Once again I’m thinking about Christmas gift baskets and looking for some new ideas. I’m thinking lemon honey, a chutney/relish or two, maybe a couple of different biscuits......... what are others making? Janet

Mine tend to be very predicable and contain homemade muesli, shortbread, roasted mixed nuts, maybe bliss balls, homemade tomato sauce, chocolate bark and thats pretty much it.
I would be open to some new suggestions as well.

I make Helen's Panforte recipe and it's the best! I think it would make a wonderful make ahead Christmas gift as it keeps so well and is very delicious. It goes a long way because it is served in thin wedges (dusted with icing sugar). You could probably split the recipe into smaller sizes but I don't know how much it would change the cooking time as I haven't done this.
[www.foodlovers.co.nz]
Regards,
Dawn.

Homemade crackers are good. They're easy, flavourful, and really popular.

If anyone has a good Bark recipe, I would be keen to give that a try this year.

Other things I've tried in the past are Oat biscuits and a slab of nice cheese, Flavoured salts & herb rubs, marshmallows and crostoli (recipe below)

My Dad's Crostoli recipe
What you need
50 grams butter
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons milk
2 cups flour
1 egg
1 egg yolk extra
2 tablespoons rum or grappa
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Icing sugar
Oil for frying

How to make
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the sugar, salt and milk and stir to combine.
Place the flour in a pile on a clean work bench. Make a well in the centre and break in the egg, extra egg yolk, the rum and lemon rind.
With clean fingers carefully roll the flour towards the centre to mix the egg. It should start to look like rough breadcrumbs. Gradually pour over the melted butter mixture and start kneading to form a dough. If the dough is too dry, add some more milk. Too wet, add a little more flour. Knead until the dough comes together to form a smooth ball.
Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a knife (1.5mm thick). Slice into strips about 3cm to 9cm.
Make a vertical incision down the middle of the strips. Take one end of the strip, place it inside the vertical cut, carefully pulling it through to form a kind of bow. To get the angel wing look, press out the pastry ends to accentuate the bow. Repeat for all strips.
In a large pot, heat enough oil for deep frying on a high heat. Fry in batches until the pastry bows turn golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on kitchen towel.
Pile high on a serving dish and dust liberally with icing sugar.

The Christmas gift should reflect the image of an individual's personality and relationship.The custom academic reviews will provide all the required information regarding the procedure and the project over view.

I had t though to tomato sauce, Helen. That’s a goodie. I’m currently experimenting with oat biscuits as I make cheese, Ingrid. Like the idea of crostini for some5ing really different too. I never find crackers that easy, DK. Do you have recipes/suggestions? I’m particularly keen to find some easy and nice recipes for crackers, as I’m sick of the packaging. We have crackers with some sort of topping every morning with our cuppa. Keep the ideas coming. Sometimes it’s a case of “why didn’t I think of that?” Janet

My ideal Xmas hamper

Fudge is always a treat especially if made well.
Biscotti - orange and almond flavour
Dutch cinnamon biscuits
A bottle of wine or olive oil - actually both!
Cheeses and crackers
A chilli chutney
Maple suryp
Coconut Rough
Homemade Melting moments
Coffee

Vanessa

Ingrid - I cant get into the oat biscuits with cheese

For what it's worth, Consumer NZ have just checked out Christmas hampers for value for money, and asked their testing panel which items they'd most like to receive in a Christmas hamper. Here they are, in order of popularity:


Chocolate (76%)
Crackers and wafers (74%)
Nuts (69%)
Cheese (65%)
Jams and relishes (61%)
Dips, pesto and pate (57%)
Fudge (54%)
Biscuits and biscotti (53%)
Olive oil (47%)
Coffee (46%)

Karena, I thought it was interesting about the cost of ingredients in the different baskets too. No wonder commercial ones are so disappointing. Although having said that, it’s not cheap to do a nice one. Lots of fun though.

Thanks a lot for the great ideas! That's what I was looking for. This year I'm going to organize one awesome Christmas party here https://www.alexandrapark.co.nz/venue-hire/ near Auckland. NZ. All my friends and relatives will be there so I hope I'll impress them with delicious food and beautiful Christmas decorations.

This is a late one but a few days ago I made a huge batch of dukkah with roasted almonds, coriander seeds, ground cumin, caraway seeds and sesame seeds and salt. I toasted the spices and sesame seeds first. Gave bags of it as presents with a bottle of lemon-infused olive oil. I also included a list of suggestions for using it such as mixing it through dips and hummus or sprinkling on top of eggs.

Making a Christmas hamper with some goodies is the best idea so that you can gift it your loved ones. I am thinking of filling it with ginger bread cookies,home made chocolates,plum cakes,yule logs,cookies and also a bottle of grape wine.These items can be wrapped as a hamper in a basket and tied with a red ribbon.You can also put some small Christmas items such as balls and jingle bells so that it looks more attractive.You can used this idea for the next Christmas in 2018.

Thank you for sharing!

Holly_D Wrote:
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> Thank you for sharing!

You are obviously off to an early start.

Would be nice if Holly shared some of her own thoughts and ideas rather than digging up old posts just to say thank you for sharing!

Lorna Wrote:
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> Would be nice if Holly shared some of her own
> thoughts and ideas rather than digging up old
> posts just to say thank you for sharing!

My thoughts exactly.

This revival of an old post made me smile. I've spent lockdown making all things feijoa - some in pretty jars ready for the Christmas gift baskets. It's a nice feeling to think I'm already getting organised! Janet

I know it’s an old thread, but I still want to put in my two cents here. I really like food gift baskets, and I think it’s one of the best gifts for Christmas one can get, especially if it includes something handmade.
My favorite things to include in a gift basket are:
- Some chocolates (preferably dark)
- Homemade crackers and some chips
- Muffins
- Maybe some croissants
- Alcohol (optional)
Sometimes, when I don’t have that much time to make the baskets myself, I just order them from jetgiftbaskets.com. They always make lovely presents.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2022 05:04PM by joynihao.