Tag: christmas cookies

Homemade Gifts for the Holidays

~ Crystal Sands ~ 4 Comments

Every year during the holiday season, I see the memes on social media that focus on normalizing homemade gifts, and they make me hopeful. Truly, there is nothing better than a homemade gift, one that is made with love but is also useful in some way. I guess that’s a caveat I have about homemade for the holidays–usefulness goes a long way in my book. Of course, some things are just special even if they aren’t super useful, but if I can manage to make a special gift that is also useful in some way, I am most pleased.

With that in mind, I wanted to do a round-up of homemade gift ideas and instructions from the journal over the years. Whether you can eat it, wear it, or light a room with it, we have some great homemade gift ideas for this holiday season. I hope this list inspires you in some way to give a lovely, useful, homemade gift this year.

Just click on the blue title to be taken to the directions.

Easy Cranberry Bread

I have given this as a gift to rave reviews. It pairs perfectly with good salted butter, so I will buy some of the really good butter and put that with the bread in a cute little bag. It’s so good and such a treat warmed on a cold winter’s day.

The Best Homemade Cookie Box

You can substitute any cookies you like, but a box of well-made cookies with enough to share with others is such a special treat. I highly recommend those Starry Night cookies!

Beeswax Candles in Up-cycled Jars

What is better than the gift of light? These beeswax candles are easy to make and are so simple and good. They last for close to 40 hours, are unscented, and the beeswax is actually a bit of an air cleanser. You can add scent by adding some essential oil, but this recipe, as-is, uses some organic coconut oil, which gives the candles this very slight sweet smell.

Box of Fat Archie Cookies

This recipe is the most popular on the site, especially during this time of year. It gets thousands of hits, probably because these cookies are so comforting and cozy.

Old Maine Flag Quilt

This quilt is relatively simple to make and can be made in about a week with even a busy schedule. It’s a great idea for anyone in your life who loves Maine or that old Maine flag.

A Jar of Jam

Even if you don’t have fresh berries right now, you can use frozen, and jam on toast or fresh bread is such a special treat in the long winter–kind of this sweet reminder of the summer. You can also make Christmas jam, which I have not done yet but am about to try today.

A Sheet Music or Story Ornament

This one is one that is just sweet and meaningful. If you have special ornaments that have stayed with you throughout your life then you know how meaningful something like this can be. Whether you are using music your child wrote or a poem or story they wrote to make an ornament for grandparents, this is wonderful homemade gift to consider.

Homemade Vanilla in a Beautiful Bottle

You will have to plan ahead for this one, but if you make it now, the vanilla will be perfect for next year’s holiday season. Homemade vanilla is delicious and saves a lot of money. In a beautiful gift bottle, a bottle of homemade vanilla is the perfect gift for the baker in your life.

Other Ideas

This year, I am giving the gift of seeds from Ron’s garden and homemade hot chocolate, complete with vintage thrift store mugs and homemade marshmallows. Other ideas include a poem, a letter, a photo book, and if you know how to crochet or knit, well, you have all the power.

I would love to know if any of these ideas speak to you or if you have any homemade ideas you are willing to share with readers. What are you best homemade gift ideas?

photo credit: Sweta Meininger, Unsplash

Starry Night Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

~ Crystal Sands ~ 5 Comments

Day 212 of 365

by Crystal Sands

I have always wanted to love gingerbread cookies during the holidays, but I could never quite get there. The recipes for gingerbread cookies I found always seemed too crunchy, too bland, or too spicy. Then, I found a beautiful recipe called “Soft Glazed Gingerbread Cookies” from the wonderful site The View from Great Island. The author there had adapted this recipe from a different cookbook, and you will find many adaptations of this recipe on the internet. My personal adaptation takes out a bit of the hot and spicy, leaving you with a mildly spicy but sweet cookie that is more palatable for children’s tastebuds—and mine as well. 

Plus, they are so beautiful it’s like making cookie art. I made these for Christmas Eve one morning a few years ago, and my kiddo announced that it was the best Christmas Eve ever. So that’s a pretty good review. look

Ingredients and Materials

cookie sheet
parchment paper
Nordic Ware Starry Night Cookie Stamps (but any snowflake or starry cookie stamp will work)
1 and ¾ cups flour (heaping)
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter (softened)
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 large egg yolk

for glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp butter (melted)
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp warm water

Directions

Before you begin making your cookie dough, place your stamps in the freezer and let them chill while you work on the dough. 

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees
2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and molasses—add the egg yolk at the end. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Sift them together, and then add the mixture gradually to the wet ingredients, running your mixer as you add. 
4. The dough will be stiff and a bit crumbly. It may feel dry, and that’s okay. 
5. Set the dough out on a clean surface and knead it just until it starts to stick together better. The dough should be stiff. If it isn’t, you can chill it in the fridge for a little bit (about half an hour). Then, roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thickness, maybe a little thicker if you like softer cookies, as I do. 
6. Using your cookie stamps, stamp down into the dough firmly. Then, grab a knife and, with the stamp still on the cookie dough, cut out the cookie using the stamp as your guide. 
7. When you lift the stamp, if you have a good impression from the stamp, then you are all set. If you do not, you can try again and just make sure you press harder. Do this until you have used all of your dough. 
8. Place your cookies into the lined cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes. I would start checking at 7 minutes, as you do not want hard cookies. Pull them before they start to change color. Pull them even if they seem a little under done. They will continue to cook a bit after you have pulled them from the oven. 
9. While your cookies bake, make your glaze. You want the glaze to be the consistency of honey. If it’s too thick, add a tiny bit of water. Too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. 
10. When the cookies are still slightly warm, transfer them to a cooling rack and brush them with the glaze. The glaze will dry in about half an hour. You are then ready to enjoy a beautiful and delicious winter holiday treat. 

*This recipe was originally published in the Farmer-ish Print Annual Volume I.