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holiday gifts

12 Days of Holiday Food Gifts to Make {Revisited}

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Happy Holidays!
Twelve amazing days of Food gifts for memorable giving.

Last year for the holidays I did a series of 12 food gifts for making and giving. A bunch of folks have been asking about them, so here they are in the order that they were posted in. Just click on the title to take you directly to the original post. Also be sure to check on the page bar at the top of the post for resources for jars, containers, ribbons, etc.

White Chocolate Candies

Day 1- White Chocolate Candies– easy to make drops.

Day 2- Candied Fruits- Sweet and Savory. This post contains recipes for the candied pears shown above, candied spicy tangerines and candied ginger.

Day 3- Rosemary Lemon Biscotti and Dark Chocolate Cherry Biscotti– two classic cookies.\

Day 4- A Tradition Renewed- Marzipan– instructions on how to make cherries, pears and plums.

Day 5- Cowboy Candy- sweet pickled jalapeños that have the added bones of a beautiful syrup leftover that makes the dang best margaritas you’ve EVER tasted!

Day 6- Flavored Oils– Two infusion methods: Hot and Cold. Recipes for Lemon Oil, Basil Oil and Smoked Paprika Oil.

Day 7- Mixed Drinks~Pre-made cocktails. These are the bases for some delicious cocktails. Just add ice a spritz of tonic or soda water and you can kick back and enjoy the evening.

Day 8- Fruit Compotes~ Red & Blueberry Mint, and Orange Lavender– Send along with a batch of homemade scones for a special Christmas morning breakfast.

Day 9- Fregolotta- An Italian tradition. It’s a large cracker like cookie, full of almonds, that is broken and eaten after dinner, served here with a ruby port.

Day 10- Homemade syrups to make your own exotic soda or create a cocktail. Blueberry Thyme, Ginger Ale, and Fresh Mint

Day 11- Apricot Tapenade with Rosemary. A sweet and savory fruit sauce that pairs beautifully with cheese and makes a colorful and sparkling addition to your holiday table.

Day 12- NUTELLA!!!!!!

Happy making and sharing everyone!

Beginning, Delicious Middles and Never Ending Friendships

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Making preserved lemons

I am reveling in the bounty of my summer travels. I have been {literally} around the world, to old homes, to new homes, to sweet hugs of long time friends, and I’ve felt the delicious excitement of discovering new friendships.

Since my “retirement” in January I have been indulging in so many wonderful things that I am starting to feel just a bit guilty about it. You know that “list” you have? The one titled- Someday when I have the time…  ? well, I’ve been given the gift of that time, and I am here to say that ticking off bits of that list has been sheer delight.

My last post was a long 11 days ago, the longest hiatus I have taken thus far. I purposely did not try to post while away this past week so that I could fully enjoy my time. This last trip took me to Portland, OR for the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC), which turned out to be one of the best experiences of my blogging life. {After Portland I went on to visit with my dearest friend, Marie in Walla Walla, but more on that another time}

IFBC had approximately 300 people in attendance, which gave me ample opportunity to interact and get to know some amazing people. The weekend started out with a lovely party at the Barhyte residence, who produce the Saucy Mama collection of mustards, marinades, and sauces. There I met Cathy Pollack from Noble Pig Winery, who became an instant best friend, along with Tiffany Haugen, Kelly Mooney from This Just In, Kristy from The Wicked Noodle, JJ from 84th & 3rd, Marisa from Margaritas in the rain, and some other crazy friend of the Barhyte’s named Steve (what can I say? people can be really interesting when drinking delicious Oregonian wine), but seriously- I was amongst some incredible women who inspired me beyond measure.

That evening set the stage for a weekend of flow and intensity of meeting some wonderful people hand over fist. Some of the other incredible bloggers I met were:  Rodney Blackwell, (the burger junkie), Tara Mayberry, Sunita Budhrani from Serendipitously Sunita, Kathleen Flinn and Eliza Larson from Eliza Domestica.

I was astounded to be amongst by so many people equally passionate about food, AND so incredibly talented. I was simultaneously humbled and gleeful, like a kid in an adult version of Willy Wonka. There was delicious foods coming from all direction, long tables groaning with gifts for us to pick from, and Pinot Noir at every turn. Can you imagine it?

Now this laden and weary traveller is finally home. So weary that I have just woken from my second 2 hour nap of the day. The traveling has ground me to a halt finally, but it has also left me with so much more to tell and share. It will come, over the next few weeks I promise you, it will come. My travels has filled me with ideas from all the love and new friendships that I’ve shared- and now that will get passed on to you.

The recipe today is for making Preserved Lemons, which I put together earlier this summer. I am sharing this post now because it is a lovely symbol of these past weeks. The process of making the lemons requires an incubation time. The ingredients are combined, and then left to relax to meld and transform. After a few weeks you have something delicious that adds a brightness to your meals, and adds a different dimension. Preserved Lemons are an ingredient which is better than the sum of it’s parts developed over time.

That’s me. I am better for all my travels, conversations and shifts in perspective. As the calendar clicks past Labor Day weekend, heralding the end of “summer”, I am filled with new thoughts and recipes to share with you. Ideas, thoughts and inspiration has been filling me up, and I promise it will come spilling out onto these pages.

Preserved Lemons
approximated 4 cups
 
12 small fresh lemons
1 c coarse salt
Sterile quart size jar with lid
 
Wash the lemons thoroughly and cut into quarters. 
 
Sterilize jar and lid by either boiling in hot water for a few minutes, then draining face down, placing in a hot oven for 10 minutes, or running through a dishwasher with a sterilizing setting. Allow to cool.
 
Rub the lemons all over with the salt and pack into the jar as tightly as possible. Add plenty of salt to cover and allow some to sink to bottom of the jar.
 
Not all the lemons will fit. Juice the rest of the lemons and fill the jar to the top with the juice to cover.
 
Sprinkle any remaining salt over the top, then secure lid.
 
Store on the counter atop a plate for approximately a week. Each day flipping over the jar. After a week move to the fridge and allow to continue to marinate for another few weeks. 
 
After approximately a month your lemons will be ready. Rinse before using.
 
Enjoy!
 
 

{Day 6} Flavored Oils

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When the day has been long and that chicken in the fridge just looks so, well, geez- another chicken? A splash of flavored oil can make the simple sublime. Mashed potatoes get beautiful chartreusey green puddles of yum with basil oil, take a weeknight pasta and drizzle it with smoked paprika oil and the next time you feel like popcorn- make it the old fashioned way on the stove and use a lemon or rosemary oil to pop the corn and then splash some more on top instead of butter. Sensational in a snap. Love it.
The best part is that flavored oils not only are a great go-to, but easy to make and easily makes smiles when you give them away. Three versions here today, lemon, basil and smoked paprika. I know, sounds way too simple right? why not Thai basil with vanilla and chilis? Because these are the staples, like I said, the go-to’s, the good pals that are there when you need them. From here all things are possible and limitless, but feel free to be creative, I won’t mind. Take these oils as a base and feel free to add to them.
There are two methods to adding flavor to oil, both simple. The hot method: warm oil, add flavoring in the form of herbs or spices and allow to steep, then filter and bottle.  The cold diffusion method requires just adding the flavor to the oil and give it plenty of time to steep. I made the lemon oil this way which infused a brightness from the lemon that is just out of this world.
If you decide to leave leaves, or zests or especially garlic in your bottles- be sure that they be stored in the fridge. Weird things can start growing and that is just not a good thing.
I bottle mine in smaller bottles when giving them away. They can be tucked into bags with other treats, given as pairs or sets, and it doesn’t impose the receiver to give up too much fridge or counter space. Besides, little jewels are also so much more delightful, and who doesn’t like jewels?
Hot Oil Infusion Method
No quantities here, this is by your taste- but a good start is one bunch of fresh herbs to every quart of oil or 3T of spices. Use a mild olive oil over a plain vegetable oil.
Warm oil to 185˚ in a heavy duty saucepan.
Add bruised fresh herbs or combine all in a blender for more intense and faster results.
or add spices that have first been dry toasted in a pan stovetop. Toasting releases the oils and aromatics to get the party started.
Once cooled  and rested overnight, taste the oil for flavor balance. Add more oil to the batch if it’s strong or rewarm and add more flavoring. The flavors do take a few days to develop so don’t expect too much at first, by day 3 or 4 you are truly there.
Cold Oil Infusion Method
Take bottle, add herbs or spices, pour over oil. Done. Good. Mostly.
I made the lemon oil by whizzing a cup of oil with the zest of one lemon in a blender then added it into a quart of oil. All that beating and battering released more oils into the base and can I tell you? divine. It left the oil cloudy at first but a few days later- sparkling lemon flavor and a clear oil.
Bruise any fresh herbs first, let them steep in the oil in a bucket or large jar for at least 2 weeks and then strain. If you like the look you can put fresh pretty herbs and spices into the gift bottles for a nicer presentation.