Christmas recipes for presents - Going beyond the cookie plate

Christmas quality recipes for gifts typically fall into 2 categories – cookies or candy. A few new Christmas recipes for giving could be just what the elves ordered. A single day of work is all you may need to get a gift for everybody on your list.

Gift hot cocoa remade for Christmas gifts

It is very easy to remix a “classic” Christmas recipe that is also pretty easy to put together. If you have 1 cup cocoa powder, 1 ½ cups powdered sugar and 5 cups powdered milk, you can make an amazing hot cocoa mix. All you need to do is crush 20 peppermint candies and mix it all together. You can also replace the peppermint candies with a package of cherry Kool-Aid for cherry hot cocoa, or 1 cup instant coffee granules for a mocha mix. On the instructions, you should tell the person you're giving it to, to mix 3 tablespoons with hot water or milk.

This Christmas you can make homemade soda for a gift

Homemade soda is one more holiday recipe that is great as a gift. You can either carbonate it "naturally" or "artificially". Do you have a keg system? Then you'll be better off with an artificially carbonated drink. It can be hard to get the same results each and every time, although it can be done safely, with naturally carbonated sodas as yeast is used. You are able to find 20-ounce or 2 liter plastic soda bottles with lids which is where you will start. You will have to sanitize them. When you're at it, sanitize a funnel and a five gallon bucket. Combine 1 gallon hot water with 2 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons soda extract or flavoring extract (available at most grocery stores). If you are artificially carbonating, pour the mixture into your keg system and carbonate away. Some of you will be naturally carbonating which demands adding ¼ teaspoon champagne yeast. Pour the mixture into the bottles and let sit for three days at room temperature until ready. O! nce bottled, label and refrigerate, and you’ve got a cheap, flavorful, and fun Christmas gift to give away.

Give the gift of flavored vinegars for Christmas

If you’ve a salad fiend on your holiday list, a flavored vinegar can give an additional kick to their dressings, and it is easy to make. Stuff any sterilized jar about 1/3 full of bruised herbs, then fill with boiling vinegar. Seal and let steep in the fridge for two weeks, and it is ready to be gifted.