Last Minute--Gifts From the Kitchen

It wouldn't be December without me doing a quick recap of some of my favorite goodies to "gift" for the holidays. 

There are lots of delicious goodies out there, but not all of them are suitable for "gifting".  You need to have something that's not too gooey or sticky, is easily packaged, and has a decent "shelf-life" without refrigeration or specialty care.  The items I'm linking to below fit all of these criteria, with the added benefit of being quick and easy (my middle name in the kitchen) to make and take. 



First up are these cute jar mixes.  These are easy to make, easy to take, and easy to dress up with a little Christmas fabric or even wrapping paper, and ribbon.  You can give these individually, or add them to a cute gift basket of kitchen-y items, from dishtowels to gadgets.   



Next up on my list are one of my favorites--coconut macaroons. These are easy to make, smell divine both raw and while baking, and fit that "gift-y" criteria of being easy to package and to keep.  You can leave these plain, or dress them up by adding mini-chocolate chips, or dunk them in what I call "dipping chocolate" and rolling in holiday sprinkles. 

A quintessential goodie for Christmas is luscious, creamy fudge, and this microwave version is super easy to make. The main ingredient is this one is semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you could make variations by changing the flavor of chips--try milk chocolate, white chocolate, or even peanut butter chips for a variety of tastes. 

And last but certainly not least in this installment of gifts from the kitchen, is my absolute very favorite fudge--made in the microwave, it's less creamy, with a firmer, slightly grainy texture that reminds me of the old-fashioned stove-top cooked fudge of my childhood.  You know the kind--sometimes it seemed like it was never going to set up.  As a matter of fact, I remember my sister getting tired of stirring and pouring some into a buttered pan, and I remember my mom and I finally scraping it back into the pot and cooking it a little more when it never got beyond the "chocolate soup" stage.  This one is fairly fool-proof, I think, at least I've never had it not set up for me!

What goodies are you making and taking this holiday season? 

This post is linked to:

Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family
Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Until next time, good cooking, good eating--and good gifting!

Gifts From the Kitchen--Microwave Fudge, Part 2

Yesterday I shared a recipe for easy microwave fudge; dark and rich, it's made from easily available items that most of us stock in our holiday pantry.

Today's recipe is just as quick and easy, made from even more basic and readily available ingredients, but it's a whole different taste and texture--more like the old fashioned cooked sugar fudge of my childhood--and has to be my absolute favorite holiday indulgence.


Ingredients:

• 1 box confectioners sugar (approximately 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 c milk
• 1/2 c (1 stick) butter

Put everything in a microwave safe bowl. Don't stir or mix or do anything to it. (Hint: you might want to sift the powdered sugar, just to get the lumps out and make it easier to mix)

Microwave for two minutes, then get it out and start stirring. You'll think it isn't going to work, but just keep stirring. At one point, everything was blended except for a few stubborn lumps of sugar, so I stuck it back in for another minute, then stirred again. A lot. At this point you can add nuts if you'd like. I decided to leave this batch plain.

Pour into a prepared (greased) pan--or better yet, line with foil and spray with cooking spray. Let cool--I stuck mine in the fridge and just left it for a couple of hours.



Turn out onto a cutting board, peel back the foil, and cut.

This is the best fudge I've made I've ever made. It's not smooth and creamy, it's firmer, sort of dry-ish and crumbly, just like the old fashioned sugar fudge of my cravings.

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Gifts From the Kitchen--Easy Microwave Fudge, Part 1

Number three in my installment of gifts from the kitchen is a variation of an old stand-by--rich chocolate-y fudge.

This particular recipe is by far one of the easiest recipes for quick fudge that I've ever run across. The basic fudge has only three ingredients, but it lends itself to any number of variations.




Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz pkg chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened , condensed milk
• 1 t vanilla

Grease a 9 x 9 pan--I lined my with foil and sprayed with cooking spray--you could probably use parchment paper, as well.

Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave 2-3 minutes, stirring after every minute, or until chocolate is melted and the milk is incorporated (this picture is after 1 minute) I stirred again at 2 minutes and cooked it an additional 30 seconds just for good measure. Add vanilla and stir well. At this point, I decided on an add-in and stirred in about 1/3 cup of chopped pecans. (Next time I'd probably go with 1/2 cup).

Pour into your prepared pan and chill for about two hours.

Turn out onto a cutting board, peel back the foil if you used it, and it's ready to cut.

This made a thin, dark, rich tasting fudge. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I think it would be good with milk-chocolate chips, as well as peanut butter or butterscotch flavored chips as well--which has me thinking about a layered version--peanut butter and chocolate or any number of other combinations.



I packed some of it in this cute little mini-lunch box tin that I bought in the seasonal decorations at Dollar Tree.

Besides the ease of this recipe, I liked the fact that the ingredients are items you can keep on hand for anytime, not just during the holidays. Chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk may not be something you keep on hand in a really basic pantry, but I think most of us have them on hand or readily available, at least.

Why not stock up while they're on sale everywhere and surprise your family with this luscious bite of rich chocolate later in the winter, when they aren't expecting it? Maybe you can make your own goodies for Valentine's Day, too, instead of buying "store-bought" candy.

Tomorrow I'll have another easy microwave fudge, but one that makes one that's totally different in taste and texture.

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

This post is linked to:

Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff

Gifts From the Kitchen--Microwave Fudge, Part 2

Earlier today I shared a recipe for easy microwave fudge; dark and rich, it's made from easily available items that most of us stock in our holiday pantry. This recipe is just as quick and easy, made from even more readily available ingredients, but it's a whole different taste and texture--more like the old fashioned cooked sugar fudge of my childhood--and has to be my absolute favorite holiday indulgence.


Ingredients:

• 1 box confectioners sugar (approximately 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 c milk
• 1/2 c (1 stick) butter

Put everything in a microwave safe bowl. Don't stir or mix or do anything to it.

Microwave for two minutes, then get it out and start stirring. You'll think it isn't going to work, but just keep stirring. At one point, everything was blended except for a few stubborn lumps of sugar, so I stuck it back in for another minute, then stirred again. A lot. At this point you can add nuts if you'd like. I decided to leave this batch plain.

Pour into a prepared (greased) pan--or better yet, line with foil and spray with cooking spray. Let cool--I stuck mine in the fridge and just left it for a couple of hours.



Turn out onto a cutting board, peel back the foil, and cut.

This is the best fudge I've made I've ever made. It's not smooth and creamy, it's firmer, sort of dry-ish and crumbly, just like the old fashioned sugar fudge of my cravings.

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

Food Friday at MomTrends

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Gifts From the Kitchen--Easy Microwave Fudge, Part One

Number three in my installment of gifts from the kitchen is a variation of an old stand-by--rich chocolate-y fudge.

This particular recipe is by far one of the easiest recipes for quick fudge that I've ever run across. The basic fudge has only three ingredients, but it lends itself to any number of variations.


Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz pkg chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened , condensed milk
• 1 t vanilla

Grease a 9 x 9 pan--I lined my with foil and sprayed with cooking spray--you could probably use parchment paper, as well.

Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave 2-3 minutes, stirring after every minute, or until chocolate is melted and the milk is incorporated (this picture is after 1 minute) I stirred again at 2 minutes and cooked it an additional 30 seconds just for good measure. Add vanilla and stir well. At this point, I decided on an add-in and stirred in about 1/3 cup of chopped pecans. (Next time I'd probably go with 1/2 cup).

Pour into your prepared pan and chill for about two hours.

Turn out onto a cutting board, peel back the foil if you used it, and it's ready to cut.
This made a thin, dark, rich tasting fudge. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I think it would be good with milk-chocolate chips, and probably the peanut butter or butterscotch flavored chips as well. I think it would also lend itself to doing a layered fudge with two different flavors of chips.

I packed some of it in this cute little mini-lunch box tin that I bought in the seasonal decorations at Dollar Tree.
Besides the ease of this recipe, I liked the fact that the ingredients are items you can keep on hand for anytime, not just during the holidays. Chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk may not be something you keep on hand in a really basic pantry, but I think most of us have them on hand or readily available, at least.
Why not stock up while they're on sale everywhere and surprise your family with this luscious bite of rich chocolate later in the winter, when they aren't expecting it? Maybe you can make your own goodies for Valentine's Day, too, instead of buying "store-bought" candy.
Tomorrow I'll have another easy microwave fudge, but one that makes one that's totally different in taste and texture.
Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Gifts From the Kitchen--Microwave Fudge, Part Deaux

Earlier this week I shared a recipe for easy microwave fudge that turned out dark and rich and pretty good, but it wasn't the real old-fashioned fudge taste I've been craving. I'm not even talking about the lighter, creamier marshmallow fluff fudge that a lot of folks make--those are all good, but I've been wanting some good old fashioned cooked sugar fudge--the kind you make from basic kitchen ingredients, not these "new fangled" so-called fudges made with manufactured chocolate chips and marshmallows(!) I finally found a recipe I thought might be it, but it called for quite a bit of cooking in a heavy saucepan, and I wasn't sure the furnished pots here in our apartment would quite cut it, so I was waiting until I go home at the end of the week to my own kitchen to try to recreate the taste I was searching for.

Then I stumbled on this recipe, and I vaguely remembered making something similar when I first got a microwave 25 years ago. Yep, 25 years and counting, and believe it or not it still works. I've been wanting smaller, sleeker version for years, but the cheapskate in me won't get rid of perfectly good appliance. It's quit working three times, and every time my husband has been able to fix it. Sigh. But I digress...

This recipe is simple, easy, and uses common ingredients found in almost any pantry.


Ingredients:

• 1 box confectioners sugar (approximately 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 c milk
• 1/2 c (1 stick) butter

Put everything in a microwave safe bowl. Don't stir or mix or do anything to it.

Microwave for two minutes, then get it out and start stirring. You'll think it isn't going to work, but just keep stirring. At one point, everything was blended except for a few stubborn lumps of sugar, so I stuck it back in for another minute, then stirred again. A lot. At this point you can add nuts if you'd like. I decided to leave this batch plain.

Pour into a prepared (greased) pan--or better yet, line with foil and spray with cooking spray. Let cool--I stuck mine in the fridge and just left it for a couple of hours.



Turn out onto a cutting board, peel back the foil, and cut.

This is the best fudge I've made so far this year. It's wonderful. It's not smooth and creamy, it's firmer, sort of dry-ish and crumbly. It tastes like old fashioned sugar fudge.

I can't wait to do it again.

No pretty packaging for this, I packed it up in ziplock bowls to take back to Louisiana with us!

Tomorrow is a travel day, and I'll be settling in at home and getting ready for the week to come, but come back next week for more last goodies from the kitchen.

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Gifts From the Kitchen--Easy Microwave Fudge

Number three in my installment of gifts from the kitchen is a variation of an old stand-by--rich chocolate-y fudge.

This particular recipe is by far one of the easiest recipes for quick fudge that I've ever run across.

The basic fudge has only three ingredients, but it lends itself to any number of variations.


Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz pkg chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened , condensed milk
• 1 t vanilla

Grease a 9 x 9 pan--I lined my with foil and sprayed with cooking spray--you could probably use parchment paper, as well.

Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave 2-3 minutes, stirring after every minute, or until chocolate is melted and the milk is incorporated (this picture is after 1 minute) I stirred again at 2 minutes and cooked it an additional 30 seconds just for good measure. Add vanilla and stir well. At this point, I decided on an add-in and stirred in about 1/3 cup of chopped pecans. (Next time I'd probably go with 1/2 cup).

Pour into your prepared pan and chill for about two hours.

Turn out onto a cutting board, peel back the foil if you used it, and it's ready to cut.
This made a thin, dark, rich tasting fudge. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I think it would be good with milk-chocolate chips, and probably the peanut butter or butterscotch flavored chips as well. I'd love to a layered fudge with this, and may try that later in the week.



I packed some of it in this cute little mini-lunch box tin that I bought in the seasonal decorations at Dollar Tree.

Besides the ease of this recipe, I liked the fact that the ingredients are items you can keep on hand for anytime, not just during the holidays. Chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk may not be something you keep on hand in a really basic pantry, but I think most of us have them on hand or readily available during the holidays, at least.

Why not stock up while they're on sale everywhere and surprise your family with this luscious bite of rich chocolate later in the winter, when they aren't expecting it? Maybe you can make your own goodies for Valentine's Day, too, instead of buying "store-bought" candy.

Don't forget to come back every day this week for more quick and easy recipes that can be used for your family or for gifts, along with ideas for packaging your goodies for giving.

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!