homemade gift ideas

Inevitably, after months of shopping and planning, my best-received gifts are the cookies and candies I’ve made for my loved ones. That’s why, in the days leading up to Christmas, you can only find me if you look in my kitchen. I’m the one covered in powdered sugar, chocolate, and corn syrup – dancing around to Christmas music.

Man, I love this time of year!

If you love giving gifts you’ve made in your own kitchen, too, here’s a cookbook you’ll want to add to your library right away.  Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion, by Annie Rigg, is an uncommonly beautiful book. As a cookbook collector, one of the first things I notice about a cookbook is how good it feels about itself –  the cover, artwork, and photographs let you know, right off the bat, if the cookbook feels really good about itself or if its heart is only half in it.

Gifts from the Kitchen feels amazingly good about itself – we’re talking “supermodel” confidence, here.

Naturally, for a book to be a great book – there has to be more than just great looks going for it. Thankfully, Gifts from the Kitchen comes through in the personality department, too  – it’s not just a pretty face.

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While I’m telling you about Gifts from the Kitchen a few weeks before Christmas (timing is everything, guys), this book is actually off the charts useful throughout the year. Why? Because people LOVE homemade gifts all year long!  The book covers all celebrations and all seasons. Not only can you use the beautiful delicacies for gift-giving, you can also use them to celebrate special occasions.

Special Occasion Recipes Include

• Fortune Cookies (Chinese New Year)
• Chocolate Valentine’s Cakes (Valentine’s Day or Anniversaries)
• Love Heart Sugar Cubes (Valentine’s Day)
• Double Dark Chocolate, Pecan and Ginger Cookies (Father’s Day)
• Easter Nest Cupcakes (Easter)
• Rugelach (Jewish Celebrations)
• Baby Shower Cakes
• Wedding Cake
• Raspberry, Lemon, and Almond Friands (Mother’s Day)
• Stained Glass Snowflake Cookies (Christmas)
• And More…

Recipes for Gifts That Fit Any Occasion Include

• Chocolate Truffles
• Peanut or Madadamia Brittle
• Creamy Vanilla Fudge with Chocolate and Nuts
• Pickled Beets
• Pickled Shallots
• Spiced Cranberry Jelly
• Florentines
• Chocolate-Coated Candied Almonds
• Mango Chutney with Chili Pepper and Ginger
• English Muffins
• Cherry Jam
• Strawberry and Vanilla Preserves
• Chocolate and Hazelnut Spread
• Honeycomb (look especially perfect for Halloween)
• Pesto
• And Many more….

In addition to the clear and simple recipes, Gifts from the Kitchen provides beautiful examples of ways to present many of these food gifts to your lucky foodie.

This is not a “gluten free” cookbook, but many of the candies and other recipes are, in and of themselves, gluten free. I have not tested any of the other recipes with gluten free flours, so I can’t say how well they’d take to substitutions. It is, however, in my opinion, more than worth having in your collection. The candies, spreads, jellies, etc. outnumber the cakes and cupcakes… and even they provide inspiration and ideas for the gluten free cook.

I’m especially excited about a recipe for “Wholegrain Honey Mustard.” Wholegrain mustard is an obsession of mine – I add it to more recipes than you can imagine (potato salad, BBQ sauce, deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, salad dressings…). I can only imagine how amazing this homemade Wholegrain Honey Mustard will be!

See Gifts from the Kitchen for more information.

While you’re on Amazon, check out the other beautiful cookbooks by Annie Rigg.