Hello! It's officially less than a week to Christmas now, yay!! I'm heading up to my parents house this afternoon for the week, i'm so excited, it's the first time in about 5 years that I will be able to spend so much time at home over Christmas, yay! Hubby will be joining me later on in the week as he still has work (booo!), so I have a few days of girly fun with my sisters! Coffee will be drank, cake will be eaten, Christmas movies will be watched and I will have many cuddles with the cute pups. This is also why I will not be posting a meal plan this week. In light of it being so close to Christmas and you probably have all your Christmas shopping done (right?!) I have brought you a post today of my favourite easy and quick home-made gift ideas. These have all been featured on the blog throughout the years and are all perfect for gift giving. So let's get on with the show...
CHILLI JAM
I love chilli jam it is such a great gift to give especially around Christmas time. It goes perfectly with leftover cold meats and cheeses, so it will definitely get used in all those cheeseboards. It's also great to use as a marinade for cooking meats or in stir-frys. You can find my favourite recipe here. Nigella also has a really good recipe in her Nigella Christmas Recipe book. Without fail, I make this jam every Christmas, I even made it for wedding favours at my wedding. It's a great one to start now as it can keep for a good month, meaning you can focus on more important things like cooking that turkey.
CANDYCANE CHOCOLATE BARK
Chocolate bark is probably the easiest thing in the world to make and looks fantastic. This one is particularly easy, this is a great gift to give kids or to get them to help make to keep them occupied over the holidays. You can find my recipe here. The bark looks great bashed up into a random shapes and popped in little sweetie bags tied up with ribbon. This is also a good one to make now as it can keep pretty well.
PEANUT BUTTER DOUBLE CHOCOLATE GRANOLA
A slightly more practical option, this would be great to make if you were going to stay with someone over the holidays. On Christmas morning you could produce a big batch of this to feed everyone, yum yum! It tastes delicious and looks pretty good, to make it even more festive you could add in some festive sprinkles. How cute would that look? This would also be a good recipe to make for hampers. You can find my recipe here.
CHRISTMAS PUDDING OREO TRUFFLES
These truffles always go down a treat! You try and have one but you just can't stop! They look so cute and are so tasty, they are perfect with a wee cup of coffee in the afternoon or after dinner. They are so easy to make and keep for about a week in the fridge so they could also be rustled up now and would be ready to gift at Christmas. These would also be great as festive party favours. I love making these as they look much more impressive than they actually are to make. Here's how I make them. Go on give'em a go and your family and friends will be well impressed.
TEALIGHT CANDLE HOLDER
Not an edible gift but a cute one none the less. These tea light holders are so easy to make and are very versatile, they can be changed up for every season or person. For Christmas gifts, you could put stars, antlers, snowmen or anything festive really. You could even spell out merry Christmas for a mantle piece or table display. The light they give of is so subtle, and is perfect for hygge-ish winter evenings. Your friends and family will be really impressed that you made something so cute out of recycled materials. Find out how I made them here. Crafted presents are great to receive as you know the person has put so much time, effort and thought into making them for you!
Well, there you have it, five great home-made gifts that are both easy, inexpensive and tasty/cute that your family and friends will love this Christmas. Do let me know if you give any of these a try this holiday season. Also, I would really love to know what you are making as gifts this year, I'm always looking for new ideas :). I've already made a HUGE batch of the chilli jam but I think I will also be making a big batch of the truffles this week and maybe some chocolate bark. You really can't go wrong with lots of chocolate at Christmas :). I will be back soon with another what I eat in a day post which will probably feature a lot of yummy festive grub.Thank you so much for reading and I hope you are having a wonderful festive season thus far!
Rachael xx.
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