My kids were brainstorming things they could give their grandparents for Chanukah, and finally decided to make them food gifts in a jar. Since one set of grandparents are trying to avoid sugar, it knocked all their plans for homemade breads, cakes, and jams out of running. So they needed to think more creatively.
Today they decided on holiday bean soup mix, and cornbread mix. They layered ten different kinds of beans in a quart sized jar, and are going to prepare the seasoning mix and put it in the top in a small plastic bag. On top of the jar, they wrote the name of the recipe, and then instructions for how to prepare it. When their grandparents are ready to have it, they’ll have to soak the beans overnight, then throw all the ingredients together with a can of tomatoes, and they’ll have a nice healthy and filling pot of soup.
For the cornbread mix, the kids mixed all the ingredients but eggs and oil together (using powdered milk instead of regular for this purpose), and again, wrote up instructions and taped them to the top of the jars. The jars look very pretty and I think that they’ll be enjoyed.
For the jars, I used some jars that I recycled from matza ball soup and gefilte fish (I put them aside a couple of months ago, thinking they might be useful for holiday gifts). When I first washed them out and noticed that the jars were’t the size of a standard canning jar, I thought that it seemed like a waste (a lot of spaghetti sauce and mayo jars are). But then I realized they’d be perfect for gifts in a jar, and I wouldn’t have to give away the canning jars that are so useful for me but which would probably be thrown away by the recipients after one use.
If this is something that interests you, there are loads of possibilities out there! You can make drink mixes – coffee, tea, cocoa; soup mixes (with dehydrated veggies added, or with instructions to add the vegetables afterwards); cake or cookie mixes; candies (I love the idea of making candy – like fudge and sour cream walnuts – but think it’s almost unfair to give anyone something so irresistably good :)). And if you know how to can things, then you can give canned soups or stews that are ready to eat.
Food gifts are nice because they are useful, attractive, and are appreciated by just about everyone, particularly when dietary concerns are taken into account. It also doesn’t confer a huge feeling of reciprocal obligation by the recipient – it’s not a very expensive gift, despite being attractive and being enjoyed so much!
One son is starting to make some cinnamon rolls right now – I have an amazingly good recipe that I think my mom will love. Another daughter is brainstorming more ideas; she doesn’t want to give something very similar to what some of the others are planning – I don’t have the ingredients in the house or she would make up a vanilla coffee mix for her grandfather. At the moment of this writing (things can change quickly here), they’ve decided to give a joint gift basket from all of them – with a bread, a jam, a soup, a side, and a dessert.
I have some chutneys that I prepared in the beginning of the fall for my husband’s coworkers, and will probably bake something to send along with each jar. I have other things that I’ve canned with the intention to give them as gifts also, but I have to go through the shelf where I stored them all and remind myself what I have. 🙂
I found this link after we finished preparing our jars, but I think they give some good ideas for how to decorate the jars so that they look festive – I’m a big believer in the value of presentation (you know, the nicer something looks, the better it is received!). http://www.budget101.com/jargifts.htm
Happy Chanukah!
Avivah
