I mentioned in one of my pre-holiday posts that we were making several of our gifts. Well, since the gifts have been given, I thought I'd share some pictures of what we did. I'm sort of known among my friends and family for the mix in a jar recipes. Most of the ones we use are our own recipes that we have tried out and made to use just for the jars. Here is the dessert jar we made, it's a jar of chocolate chip cookie bar mix...dump the jar in a bowl, mix with some wet ingredients and you end up with a giant chocolate chip cookie/brownie hybrid.
This one is our version of I guess what you could call something similar to hamburger helper. This one is actually a goulash mix. Just add hamburger, some tomatoes, water and this jar of mix and you've got a great meal ready to eat. The one with the bow tie pasta in it was a special request from a dear friend who loves it, it's a turkey pasta dish.
Once we got them done, we got them organized. These ten (we made sixteen total), represent dinner and a dessert and so that's how we packaged them.
Here they are with their labels on, and some other decorative elements, along with a small jar of sugar scrub that I made as well. Details on that one coming in a separate post. I put them on a cardboard circle, and then we filled them with paper shreds and wrapped them up with basket wrapping.
Finally, they are almost finished in this shot, just before we put a big red bow on each one. We ended up with eight gift "baskets" like this to give out. I believe everyone we gave them to enjoyed them. They were certainly made with lots of care and love, and really, that's what it's really all about, right?
That's SO cool. You are way more creative than I'd be able to be. Can you put me on your friends and family list for next year, LOL!!
ReplyDeleteHa, thank you for the nice words. It's not that hard, and it's a great gift. Who knows what this year will bring!! Keep in touch, :-)
DeleteYeah for you and your lucky friends!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it really was a labor of love and we enjoyed making them. I hope they will enjoy them just as much.
DeleteWell done - they look stunning and I'm sure they were eagerly received. I've recently come across "food in a jar" and am fascinated with them...
ReplyDeleteThey are a great way to keep your own food too. Sort of like boxes of "helper" type mixes or "brownie" mixes only this way you KNOW what's in them, ha. I would like to stock our pantry at the farm with a bunch just to have meals ready. I'll post more on them later.
DeleteI want dinner and dessert! ha. Those are very pretty. Nice job. - Monica
ReplyDeleteThanks, yep, dinner and dessert! Thanks for stopping by Monica!
DeleteVery nice! I baked this year instead of making the jar gifts. They are always well received! Maybe we could trade recipes?
ReplyDeleteSure! I will be doing some posts soon on jar mixes too. We would have baked some too but just weren't in the 'baking zone' this season, ha.
Deletegorgeous 1st Man - just absolutely gorgeous. and yes...i am stealing these ideas to give as gifts from now on. thanks for sharing - teehee! they really are gorgeous!
ReplyDelete( i do epsom salts in jars with layers of flowers from the Manor - roses, st. john's wort, red and white clover, etc....and they are always well received. i am sure that your baskets of jars full of goodies are very, very well received!)
your friend,
kymber
Thank you! Give away, they are great gifts and always very well received. I LOVE the idea of epsom salts and flowers from your place. That's 100% an idea I'll steal back. And can you put me on the list for next time? Ha.
DeleteBig hugs!
Those look fabulous! Is there any way you would share the recipes (for all)?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, no trade secrets here, ha. I'm working on a post soon all about mix in a jar (and testing some other recipes). Stay tuned!
DeleteGreat ideas for gifts!
ReplyDeleteThey are great and fun to do and fun to see the looks on people's faces, they really seem to enjoy them.
DeleteI've given & received different recipies. I really like how you give the meal & the dessert together. The best thing about getting them as a gift is that I put it in the pantry and soon forget about it (not for any lack of appreciation, just out of sight, out of mind sort of thing). A month or so later I will be starving or have a sweet tooth emergency and then be sad because I did not buy anything at the store. But then I remember that fantastic meal in a jar I got for Christmas and I am thrilled about the gift all over again. It is like getting a present twice. I have had a couple of people actually return the jar to me and when I tell them that they could have put it in their recycling I get dead silence because they are returning the jar to me so I can fill it up for them another time. I have a lot of single friends who have low level cooking skills. They feel so good that they could follow the three step directions and actually end up with a dish that tastes good. The jar mixes started as a trend back in the 1970s. There are lots of recipie books out there & also on the internet. I agree that it is important to taste test them before giving as well as making sure the directions are correct.I would love it if you might share the pasta hamburger recipie sometime.
ReplyDeletewill definitely share! Stay tuned! Yes, that happened to us too. We had one extra last year that for some reason didn't get 'gifted' and then we discovered it a few months later. It was a wonderful and well needed treat at that moment, ha.
DeleteWe do have some friends that have returned the jars, a not so subtle hint, LOL.
Definitely test them, lots of recipes out there like you said. I never thought about single friends with limited cooking skills these would be a great solution huh? Smart!
Thanks for the great comment! much appreciated!
They would be a really really lovely thing to receive, for sure.
ReplyDeleteSo so easy, and so personalized. And best of all, definitely frugal!! I'll post about it soon. :-)
DeleteI didn't get any..... :( By the way, I still have your Christmas card here because I'm meaning to send it with a bunch of other stuff!!!
ReplyDelete:-( Sorry! I can make it up to you, I promise. You are too sweet. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year dear friend!
DeleteHow do I get the recipe for the goulash mix for jars?
ReplyDeleteHello! I found it online (or maybe it was a book) let me do some checking and see what I can find. Check back here. If it's in the book, that's at the farm and I won't be able to get to it until this weekend but let me see if I can find it for you.
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