I don’t care what anyone says, homemade gifts are always some of the best. (Especially when prettily packaged!) During the holidays I think it’s nice to have a little special something for those people you wouldn’t necessarily buy a gift for but are still thinking about. Here are a few of my favorites this December.
I’ve always, always wanted a subscription to the Fruit of the Month club for Christmas. Seriously. Well, New York Mouth takes that wish of mine and dips it in gold and throws some diamond dust on top for good measure. Hand-crafted, small-batch, indie foods from New York packaged all pretty like and delivered to your (or the lucky gift recipient’s) door. Their monthly subscriptions are my favorite, but you can also purchase a la carte. YUM.
Shopping is awesome, and anything that makes shopping easier is also awesome by default.
Have you heard of Beso? It’s a site that organizes tens of millions of products from thousands of stores and brands (so yeah, a lot) in one place for you to browse to your heart’s content. You can also create Collections to put together the perfect art opening outfit or your birthday wish list with an easy drag and drop format. Beware: It’s addicting! I have New Year’s Eve on the brain and pulled together some statement necklaces, any of which I’d be happy to create an evening around for my latest collection – Make a Statement (Necklace) – which you can check out right here.
So what’s this giveaway business all about? Beso is spreading some holiday cheer by giving one of you a little something to smile about. All you have to do is create your own Collection and follow the steps below for a chance to win any item off of your board OR mine (up to $300)!
This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Amber!
To Enter:
1. Head over to Beso, create a profile (if you don’t have one already), and make a Collection of your own!
2. Copy and paste the link into the comments section below.
3. Pop over and LIKE Beso on Facebook.
4. Do it all before Monday, December 24th at midnight CST!
My grandmother taught me how to make pomanders – clove studded oranges – when I was in elementary school. I remember making my first one so that literally no bit of orange was peeking out between the cloves! And of course she let me. That pomander had some ribbon attached and hung in the doorway to her hallway for years to come. No, they aren’t really supposed to be around for that long, but it was nice she found it so special.
So, making a pomander is quite simple. All you need is an orange, some whole cloves, and a poking device (like a toothpick or fork). The design possibilities are endless – I like to keep mine a little more simple these days. Just poke your design into the orange rind to make inserting the cloves a little more easy and you’re off! Sometimes I like to use the back of a spoon to help push the cloves into the orange if the skin is especially thick. You can either add a ribbon like my Grandma did and hang somewhere, or pile a few in a bowl.
A few weeks after making your pomanders you’ll start to notice the fruit drying out around the areas you’ve cloved, it will discolor slightly but that doesn’t mean they’re going bad! In fact they’ll last all season and then some.
For my birthday last month I received something I’d been wanting for months, a donut pan! It’s no secret that I looove donuts, like a lot. But yeah, they’re not all that great for you to eat. And that’s where the baked version comes in, it’s kind of like a muffin/cake donut and will satisfy your donut craving (it might take three, ahem, but it will). For my first foray into donut baking I went with some simple cider donuts that remind me of leaves falling and the market at Union Square where I always used to buy them.
Bake Cider Donuts
• 2 T butter (room temperature)
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 1 tspn ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tspn ground nutneg
• 1/8 tspn ground cloves
• 2 Tbsp apple cider
• 1 egg
• 1/8 tspn baking soda
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1 1/4 C whole wheat flour
• 1/2 C milk
For the Glaze
• 1 C powdered sugar
• 1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp apple cider
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat donut pan(s) with cooking spray. With a mixer combine softened butter, oil, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Add in the cider and egg. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add milk. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet and mix in between. Using either a piping bag with large tip or medium-sized storage baggie, pipe the batter into the donut forms. Bake mini donuts for 4 minutes, large donuts for 6. Place baked donuts on rack to cool entirely. Make the glaze by whisking powdered sugar, ground cinnamon, and apple cider until smooth. Once donuts are cool, dip either the tops or the entire donut into the glaze. Place on cooling rack over cookie sheet to drip and dry. Makes 24 mini or 12 large donuts.
