Homemade Gifts

Who doesn't love giving and receiving a present? Isn't the answer amplified when you give or receive something homemade? I think so!

For a few ladies at work, I made some homemade goodies. I've been making an effort at home to make my own natural hand scrub, lotion, and face wash so I decided to share that with them. The scrub and wash are tried and true recipes, but the lotion is brand new and I'm still working out the kinks. I asked them all to give feedback so I can improve the recipe (I'm not entirely happy with it yet).

Once I got all my packaging elements, the fun started in putting together a really nice present. Here's what it looked like:

In the package was:
Orange Almond Hand Scrub, along with a bamboo scoop
Lavender Tea Tree Face Wash
Lavender Body Lotion
A rundown on the products and how to use them

For good measure, I wanted to add some holiday bark since chocolate can also help the skin look radiant!

I discovered that Paper Source has excellent packaging items for us crafters! I got those neat red boxes, awesome stickers/tags, and a ton of other items to help all my holiday packaging look great.

Another homemade item I have been working on for over 2 months was vanilla! I gifted that to my baker friends!

Already thinking about homemade holiday gifts for 2014! Maybe some shampoo and conditioner? Mittens? Ornaments? Can't wait to do some plotting!

Holiday Bark

I have a secret: I never heard of bark until a month ago when a co-worker brought some into work. I was a bit grossed out by it, but then I did some research and thought it would've been a good dessert to make for the holidays. I liked it so much, I ended up making more and including it in some presents!

I used Ina Garten's recipe since it had the best reviews and like she did, I tracked down good quality chocolate and used that. Well worth the money - seriously. It'll be a gourmet dessert and present.

I suppose you don't need to call this holiday bark, but I did since it was for the holiday. Ina calls it French Chocolate Bark. That sounds so snooty to me - ha!

The great thing about this dessert is that you can add whatever you want to it. I made two chocolate types - white chocolate and milk/dark chocolate - and then did three toppings variations. All were SO yummy.

To my white chocolate variation, I added pistachios and cherries (like those biscotti's I made). You could add candy canes and make it totally festive!

To my milk/dark chocolate variations, I added apricots, golden raisins, pepitas, cashews, and cranberries and then I did a s'more variation with marshmallows and teddy grahams.

All so so good! And very easy! Here's the recipe!

Cookies for Christmas: Italian Rainbow Cookies

Move over Venieros, my homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies would win any throw down against you!  OK, I'll admit, they don't look exactly right. The cake parts came out too thick and I have to write myself a note to bake it in 9x11 pans, not brownie pans (consider this the note to self). But despite the width of the cookies, these were so so good. It's hard to eat just five. Ha! Not kidding.

These cookies require some patience since they are a nearly 3 day process. But seriously, so worth it. And honestly, during the holiday, it's refreshing to not spend hours in the kitchen slaving over a cookie. This one you can start on a Friday night and have it done on Sunday, with some work to be done Saturday for like 20 minutes.

Typically the colors are green, red, and yellow but to remain festive, I left the yellow out.

As predicted, these were a hit. I hope you take the time out to make them and enjoy them!

Here's the recipe.

Some tips:
*I added 1/2 tsp almond extract to up the almond flavor
*I used all raspberry jam, but next time may do half and half
*When melting the chocolate, add 1 tsp unsalted butter + 1 tbsp of heavy cream to prevent the chocolate from breaking while setting

Cookies for Christmas: Pfeffernüsse

This is my third year making Pfeffernüsse - it's become my Christmas tradition. And I just found out these are my father's favorite cookie so I'm happy I'm making them for someone who likes them just as much as I do! They are so delicious and get more so as the days pass!

A lot of recipes call for shortening, but I hate using that so I've opted to use this recipe, which is tried and true three times over. Also, some family friends are German and have approved these cookies - so I think I'm doing good by Germans and non-Germans!

These have such a taste of Christmas, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Here's the recipe!

Cookies for Christmas: Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti

Who doesn't love a biscotti with some coffee or tea? I certainly do!

I found this recipe from Tyler Florence that was quick and quite easy. His recipe calls only for pistachios, but I wanted to add some cranberries to it for more of a Christmas color - - and of course flavor. I followed the recipe exactly and added 3/4 cup of cranberries (though I could've added more).

These came out delicious. I stored them in double zip lock bags and served them for Christmas (2 days after I baked them). I enjoyed another one on New Years Day and it was still delicious so these will definitely keep if stored air-tight.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!