NO-COOK HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA: SWEET

As promised here is the much anticipated follow up to our previous "savory" post!  As we said last week you can give homemade culinary gifts to your friends, loved ones, or even that office secret Santa that require little to no effort to assemble.  In today's post we will feature several no-cook savory ideas for those on your gift giving list!

Peppermint Bark (Not really "No Cook" but damn easy)

2 -12 oz. bags of of white chocolate chips
1 cup peppermint candies or candy canes

Line a small baking pan with foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray.  Next, place chips in a large glass bowl and microwave at 60% power for 1 minute, stir.  Repeat, stirring until smooth.  Place candies in a large releasable bag and crush with a meat mallet or heavy sauce pan.  Fold half the crushed candy into the melted chocolate.  Pour onto prepared pan spreading to approximately 1/4 inch thickness.  Sprinkle the remaining candy on top and refrigerate until firm (about 1 hour).  Break into pieces.

Flavored Butters

Honey Butter

1/4 cup honey
1 cup butter
1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Blend together and package in an airtight container or canning jar. Refrigerate.

Maple Butter

1 cup butter
1/2 cup REAL maple syrup

Blend together and package in an airtight container or canning jar. Refrigerate.

Orange Butter

1/2 cup of soft butter
1 1/2 sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed.

Cream butter and sugar together.  Slowly add concentrate.  Package in an airtight container or canning jar. Refrigerate.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur

4 cups of fine sugar
2 cups of boiling water
1 cup good instant coffee
1 bottle (750ml) vodka
3 Tbs vanilla extract

Mix sugar and coffee together and then stir in 2 cups of boiling water. Stir until it all dissolves and then let cool.  Pour through cheese cloth into a large pitcher and add 750 ml of vodka (about 3 cups) and 3 tbs good vanilla.  Stir and then pour through cheesecloth again into bottles. (An extra bottle is needed as the resulting drink is more than enough for the vodka bottle).

Hot Buttered Drink Mix

2 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup unsalted, softened butter
3 tbsp REAL maple syrup
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg


In a medium bowl combine all ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended. Package in an airtight container or canning jar. Refrigerate. Give with following serving instructions.

"Stir 1 1/2 tsp drink mix into 6 oz. of hot cider or juice.   For hot buttered rum, add 1 oz rum to cider mixture."

Mocha Sugar

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1-2 packet(s) of instant hot cocoa mix, to your taste
3 tbsp coffee-flavored liqueur such as Kahlua
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

In a small bowl stir all ingredients together until well blended.  Package in an airtight container or canning jar. Give with following serving instructions.

"Stir desired amount of sugar into coffee"

::PLUCKED FROM PINTEREST::

This week the team at CELEBRATE did some overtime cruising one of our favorite websites, Pinterest!  Here is the cream of the crop:

1.) Find a dark colored t-shirt and a cool icon (for example, the solid silhouette of a moose).  Affix a cut-out of the icon onto the shirt and mist/spray with bleach.  This will create a fabulous negative space print of the cut-out!  FYI, black shirts bleach orange so choose your color wisely.

2.) Put marshmallows in your brown sugar to keep it soft!

3.)  Don't throw away the plastic sprinkle top to the Parmesan cheese or the round cardboard top to a box of salt!  Both fit perfectly on mason jars!  The possibilities are endless!  We like using them for powdered sugar, glitter, or even rock salt!

4.)  Use your waffle iron for cooking more than just waffles!  You can make wonderful, crispy hash browns, small cookies, or even cinnamon buns!  

5.)  Use a glue tip/cap on a acrylic, craft,  paint bottle to make painting lines a breeze!

6.) Maximize your closet space (and give yourself an excuse to go shopping) by using soda tabs to double hang items.  Slip the first hole of the table over the wire neck of the first hanger and than you can hang a second hanger from the second hole.

6.)  Instead of dribbling your apples with lemon juice to prevent browning, try spraying them with orange juice in a spray bottle!  This will prevent the browning and have a less harsh bite than the lemon juice!

7.) Use chalk to pre-treat oil stains on clothing before washing.   The chalk helps to dry the oil.

Pinterest Plucks

Here is another wildly successful idea we found on Pinterest!

Make any food stored in a plastic bag (IE chocolate chips, jelly beans, brown sugar) with great idea. All you need is the top section of a soda or sports drink bottle.  In this case, the picture really is worth 1000 words!