Gifts From The Kitchen

I love gifts from the kitchen. They are, by far all, my favorite kind of gifts both to give and to receive.

Sometimes I like to make things that can be used as an ingredient at the recipient’s leisure. We’ve made Piggy Powder (my sweet husband’s version of butt rub) for fellow “Q” lovers. We’ve also experimented with vanilla sugar (which is super simple and delicious. Just take a vanilla bean, split it lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and stir into a pound of granulated sugar, throw the vanilla bean pod in for good measure and it’s ready to give). Use it in coffee, tea, baked goods, whatever strikes your fancy. I’m thinking of making some this Christmas using Splenda for loved ones who prefer that to sugar.

It’s fun to take muffins as a hostess gift so the hostess wakes up to a snack the morning after a dinner party. I’ve also been know to make muffins to send home with special friends when you know ahead of time it’s going to be a long night, but in a good way. (You know those nights; everyone’s having so much fun, loving the food, sharing the laughs and no one wants the night to end, so we linger and laugh some more.)

Last Christmas my older daughter by association bestowed upon us a basket overflowing with love from her kitchen. Everything was unique and delicious, among other things, she made basil mayo, bacon butter, chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough frozen in chunks for future use and bacon candy (yes, people, bacon candy. You are not hallucinating and that is not a typo. This girl is brilliant, just like her dad).

My hairdresser Mischel has the most prolific fig tree in the state of Florida. She is infinitely generous in sharing her crop in the form of fig preserves. My husband, a true fig fan, assures me Mischel works some kind of magic on those figs and turns out the best fig preserves in the world, receiving a jar is always a highlight of our holiday season.

Chocolate in any form is pretty much always a good idea. Last year, a co-worker of my husband’s gifted those in her office with old fashioned quart jars filled to the brim with homemade hot cocoa mix. Too late for gift giving, but in plenty of time for eating, last Christmas we tried the Barefoot Contessa’s Chocolate Lollipops. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/white-chocolate-lollipops-recipe/index.html) We opted for milk chocolate, rather than white, but that’s purely a matter of taste. You could go crazy and do both (really, why limit ourselves!?)

Now that we’ve conquered and embraced Cake Pops (you can recall the adventure here: http://kitchen-loulou.blogspot.com/2011/04/adventures-in-cake-pops.html) it occurs to me those would make a great gift. And, bonus time, one batch makes 48, so you could surprise four friends with a dozen cake pops each out of single baking session.

The possibilities are endless. But now, of course, I must know. What kind of gifts from the kitchen do you guys like to give (and receive)?!