Homemade Christmas Hamper

[Elsashmelsa]

Hi all,

Well in my head Xmas is already in full swing. Mum and I have just been having a whinge about how much children have these days (DD has so much stuff and needs nothing else) and Mum was saying about some patterns she found in the roof to make toys that she used to make for us when we were younger. I told her that instead of buying something for DD (6) or giving her money, why doesn't she make something for her?

For our wedding Mum made lovely white rabbits, wearing identical dresses to the ones that the Flower girls wore, for the flower girls to hold. I told her that DD would LOVE something like that for Xmas.

I then said that I wonder whether I should do food hampers of homemade goodies instead of buying adult presents and she said it was fantastic idea and that her and Dad would love one!!

So, I'm now on a mission but I don't know where to start. I make the Xmas cakes every year for them so that's one thing for it. I fancy making the following:

Florentines
Jam
Chutney
Pickled Onions
Honeycombe
Marshmallows
Fudge
Shortbread
Savoury Biscuits

So what I'm asking is, does anyone have any other ideas and also, any idea what (if anything) can be made a few weeks in advance???? Can anything be made and then frozen before baking (in terms of biscuits etc).

All advice gratefully received.

As an aside, I already make very good shortbread so I've got that one covered although I don't know how far in advance I can make it.

I like this one: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1803648/sweet-and-spicy-nuts

Please may I ask if anyone has a method for making crystalized fruits? My mother has dementia and is virtually impossible to buy for but she always used to like crystalized fruits. The trouble is, they are very hard to find nowadays. John Lewis usually do a tiny box for an extortionate amount of money (not that I begrudge my mother the money but you know what I mean). Is there a fairly simple way of making ones own crystalized fruit?

I saw Mary Berry crystalizing lemon peel on tv the other day and it made me think about it.

Having asked for a recipe, my contribution to the thread:

Last year, I knitted my brother a cafetiere cosy with a very personalised design, and bought him some posh ground coffee. He was absolutely thrilled with this - the cosy more than the coffee, probably. A simple cosy is very easy to knit or crochet (or sew, I would imagine) as you only need a rectangle which wraps around the cafetiere, fastened with either bows or a button and loop.

Place marking! I had the same idea, but your hamper sounds about a million times better than mine!! I was just going to do Christmas cake, biscuits, jam and lemon curd.... I have never made chutney before but may give that a go! You've inspired me!

Letustryagain you have some brilliant recipes and very creative presentation ideas. I think your mum will be thrilled receiving this gorgeous and very thoughtful gift. I have loved reading this thread given me some great ideas.

Penfold, that looks amazing!! I'm definitely going to make some of those - not sure who's more excited, me or DH!!

Dumbledore, I've had a little google and I can only find recipes that are untried and tested and they do look quite time-consuming... I hope you find one that you can use or someone will respond with a good one! As for your suggestion - as seems to be a typical theme in this thread, my Mum doesn't drink coffee either!! Crazy isn't it? Doesn't drink alcohol, doesn't drink coffee and doesn't like chocolate! She is human I promise... Having said that, I have a very good friend who is very arty and into knitting/crocheting/sewing and so I will pass that suggestion on as she was looking for something to make for her PIL.

Cheeky and Busy, I really hope that this thread helps you as much as it's helped me! The chutney was really easy to make but the house did smell very strongly of vinegar for a while. Plus when I tasted it, stupidly I had a whole teaspoon of it, which is normally something I'd only do on a cracker and cheese so the taste was a shock to the system - nice though!!

I've got Marmalade and Lemon Curd to make (in the microwave) but I'm most excited about my Chilli Jam. I usually by the Tricklemans one and it's gorgeous, so I'm under no illusions that it will taste the same, but I'm hopeful!!

Of course that should have said 'buy' the Tricklemans one, not by...

Thank you for all these ideas, I'm not going to do hampers as such but want to gift some home made goodies this Christmas, Have just bought some small kilner bottles in Sainsbury's, they were reduced too , perfect for making the vanilla extract. Thanks SirPercyPilkington for suggesting that.
Brilliant idea for me my baking mad DSis and Best Friend.

Well, we're nearly into December and I'm about half way there with all the goodies.

Yesterday I made the Fruity Biscotti (half we ate the other half I froze after the first bake, ready to do the second bake a couple of days before Xmas to package up). They are AMAZING (thanks for the BBC recipe!). In fact they're so nice that I've decided to make another batch with white chocolate and Cranberry...

I also made the Sweet Chilli Jam last night. It didn't make as much as I'd hoped but it tastes really nice.

At the beginning of December I'm going to do the Shortbread and Parmesan biscuits and freeze the dough. The top drawer of the freezer is reserved for all the baked goods!!

Then I've just got the Fudge, Honeycombe and Oatcakes to do. And of course decorating the Xmas cake...

After Xmas I'll decide what worked and what didn't so I can work out what to do for next year...