I was introduced to Fire Cider (produced by a local place, Shire City Herbals in Pittsfield, MA), a few weeks ago when a friend offered me a few precious shots of his stash after hearing me complain about inflamed lymph nodes in my throat, and the worry of a prolonged oncoming illness. Made with apple…
Category: Edible Gifts
{from scratch holidays} A Family Cook Book
I am not a handy person. When I tried knitting, the scarf was lumpy and grubby. I bend nails. I am too impatient to do embroidery or calligraphy and inevitably cut the sleeves out of the material for the skirt if I try to sew. So when it comes to home-made gifts, I have three…
{edible gift} Deliciously Easy Toffee Cookies
Holiday time is here! It’s time to start thinking of the edible gifts, cookie swaps, and desserts for parties. In the mood for an easy cookie recipe that will garner rave reviews every time? Look no further than this toffee cookie recipe! It’s so easy that anyone can make it. Even experienced bakers who take pride…
{from scratch holidays} scrub-a-dub-dub
Recently I made two types of body scrubs for FSC’s Saratoga Food Swap*. If you want to save money by cutting out luxury items without losing the luxury, this is an easy and cheap way to pamper yourself. Spend a tiny bit extra for some fab packaging and you have yourself a really delightful, super…
{edible gift} homemade chai concentrate
As an avid chai drinker, I was ecstatic to stumble upon the realization that I could make my own creamy, spicy chai concentrate! This recipe is a cinch to make- just add the ingredients to a jar and stir- and is a perfect from-scratch holiday gift. You can make several batches at once and bottle…
{reflections of a daughter} DIY Coffee Roasting
There is really nothing like the smell of freshly roasted coffee. Unless of course you were like me when I was introduced to coffee roasting, seven and a half months pregnant. It was Christmas of 2004, I was in my third trimester of pregnancy, and my mother decided that for my dad’s Christmas gift that…
{community sharecropping} July is for Garlic Harvest
Garlic is an easy crop and should have a place in every home garden. The individual cloves are planted in October, lie dormant in the ground all winter, and then are among the first plants to sprout in the spring. You can buy garlic heads from your local farmers market this fall, break them up…
{giveaway} FSC Edible Gifts Collection
Our Edible Week is finished (well almost…I have a few more recipes up my sleeve..I can’t stop!) and we are now giving you, our readers, a chance to win the entire collection! Up for grabs is: Leslie’s Quick Bread in a Jar AND Pancakes in a Jar Alexis’ Apple Chutney (shown here is Chris’ Apple…
{edible gifts} breakfast in a basket
I like to “theme” my edible gift presentation. “Lunch in Paris”…”Cooking 101″… “Cookie Carnival”… This year {and last} is breakfast in a basket…or more appropriately “breakfast in a reusable shopping bag”. If I’m not shipping the gift, I try to always give my gifts in a stylish non-logo-ed reusable shopping bags. I can usually grab…
{edible gifts} Trio of Treats
“It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas…” The halls are officially decked at the Zenner homestead and Christmas music is playing 24/7. The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year. As soon as the turkey is eaten their minds turn to Christmas and everything this wonderful holiday has to offer. Simon, our “Elf…
{edible gifts} quick & easy peppermint bark
I always have the best of intentions. I want to make lots of really great and super extravagant things to give as gifts. One holiday season I baked almost every day. Many of my treats found their way to my husband’s office so as not to end up in my mouth. Another year I crocheted…
{edible gifts} Escaping Christmas-time Consumerism w/ Apple Chutney
I have tremendously mixed feelings about the gift-giving aspect of Christmas. Despite my outspoken criticism of the advertisement-driven culture of Christmas, I find myself purchasing gifts for family and friends every year. Making, rather than buying gifts in the past has made me feel better about myself and the holiday as a whole. So this…
{edible gifts} Bread & Pancakes In a Jar
Several years ago, in the midst of the frantic Christmas shopping and the crazy spending that goes along with it, I realized that I had really lost sight of what this holiday means to me. I decided to begin my de-commercialization of Christmas…today, we still include store-bought gifts, but we have simplified in many ways….
{edible gifts} THEME WEEK!
We are gearing up for another theme week, Edible Gifts. Y-U-M. I don’t really have to say much because Leslie, who’s first up, has said it for me in the first paragraph of her post. But I will add that, the From Scratch Club, are striving to introduce you to or expand upon your repertoire…
