Make your own Christmas Prezzies!

ICANN

Brilliant ideas here! Going to have a good read through them. I'm making a few hampers for my grandparents so I'll be making biscuits and chutney to go in them.

LostinKildare

Honey-ec wrote: »

Ouch! I've been keeping my eye out for fresh cause I want to make cranberry sauce, but I won't be paying that for them! Aldi used to always get bags of fresh Ocean Spray crans at this time of year for about €2 a pop, but they haven't had them the past two years in a row

I don't wanna start a stampede, but THE CRANBERRIES ARE BACK!

Back at Aldi (they just got them yesterday) @ 1.99 for a 12oz/340g Ocean Spray bag. Walked into Spar 10 minutes later and saw the exact same bags for 3.49!

Stock up -- they keep well in the refrigerator for weeks and freeze splendidly, so you can have cranberries all year.

Here's my recipe for cranberry sauce. A sandwich kit of a jar of this, a loaf of brown bread, a piece of brie and some leftover turkey would make a very nice Stephen's Day gift.

1 pkg fresh cranberries (12oz/340g), picked over
1 cup apple juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 large apple, cored, peeled and chopped

Combine first 4 ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer, uncovered, 5 min. Add apple and cook 5 min more. Remove from heat and let cool -- it thickens as it cools. Best made a day or two ahead so the flavors combine.



I've got a nice recipe for cranberry bread somewhere ... I'll dig it out if anyone's interested. Great thread

Honey-ec

LostinKildare wrote: »

I don't wanna start a stampede, but THE CRANBERRIES ARE BACK!

Back at Aldi (they just got them yesterday) @ 1.99 for a 12oz/340g Ocean Spray bag. Walked into Spar 10 minutes later and saw the exact same bags for 3.49!

*legs it to Aldi*

Merrilady

My mint jelly ( from mynown mint in the garden :cool::cool:) set for me this morning, after 2 attempts = delighted with myself.

Ordered- Santa small cellophane bags for the rocky roads / cookies and Xmas cellophane from Ebay yesterday :-)

deejam

Hi guys, I'm goin to attempt making red chilli jam And just checking the quantities, it asks for 150g of red peppers, is tat only about one pepper..?? Tia..

Eviledna

Depending on how spicy you want the chilli jam, you can use 1-2 peppers (for the 150g) or substitute some of the chillis for peppers for a milder taste.

In our house we like the heat, so I even leave in the seeds

jinxremoving

deejam wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm goin to attempt making red chilli jam And just checking the quantities, it asks for 150g of red peppers, is tat only about one pepper..?? Tia..

I ended up using about 1 & a half biggish peppers. I used about a pack & a half of the red chilies from tesco and it is very hot! yum though.

making some plum jam, marmalade, christmas chutney,cranberry sauce and guinness mustard at the weekend!

Mr Simpson

Hi everyone, looking forward to trying these recipes, if anyones interested I've found hamper baskets here, they also sell jam jars and stuff like that

The Black Oil

Having our family Kris Kindle thing soon, though we're not hosting it. I'll make Snickerdoodles from the Cooking Club and I'll use one of the gingerbread recipes in this Christmas thread for some more biscuits, not sure what else to make...

Eviledna

... I'll use one of the gingerbread recipes in this Christmas thread for some more biscuits, not sure what else to make...

Fudge!

Loopy

livinsane wrote: »

If anyone is in the Cork area, Central Floristry Supplies (up airport rd direction) are great for hamper baskets and all related materials. I got baskets suitable for a small hamper for about 2.50 each. They have big rolls of patterned and plain cellophane and bales of that shredded wood stuff for packing.

I bought lots of stuff on this site this morning.
Delivery to Dublin €10.
It worked out cheaper than ebay.

Eviledna wrote: »

Fudge!

My microwave has gone bust and I really want to make this fudge.
Would it be the same if done on the hob?

Eviledna

Hiya Loopy, yes I bet it would be fine over the hob, key would be to have a candy thermometer to make sure the

• 250g salted butter
• 500g golden caster sugar
• 1 tin condensed milk

are heated to 240 degrees F (115 degrees C) or the "soft ball" stage. Then add the vinegar and salt and baileys and beat with an electric mixer until it looses it's shine. Then leave to cool.:)

It's worth noting that for fudge-purists this can be a crystallised fudge, so perhaps if you like your fudge smooth and not crumbly, try this recipe:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/chocolatefudge.html

Merrilady

Not sure where I came across this, but I've 3/4 filled a jar with chocolate buttons and 1/4 filled with marshmellows and called it Hot Chocolate for 2

Lazy I know, but looks sooooo cute

The Black Oil

Must see about using a root of ginger, have only used the jar stuff before and it still smells fine, but the root might be better.

trackguy

Does anyone know where you can buy the fine straw that you would find in gift hampers? I'm doing small baskets with jars and other goodies in them and wanted to fill the baskets with this straw.

Any suggestions are appreicated. I'm in Dublin/ Kildare area.

The Black Oil

Some suggestions here.

jinxremoving

trackguy wrote: »

Does anyone know where you can buy the fine straw that you would find in gift hampers? I'm doing small baskets with jars and other goodies in them and wanted to fill the baskets with this straw.

Any suggestions are appreicated. I'm in Dublin/ Kildare area.

You could buy a pack of hamster straw bedding from a pet store?

Eviledna

Just to let ye know I saw the smaller kilner jars with ceramic tops I the euro 2 store in Galway - only 1 euro each! They'd do fine for short-term storage, not sure about the ceramic for canning though.

trackguy

Thanks for the suggestions - I might go down the shredding wrapping paper route.

NiCiarain

I love this thread! I've already made the microwave fudge and the lemon curd and both turned out great, thanks for the fantasic recipies!

I'm planning to try out the chilli jam from the Good Mood Food Blog recipie and I'm wondering if someone could tell me whether I could make the following substitutes;
Can I substitute the demerara suger for jam sugar or golden caster sugar? And can I substitute the red wine vinegar for cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar? These are what I already have in the house and I dont' want to have to buy more ingredients! I'm also using tinned whole tomatoes (drained), I'm hoping thats not going to be a problem

I'm also planning to make the chilli jam from Nigellas recipie but I think I have everything I need for that

Eviledna

If I read you right, you'll definitely need the jam sugar as is, jam sugar has added pectin to make it set as jam, only substitute would be something containing pectin like apple skins in a muslin cloth?

Tinned tomatoes might effect the taste, as might the cider vs. Red wine vinegar, but otherwise it's the jam sugar that's a must:)

NiCiarain

Eviledna wrote: »

If I read you right, you'll definitely need the jam sugar as is, jam sugar has added pectin to make it set as jam, only substitute would be something containing pectin like apple skins in a muslin cloth?

Tinned tomatoes might effect the taste, as might the cider vs. Red wine vinegar, but otherwise it's the jam sugar that's a must:)

Thank for the reply. The recipe asks for demerara sugar so Im looking for a substitute for that http://www.donalskehan.com/2008/11/chilli-jam/

Yeah I should probably just go buy tomatoes but I was hoping to avoid spending anymore money . Ill use tins for the trial run an but fresh ones for the real deal

the beer revolu

NiCiarain wrote: »

Thank for the reply. The recipe asks for demerara sugar so Im looking for a substitute for that http://www.donalskehan.com/2008/11/chilli-jam/

Yeah I should probably just go buy tomatoes but I was hoping to avoid spending anymore money . Ill use tins for the trial run an but fresh ones for the real deal

I'd say use your golden caster sugar instead of the demerara, it'll be a bit lighter in colour and flavour but that's not a problem. Your jam sugar will make it very 'set'.
I don't think using cider vinegar rather than red wine vinegar would be a big deal but maybe use a tiny bit more balsamic and a little less cider vinegar.
Using tinned tomatoes instead of fresh ones will change it quite a bit, possibly for the better but I doubt it (it might make it more like a chilli tomato sauce than a chutney type thing).

NiCiarain

the beer revolu wrote: »

I'd say use your golden caster sugar instead of the demerara, it'll be a bit lighter in colour and flavour but that's not a problem. Your jam sugar will make it very 'set'.
I don't think using cider vinegar rather than red wine vinegar would be a big deal but maybe use a tiny bit more balsamic and a little less cider vinegar.
Using tinned tomatoes instead of fresh ones will change it quite a bit, possibly for the better but I doubt it (it might make it more like a chilli tomato sauce than a chutney type thing).

Thanks for the advice. I don't want it to turn out like a chilli tomato sauce so I won't chance using tinned tomatoes.

Wurly

Foil baking trays in Aldi today!!! Great for making fudge a la Nigella.

God, i'm SOO excited.:D:pac:

NiCiarain

St Stephens Day Chutney has been mentioned in the thread but I can't see the recipe for it. Could someone post it please?

I'd love to make some gluten free items for a coeliac friend, does anyone have any nice festive gluten free recipes? I'd especially love a gluten free stuffing recipe.

Also, I'm looking for cellophane wrapping in Galway if anyone knows where I could get some please let me know

saleda

Great suggestions in this thread, thanks for all the ideas

Was thinking of trying out a recipe for Cookie Dough Truffles, ingredients are:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
chocolate bark, to melt for dipping
additional chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc., optional for topping the truffles

Can anyone here translate the cups into ounces/grammes for me? I just can't work it out. Thanks

Poutbutton

http://www.deliaonline.com/conversion-tables.html

You can buy American cup measurements in most good kitchen supply stores here, I got some in Atlantic Homecare.

shinikins

Use an online converter Saleda


NiCiarain, I suspect you need to use fresh tomatoes as the pectin in the skins will help set the jam. Tinned tomatoes are usually skinned AFAIK,

proulx

Is there still time to make Chutney-does anyone have recipes that do not need that much maturing?