recipe?? Diane???

our church doesn't do coffee or cream but they do alot of cookies so I was just wondering if anyone remembered where that was. I did snatch the snowman soup recipe. That so cute.

uo there a few posts back Bill posted a link to the cookie recipes on TGH.

Also last year I know I posted a recipe or 2 in the recipe section--but to go back a year???

What kind of cookies are you looking for, mixes in a jar for gifting? Already baked ones?

Candy Cookie Mix

2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp powdered vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar, firmly packed

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until they are evenly distributed, making sure all brown sugar lumps are crushed. Store in an airtight container.

If you want to give this mix as a gift, attach the following instructions to the jar:
Candy Cookie Mix

1 C unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 large egg
1 package Candy Cookie Mix
1 C candy bar chunks (peanut butter cups, chocolate candy bars or chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350° F. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is smooth. Add the egg, and continue beating until the egg is combined. Add the Candy Cookie Mix and candy bar chunks and blend on low just until the cookie mix is incorporated. Form the cookies into 1 1/2-inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden on the edges. Remove from oven, and cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

I could very well be wrong but I believe she was asking for the mixes in a jar for gifting recipes.

Cookie Bar Mix

Present this in a canning jar and it will almost be too pretty for the recipient to eat! Enjoy!

You will need:

1/2 C walnuts or pecans, chopped
6 oz butterscotch morsels
6 oz semisweet chocolate morsels
1 C coconut
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

1 "wide-mouth" quart size canning jar

To make this recipe, you'll also need:

1/2 C butter or margarine
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Layer ingredients in a quart sized canning jar in the following order: Walnuts or pecans, butterscotch morsels , semisweet chocolate morsels, coconut, graham cracker crumbs. Place lid on jar and cut a piece of fabric large enough to come down over lid and secure with a rubber band. Use pinking shears to cut fabric for a pretty edging.

Attach the directions for baking the bar cookies on pretty paper with the following directions:

Cookie Bar MixMelt

1/2 cup of butter. Add top layer of graham cracker crumbs. Pat evenly in bottom of an un-greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining layered ingredients into the crumb mixture and spread even with spoon. Pour can of sweetened condensed milk evenly over all. Bake at 350 F degree oven for 30 minutes; cool. Cut into bars. Makes about 36 bars.To attach instructions, punch a hole in the corner of the paper with a punch, then attach with the instructions with a ribbon or twine tied around the lid (hiding the rubber band). You can also include a wooden spoon with the jar!

These are really pretty when done!

They make great Christmas gifts...or any time of the year gifts...Enjoy!

Double-Fudge Brownie Mix

Dense and fudgie; these are the best brownies in the world.

2 C sugar
1 C unsweetened baking cocoa
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C chopped pecans
1 C chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

If you want to give this mix as a gift, attach the following instructions to the jar:
Double-Fudge Brownies

1 package Double-Fudge Brownie Mix
1 C butter or margarine, softened
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease a 12x9 inch pan. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the Double-Fudge Brownie Mix and continue to beat the mixture until it is smooth. Spread the mixture into the greased pan, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

Friendship Brownie Mix

1 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 C brown sugar
1/3 C unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 C vanilla chips
1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 C walnuts, chopped
2/3 C white sugar

Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Layer the ingredients in a wide-mouth quart jar.

Decorate jar and add this gift tag:
Friendship Brownie Mix

Combine contents of jar with: 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2/3 cup vegetable oil. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350°F for about 35 minutes.

How creative angel! Thats really neat.
I dont have kids, in fact I dont even celebrate christmas much anymore.
But I bet there are tons of people who would love your ideas. I have a friend whit young shildren, I will give her that one!

OH My heavens this topic will kill my diet for sure.
My mouth is watering!
I love the friendship brownie Idea. Do you put the semi sweet morsels and white chips in a seperate bag or do you put it all in the jar? I might do some of them for a few friends. I like doing creative non comercial things.!

With that one you would put it all in the jar in layers in the order shown. You don't beat that mix so it would work well just being stirred together.