Simple DIY Food Gifts for Christmas

DIY Spiced Salt for Christmas

Spiced salt is one of the best DIY gift ideas because it's very easy to make and can last until next Christmas. We've previously written an article featuring four homemade versions of spiced salt, and now we've prepared some with authentic Christmas flavors.

Gingerbread Spice Blend

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp cardamom (cleaned)
• 1 star anise
• 1.5 tbsp cinnamon (ground)
• 1 tbsp allspice
• 1 tbsp cloves
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1 tsp nutmeg

If possible, use whole spices, grind them finely in a mortar or spice grinder, and add the ground spices as well.

DIY Hot Chocolate as a Sweet Gift

You can never go wrong with hot chocolate — you can make it with dark, milk, or white chocolate, and it's a perfect gift even for children.

Homemade Cinnamon Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup milk powder (can be plant-based)
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• half cup cane sugar

Mix the ingredients well, then pour into a glass jar.

When heating the milk, stir in 2-3 tablespoons of the powder and you'll have delicious hot chocolate ready!

+1 tip: make homemade chocolate stirrers.

DIY Mulled Wine for Evening Conversations

Mulled wine can be made in many different ways — you can make it really spicy or a bit milder and silkier. We'll now show you a moderately spiced recipe that's enough for 6 bottles of wine.

Mulled Wine

Ingredients:

• 6 cinnamon sticks, 3 cm each
• 6 whole star anise
• 2 tbsp whole allspice berries
• 2 tbsp cloves
• 1 tbsp green cardamom seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns

Place the cinnamon sticks and star anise into a plastic bag and crush them into small pieces with a rolling pin. If you have one, feel free to use a mortar and pestle as well. Then mix them in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and fill them into small jars, then seal. Don't forget to add a small card with a ribbon attached, where you've previously written what's in the jar and how to prepare the wine with it.

Instructions for the Small Card:

A wilted carrot, half a zucchini, a few broccoli florets and a few capers at the bottom of the jar. Does your fridge look something like this too? If so, this tip is for you. You don't need anything else but the leftover vegetables and a package of puff pastry.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp of the spice mixture
• 2 tbsp honey, sugar or xylitol
• the juice of 1 whole orange
• 1 bottle of red wine

Instructions:
Pour the ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil! Merry Christmas!

DIY Jam for Christmas

As we've mentioned in our previous seasonal articles, seasonal eating is important because it helps us reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by transportation and greenhouse heating, which greatly contributes to the global warming problem. That's why using winter seasonal fruits like apples, rosehips, medlars and walnuts contributes to a more sustainable future.

Homemade Rosehip Jam

Ingredients:

• 4 kg rosehips
• 2 kg sugar/xylitol/erythritol (crystal)
• 1 knife-tip sodium benzoate (per jar)

Instructions:

1. Thoroughly wash the rosehips, then trim both ends with a knife.
2. Place the cleaned berries in a large pot and cover with enough water to cover 2-3 fingers high. Cook on low heat for one hour from boiling, stirring occasionally (it burns easily).
3. Press the cooked rosehips through a very fine sieve using a spoon. This seemingly removes the skin and seeds, but actually there are tiny prickly hairs inside the rosehip — these are the real enemy. To make sure these hairs don't end up in your jam, it's a good idea to pass the already strained pulp through the sieve one more time.
4. Measure the pulp. This is important to know how much sugar to add.
5. Prepare the jars and put the pulp (on low heat) to cook. When the pulp boils, add the sugar. For 1 kg of pulp, add 500-600 g of sugar depending on how sweet you like it. After the sugar dissolves, cook for another 20 minutes. Pour the finished jam into jars, sprinkle a knife-tip of sodium benzoate on top, seal, and let it cool in a dry water bath.