Homemade Xmas presents

[adrenalinejunkie]

This Xmas me and my dh have no money for presents at all , I know it's not all about giving but our families have been so amazing would love to give a little something . I said to my
dh I could make presents he thinks we should not bother at all , icant face arriving empty handed and would love to at least
make bake something nice aibu ? I would really appreciate any ideas you may have I'm at bit of a loss at the minute

I've made cranberry jelly and various chutneys this year and friends/neighbours are getting a little present of both. In the past I've made made presents of simple spiced biscuits in Christmassy shapes (you can get cutters) and dipped them in plain chocolate. Cellophane wrapper with some twinkly ribbon... they went down really well.

When you first sign up with Tesco you get 40 free prints (4x6).

Grandparents, ime, can't get enough photos.

I agree its a bit odd to give photos of your kids to friends like the poster mentioned above.

I make traditional Scottish shortbread,dead easy ,cheap and goes for miles.This is my family recipe,my great grandmother made it this way. In the USA my friends actually fight over this.

1 pound unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup of sugar(about 250g i think)
4 cups plain flour
mix butter and sugar in a bowl,use your hand dont worry bout the mess,the flour will get it off your fingers)
Add the flour 1 cup at a time mixing by hand(the more you work it the "shorter" it gets and by the time all 4 cups are added your hands are almost clean.
Line a baking pan with brown paper,let it stick up a couple of inches over the sides all round the pan
Press your dough into the pan,you dont want it too thin as its not a cookie as such ,dont worry bout it not being even or the finger imprints
bake in a low oven about 270 for about an hour or till golden brown.
when it comes out its very soft,you need to score it into the size you want,prick each section with a fork and sprinkle sugar over the top
Let cool totally tip out pan and break along score lines
stick it on a christmas paper plate cover with festive plastic wrap and sit back an watch people fight over it :o

adrenalinejunkie found a link on the tesco site for you

www.tescorealfood.com/Recipes/White-chocolate-and-cranberry-fudge.html

I can't think of many things I would rather have for Christmas than some homemade shortbread, I love the stuff and proper homemade is sooooo much better than any shop bought stuff.

I'm doing sweets again this year.

I buy boxes/nice bowls etc for about a pound each during the year & make up sweets - about 5 different types inc rocky road, fudge, apricot balls etc. Not many people make homemade stuff these days & they went down really well last year.

Might try some shortbread this year too - never made that before but love love love to eat it!

What i am doing this year is buying mugs and filling them with sweets/chocolates and wrapping in cellophane. everything from the poundshops!

I've just made 12 jars of lemon curd. I am not sure there's room in the fridge for it though.
[may have peaked too soon]

This is the fudge recipe I use. It costs about £1.20 for about a kilo - it's a kilo because I use a brownie tin to set it in as I don't have anything smaller. You really do need to put the work in, don't be tempted to shortcut and I'd suggest wrapping a tea towel around your hand to protect it.

INGREDIENTS

? 700g caster sugar
? 200ml milk
? 200ml cream
? 160g butter
? 2 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Pour the milk into a medium heavy-based saucepan (attach a sugar thermometer), and bring slowly to the boil. Add the sugar and butter.

While stirring continuously, heat slowly until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts. Bring to the boil, cover and boil for 2 minutes.

Uncover and continue to boil steadily, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until the temperature reaches 116 °C.

Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and leave to cool for 5 minutes. (You can try different flavours at this point, although chocolate needs it to be a lot cooler)

Beat the fudge until it just begins to lose its gloss and is thick.

Id would love to receive a homemade cake or cookies, for christmas.

Ive always received gifts, perfume etc, which is always nice, but I really would be thrilled that someone has gone to the effort to make something delicious for us

Fantastic Idea

can someone giove me some definitive storage periods for stuff like shortbread and fudge? Like if I make some fudge now, will it keep in time?

ho wlong will the shortbread last, do you reckon?

Thanks for the recipe Kelly I'm going to try in the next couple of days , I love the idea of making assorted treats then putting them on festive plates . I got four frames for a pound each and they look really
nice my
parents and in laws have been saying for ages they want a nice pic of ds . I'M now really excited about making these things, every year I head to boots for the three for two and everyone ends up with the same showergel/body lotion . THanks for all the recipes and ideas .

my shortbread will last for weeks in a tin(but never has a chance) only reason I know this is cos I forgot about a tin I had put aside and found it in the middle of january,id made it near beginning of December,and it was still really good.

Fudge will last quite well because of the amount of sugar in it, I'd definitely make some now for Christmas.

My recipe gives a crumbly fudge that is incredibly moorish! Last batch I made I had to put 3/4 into a tub and take outside to the work men because I would have sat and ate the lot!

Ooh, I'm loving the shortbread too. I quite often make things for the rellies, but it tends to be crafty - cushion covers, ipod covers etc. Felt is one of the world's great substances.

I make my parents a christmas cake and chocolate truffles every year, and will probably bake a few more bits for them this year as my mother has banned me from spending money on them (i'll still buy them a little gift each but i'll be in the dog house if i spend too much)

I also bring our friends truffles or biscuits every year and they give us baked goods in return.

I'd love to be crafty as there's loads of fab things i'd love to make but haven't a clue how!

How about making your own small Christmas hamper? I usually make my own. You can get a basket from Ikea for a few pounds and then just fill it with some festive treats like biscuits, tea, coffee, sweets etc then get some cellophane and a bow from your local florist for a few pounds and wrap it all up. They can look very expensive even with a few carefully chosen items. :)

If you are keen on the hamper idea and decide to make a few, I'd suggest getting the cellophane from a florist supplier online as it is much cheaper!