a DIY Christmas

Homemade gifts are my favorite kind. I love giving them and I love receiving them. I've been making gifts to give to friends and family almost every year since high school when I used to bake my mom's sugar cookies for my girlfriends who looked forward to them every year. There were some cute button boxes that I gave to all my female relatives one year. And the batik teddy bears that I made another year. And of course many people have received my baked goods over the years. A couple of years ago we collected the walnuts that had fallen all over our neighborhood and made walnut liqueur which I poured into pretty glass bottles and gave to friends and family.

It seems things have been tight financially for as long as I can remember, which is always a good reason not to go crazy with the Christmas consumerism. But financial woes notwithstanding, I still think I would give homemade gifts even if money were not an issue for me. I just enjoy the process of making things and the feeling of giving something that was made with love.

I had fantasies of making artisan chocolates this year. D's mom gave me a silicone chocolate mold for Christmas last year and I have been dying to use it. But tempering chocolate so that it reaches just the right temperature to harden after melting can be tricky and I just didn't have the time this year to experiment.

So I settled on making jams. All you need is some fruit, some sugar and a little bit of time. I made about 14 jars to give away of three different kinds: grapefruit marmelade (from a recipe by Nigella Lawson, it's made with brown sugar and molasses); cranberry-blackberry which is sweet and tart; and pear jam with just the right amount of vanilla bean to give it some depth of flavor.



I had fun deciding what to make and cooking and jarring the jams, but what I really enjoy is decorating the jars with cute labels, festive ribbons and unique tags. I downloaded the labels for free from 100layercake, a cool DIY wedding blog and then printed them on avery labels. Get them here.



I set up a craft table in my dining room and stocked it with all the wrapping paper scraps, recycled ribbon, scissors, glue, gift tags and inspiring magazines I could find. I spent very little money, had tons of fun and now have all my Christmas gifts done. It sure beats going to the mall!

Oh- and today was baking day. I made several dozen cookies with my friend Rachel to give away and take home to my family next week. We made gingerbread boys, linzer cookies and pizzelles... but that's another post. Happy Holidays!

sweet potatoes + pie = rainy day fun

We woke up to a very dark, rainy day today with the temperature dropping into the 40s as the day goes on. I love the winter because it makes me feel like staying home and nesting, decorating the tree like I did yesterday, or cooking a few things that can be frozen for later --to give as gifts or serve up for an easy weeknight dinner.

root veggie dauphinois

I have a lot of root veggies in my pantry right now, all beauties from our CSA: potatoes, sweet potatoes, gigantic pink turnips, parsnips and radishes. I love root veggies because they seem so daunting and a lot of recipes for them are really boring and uninspired. So they present a challenge which inspires me to make something great out of them.

My friend Ellen posted this wonderful recipe on her blog, which she found on design sponge last week. It's for a gratin daupihois (just a cheesy, creamy potato dish) made with turnips and sweet potatoes as well as regular potatoes. The recipe actually comes from the beautiful blog la tartine gourmande.



I loved the photos of those beautiful pink turnips next to the orange sweet potatoes, all of it enveloped in the cheesy, golden brown crust that is the marking of a great gratin. I happened to have everything I needed in the house and more. I actually made two of them, one to eat tonight and one to freeze and give to my friend who will have a baby soon.



coconut-sweet potato pie with spiced crust


I still had sweet potatoes staring at me from the counter. Then, I remembered I had seen this beauty on the nytimes last week as an alternative to the traditional thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Oh, don't make me make this, I said. And with the delicious sweet potatoes from the farmer! I didn't actually make the spiced crust (which sounded amazing) because I had a purchased (!) graham cracker crust in the fridge and wanted to save time.

I should serve this tonight for dessert but I don't think I'm going to make it that far. It is sitting on the counter now, filling my kitchen with the most fragrant sweet potato, spices and coconut smell. How can I resist having a warm slice with my coffee this afternoon?

Who said rainy days had to be boring?