Friday, 24 December 2010

Homegrown Homemade Christmas.

I made it myself this Christmas. Yes, that's the cool thing to do now, but also I'm a student; Happy to grasp every opportunity for being a bit cheap. Having said that, you can't really beat the satisfaction and pride from giving somebody something you created yourself.


My goodies are all nestled in this gift bag, created from brown packing paper and string, a few hole reinforcers and a roll of sellotape. The method was found on Youtube, but after watching I was amazed by how simple the concept is;
Wrap a box that's the size of the bag you want (a shoebox is a good base I think.)
Then crease along the edges before slicing one end of the box off with a sharp knife and, voila, you have the base of a bag.
Creasing the sides is fairly simple as long as you're careful, ensuring the corners all meet when you're folding.
Next, I punched a couple of holes in the top and reinforced them on the inside of the bag before using the string to make the handles. This isn't a step to skip, as I discovered with trial and error, as the paper is quite delicate.
Finally, I found some scrap cardboard (cereal box, Amazon delivery packaging, etc) and made a base to put inside the bag, this helps to strengthen it and keep the structure when it's full.

I also knitted the holly on the front of the bag, that's sewn to the paper. It's not a tutorial followed, but a fairly simple pattern using added loops and knit-two-together techniques to get the spiky holly shape. The berries are just circles that are stitched together to make balls.


The first treat inside is a delicious Spiced Damson and Apple chutney, with homegrown damsons and apples, naturally! The recipe for this is from Delia Online, although Delia is awfully faffy with her spices, I use ground instead of fresh, and chuck 'em in instead of 'suspending them above the pot in muslin.' It still tastes amazing my way.


Ah, Sloe Gin. This is a yearly brew, thanks to an abundance of Sloe trees in our garden. Very easy. It involves a quality bottle of gin, (thanks Gordon) and freshly picked sloes that are spiked all over with a toothpick. Proportionately, you'll also need about half the weight of sugar that you have of sloes. Whack the ingredients in a sterilized and sealed jar, and shake frequently for about 2 weeks. After that, return each week to give the mixture a shake. It should be gorgeously sweet after about 3 months, (coinciding quite well with Christmas!) but it'll continue to improve with age.
I decant the gin into these cute little Lakeland bottles to give away as presents.


And finally! These are caramelized chocolate brazil nuts, a traditional favourite of my Dad's, that I've decided to create myself this year. Quite simply, (and found online at about.com) brazils are whacked in a non stick pan with a generous amount of granulated sugar and a hunk of butter. Stir until the sugar melts, and for about five minutes after that.
Lay out, separated, on baking sheets and leave to cool until the sugar is solid (about half an hour.)
Now, melt a very large bar of deep dark chocolate (85% cocoa solids) in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Ensure it's in a bowl big enough so that you can add the brazils after you've taken the melted choc off the heat.
Stir until the brazils are covered, and whack it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. Repeat this step a few times, about 3.
Finally, lay the chocs out on a baking sheet again and leave to cool overnight in the fridge before presenting in cellophane.

Merry Christmas!

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