Three DIY Gifts for Cooks and Foodies
Not going to sugar coat it…if you are going to make some gifts for your friends and family for the upcoming holidays it’s time to get busy. I’ve been slowly nudging you along, but the time for nudging is over…you’ll thank me later if you start getting some gifts made now.
If you have friends or family members who like to spend time in their kitchen, you are so very lucky! Cooks and foodies are the easiest people to shop for…bar none. There is always some kitchen gadget, pot or appliance that a foodie ‘needs’. Am I right? (Yes, my family really should appreciate just how easy I am to shop for…and reward me appropriately!)
In addition to gadgets and gizmos, foodies also love trying different spices, oils and flavorings.
It was with my foodie friends and family in mind that I whipped up several diy gifts for cooks this past week.
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It all started with these Chocolate Covered Vanilla Fleur de Sel Caramels. I was starting to plan which treats we would be making this Christmas and decided I’d give this recipe a try. It’s been in my recipe binder for years, but I never made it because I didn’t have the requisite Vanilla Fleur de Sel. So that got me thinking, “what exactly is vanilla fleur de sel?” and then “surely I can make my own”. I had the vanilla beans and a bag of Fleur de Sel. This was just the beginning of my adventures of making DIY gifts for cooks.
By the by…have you priced vanilla beans lately? Yikes…I have had a stash so haven’t had to buy any in years.
For what it’s worth, Fleur de Sel (literally ‘blossom of salt’) is typically used as a finishing salt.
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So, other than these ‘oh so decadent Chocolate Covered Vanilla Fleur de Sel Caramels, what does one do with Vanilla Fleur de Sel?
Well, you could use it for…
So…once I got on the flavored salt making train, I just couldn’t get off after one station. Hence…Rosemary Fleur de Sel…the second of our three DIY gifts for cooks.
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Rosemary Fleur de Sel can be the finishing touch on just about anything because, well…Rosemary!
If you are going to gift…finish your jars with a lovely label and maybe a tag with all the delicious suggestions. Once again, my Cricut came in handy for these labels, as well as for the Vanilla Fleur de Sel labels.
And while completely unrelated to salty things, this next DIY gift for cooks came about as I prepared a batch of Peppermint Bark for my daughter. She’ll be home for Thanksgiving and I want to send her back to school with some of her favorite snacks as she prepares for her finals.
As I spent way too much time peeling candy canes to chop them up, it dawned on me that my foodie and cook friends might really appreciate a jar of already crushed candy canes! AND…not for nothing…they may be more inclined to prepare batches of dark chocolate peppermint bark to send my way.
(by the way, if you are reading this and thinking “Oh what a great idea! I’ll send Lynn some peppermint bark next week”..just a little reminder that I really don’t like White Chocolate…ugh! I mean…you could have a bowl of white chocolate sitting on my kitchen counter day in and day out and no part of me would be tempted to steal a morsel. Just saying! But dark chocolate…that’s a whole ‘nother story)
But back to these little jars of pepperminty goodness, our third of the three DIY gifts for cooks! I’d really feel a little silly writing a recipe for Peppermint Sprinkles; you unwrap candy canes and pop them in your food processor and turn it on. I will say that you want to do it in small quantities or you will have some really fine sprinkles and some larger chunks.
Don’t they make you want to grab your apron and get baking? And not only can you use them on your Peppermint Bark, but…
The only problem I see with making all these treats is that your friends and family will start expecting you to up your game each year! Not to worry…we’ll noodle some more DIY gifts for cooks for next year.
VERY IMPORTANT TIP! (you will definitely thank me for this one!) Pull those little packs of desiccant that come with your prescriptions and that are in many vitamin bottles and tuck a small one in the middle of your Peppermint Sprinkles. It was a humid day when I did this and the sprinkles started getting sticky rather quickly. I put them in a jar with a pack of desiccant and it took care of the stickiness in no time. I had 3 small packs so each of my jars has one tucked in the center of it. You are welcome..
Oh, and another TIP (wow…this is post is overflowing with wonderfulness today!)…when you make your Peppermint Bark, check out this post on tempering chocolate. You need to temper it if you want it to stay stable at room temperature.
So there you have it…3 pretty easy DIY gifts for cooks and foodies to get you started with your gift stash for the holiday.
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Until next time…
Hugs,
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MrsSW
November 8, 2017 at 5:25 pmWhat a fun post, Lynn! Almost makes me wish I had a reason to make some foodie gifts. 🙂
LOL – the dollar store should have lots of small (pre-broken) candy canes after C’mas.
Sheila
Claire
November 8, 2017 at 7:25 pmI’m intrigued by the vanilla salt, I’ve never heard or tried it before. I make vanilla sugar but I’ll have to give the salt ago.
Sam - Raggedy Bits
November 8, 2017 at 9:24 pmOh, my goodness!! I just LOVE all of these goodies and know lots of people to give these too!! Thank you so much for sharing Lynn! You just finished all of my Christmas shopping!!
Sarah
November 14, 2017 at 11:33 amThis is a wonderful gift idea, I would even make them for myself. Great combinations to have in the kitchen.
Sheryl Stewart
November 12, 2018 at 8:13 amI love these ideas and want to try them. I’ve not heard of Fleur de Sol! And I thought I was a kitchen foodie person! Thank you!
BTW, great mask! Hope you get your painting finished!
lynn
November 12, 2018 at 7:00 pmI did finish my painting! Now I just need to hang the curtains back up, but that will wait until tomorrow.
Oh do try the fleur de sel…it’s a lovely flakey.
And my mask…I thought I had cleaned it all off but didn’t realize until AFTER I went to Home Depot that I missed a wide swath of it on my check. Oh, c’est la vie.
Have a great day my friend.
Hugs, Lynn