Homemade food based gifts - ideas please

[notasausage]

Over the last few years I have done:
Mini Christmas cakes
Assorted fudge incl the baileys one
Snowman soup
Nigella chilli jam
Assorted other jams
Christmas pudding vodka
Toffee vodka

Mostly from suggestions on MN. So now I'm needing some new suggestions please!

www.itv.com/thismorning/food/christmas-cookery-gifts-donna-hay-recipes

I thought the brownie mix in jars was great- see the video. x

I have done "Christmas Muffins in a Jar" from BBC good food and some 'chocolate chip cookies in a Jar' I found somewhere (verify american recipes for excessive sugar quantities), and added red and green smarties.

My usual offerings are:
A large selection of Christmas cookies / biscuits
Lebkuchen (Soft Gingerbread)
Chocolate Fudge
Selection of Chutneys made from the Garden surplus this summer (beetroot, courgette, apple) - I paired that with home made seeded Crackers
Courgette Jam (as before)

Most people are happy to receive nearly the same things again the next year.

Im doing bottles of fruit syrup/cordial maybe laced with something 'warming' like brandy. I use this recipe for whatever fruit I decide on (raspberry and peach last time)

www.britishlarder.co.uk/home-made-blackcurrant-cordial/#axzz3KxvY5mUj

Then stir in around 50ml of brandy/vodka if its a gift for a family member but just leave it as fruit cordial if its for a teacher/non drinker. You can boil it for a bit longer to make it a thicker syrup and then use it to pour over ice-cream.

I purchase frozen mixed fruit like forest fruits or blackberrys/raspberrys if I cant get enough fresh. Ive also used tinned peaches/strawberrys before and they turn out lovely. Get some cheap bottles (if you label it as cordial) or jars (if you label it as a syrup) and add labels and ribbons.

I think the bottles I purchased from home bargains were 69p each and I spent around 40p per bottle on making the syrup but a little more if you add a splash of alcohol.

I usually make peppermint creams using condensed milk this is the recipe

They always go down a treat with family and friends. I've also swapped the peppermint flavouring for strawberry flavour to make strawberry creams.

This looks gorgeous and interesting. www.kayotic.nl/blog/seriously-flavoured-salt

Hot chocolate on a stick

Different types of dishwasher vodka?
Or Nelson's blood if there's still time?

Ooh, what's nelson's blood?

I'm planning on doing some chocolate-dipped candied peel but am still at the experimentation stage (house smells nice though )

Nigellas mini Xmas puddings are scrummy and look beautiful

I'm doing a Christmas mug with a home made hot choc stirrer (done in a throw away shot glass) and a cookie mix in a jar as a present for close relatives. I also do a sweet selection - honeycomb, xmas pud chocs, marshmallow fudge and peppermint creams.

Nelsons blood is a blend of rum, sugar and spices...
Google and you'll find recipes. It's lovely!

Chocolate truffles are really easy to make. You can flavour them with things like Bailey's or brandy. Last year I made a selection of white, milk and dark ones drizzled with a contrasting colour chocolate. Yummy.

I'm doing Xmas rocky road and Florentines this year... I did marmalade with ginger and edible glitter in last year which looked fab so might do that again too if I have time.