BEAUTIFUL GIFTS FROM HEART & HEARTH

We’ve got a fresh crop of beautiful edible gifts, vessels to carry them, and utensils to assist in their enjoyment. The handmade treats couldn’t be easier. Get ready for some smiles!

 

Lemon is an unexpected flavor for fudge -- but it is actually genius! The dense creamy velvet as you bite into a piece, it blooms with the sunshine of tart, intense lemon. As with all fudge, this one is so easy to make, it's almost silly. Pack it up in some natural cellophane, gussy it up with a sweet ribbon, and give a package or two to your sweet-toothed friends.

Photo: Andrew Comings.

LEMON FUDGE

 

Ingredients:

 

• 450g caster sugar

• 110g butter

• 1 x 397g can condensed milk

• 2 tablespoons of water

• Zest of 3 lemons

• A touch of ‘primrose’ colouring
   

Instructions:

• Butter and line 22cm x 22cm tray

• Melt 4oz butter in large stock pot

• Add sugar, milk, zest from 3 lemons in mixture with butter on heat

• Do not stir while bringing up to rolling boil

• Once mixture has reach 240 degrees on your Jam and Sugar thermometer, take off heat, do not stir until it reaches 110 degrees

• Stir slowly and add coloring

• Pour into tin, allow to cool before cutting and serving

Photo: James Ransom. Vintage Preserve Pan and Bowl

This antique heavy gauge copper British Preserve Pan and Bowl, circa 1880, would make an incredible gift for a chef who cares about authenticity and aesthetics. With its generous shine, its ample belly, its hand-rolled rims, and its pink brass handles, this piece is a stunner.

 

It would be an equisite pot to cook something like, say, the Lemon Fudge recipe (above)!

 

It’s a one-of-a-kind piece, so hurry if you want it. You can find it, along with a great curated collection of kitchen-related items, in Provisions, the fabulous new online shop from Food52. Sourced from Coppermill Kitchen.

Photo: Courtesy of the Dabblist. Citrus Salt.

Just 2 ingredients, 2 steps, < 5 minutes of active time, and an hour to bake -- that’s all you need to make a fabulous gift that anyone who loves to eat will love you for! This Citrus Salt recipe by Becca, of The Dabblist, is bright in every way.

 

We love it in a variety of flavored options -- with orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, and grapefruit zests. Why not make them all and give as a flavor-set? They’d look swell in the 1-Line Spice Rack (below).

 

CITRUS SALT

 

Ingredients:

• Maldon or other flaked sea salt

• Desired citrus zest
   

Instructions:

• Use the ratio of salt to zest to suit your desired intensity.

• Combine zest and salt

• Bake until dry at 250 F. Be careful not to burn.

• Bottle it in glass containers and store in a cool dry place.

 

Photo: Courtesy of Houzz. Line Spice Rack.

1 LINE SPICE RACK

 

The 1 Line Spice Rack, from DESU Design, is really two gifts in one: 1) A beautiful piece of wall art  2) A functional spice rack.

 

Designed by David E. Scott, and constructed from 1/4″ thick brushed stainless steel bars, the rack is meticulously welded and finished to create a clean, seamless line that appears to float on the wall.

 

Each spice rack comes with 13 glass mini cube bottles with cork tops that your friends can fill with their favorite spices. Or, you can kick the gift up a notch by filling them first, with the Seasoned Salts (above). The rack is designed to hold a 500 ml olive oil bottle in a drop-down line.

Photo: Courtesy of Qiyun Deng. Graft utensils.

These artfully crafted Graft utensils are delicately colored and sleekly styled. They are so beautiful, the fact that they are biodegradeable is a mixed blessing of sorts… It means that these lovely objects will disappear after you use them.

 

They’re so pretty, you might want them to stick around. They are a great gift for anyone who entertains -- especially if they care about our environment.

Photo: Courtesy of Qiyun Deng. Graft Cup.

Designer Qiyun Deng created these cups and utensils as part of her diploma project at the École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, in Switzerland. They are crafted from bioplastic PLA, which is a material derived from vegetable fats, starches and oils.

Photo: Aida Mollenkamp. Roasted Chickpeas

If you want to make a beautiful gift from the hearth for friends who are cutting back on sweets, BRANDIE’s Orange SpiceRoasted Chickpeas, from her Home Cooking Memories blog, can be your go-to recipe.

 

This is a perfect salty sweet crunchy balance, dusted with warm cinnamon and nutmeg. Package them up in a special jar, tie a lovely ribbon around its neck, and give them to friends with willpower. Friends without it will simply eat them all way, way, way, too fast!

Photo: EcoNugenics. Orange Slice.

ORANGE SPICED ROASTED CHICKPEAS

 

Ingredients:

 

• 2 cans chickpeas or garbanzo beans (15.5 ounce each)

• 1/3 cup orange marmalade

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• Cooking Spray
   

Instructions:

 

• Drain and rinse chickpeas and lay out on a kitchen towel or paper towel to dry.

​

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Place chickpeas on baking sheet in a single layer. If chickpeas have any skins are loose, discard them. Spray tops of chickpeas with cooking spray. Roast chickpeas for 15 minutes. Stir & move them around on the sheet and return to oven for another 15 minutes of baking, or until beginning to brown and crunchy. Remove from oven.

​

• In a bowl, combine marmalade, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Spoon warm, roasted chickpeas into the marmalade mixture. Gently coat chickpeas with mixture. When all chickpeas have been coated, spread onto baking sheet in a single layer. Return to oven for another 10 minutes.

​

• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Break up chickpea clusters and loosen any chickpeas from the baking sheet with a spatula. Allow to cool completely. Store in airtight container.
   

Photo: Courtesy of 1st Dibs. Asprey Pinched Glass Decanter.

ASPREY PINCHED GLASS DECANTER

 

Bottle your Homemade Kahlua up in this sweet 19th century Edwardian Asprey silver mounted glass decanter, with its crystal stopper and its pinched cruciform design. (Recipe below). The faceted crystal stopper crowns the hallmarked silver neck. Hurry -- there’s only one -- and it is at Linda Horn.

 

Photo: Marisa McClellan. Homemade Kahlua.

Homemade Kahlua makes a perfect gift for the holidays. It’s also something more special than simply giving a bottle of wine to your dinner party host any time of the year. Why so perfect? Well, because requires only a handful of basic ingredients,  it takes less than 10 minutes to make a batch… and because it tastes so extraordinary.

 

This recipe, created by Dianne Morrisey, came via That Skinny Chick Can Bake blogger, Liz Berg.

 

Bottle it in a gorgeous vessel, such as the Asprey Pinched Decanter (above), and make it a gift to remember.

Photo: Courtesy of Divine Coffee Miami.

HOMEMADE KAHLUA

 

Ingredients:

 

• 1 cup ground coffee (fresh ground beans are best)

• 16 cups sugar

• 8 cups water

• 4 vanilla beans, split

• 1/2 gallon vodka

• 1 fifth of brandy (750 ml)
   

Instructions:

 

• In a large stock pot, stir together coffee, sugar and water. Heat just till it comes to a boil. Turn off heat and add vanilla beans, vodka and brandy. Transfer mixture to a glass jar with a lid and let stand for one month to develop flavors.

​

• After one month, strain mixture through cheesecloth till all the coffee grounds clear.

​

• Pour into glass jars and add a piece of vanilla bean to each. Add decorative label or hang tag if desired for gifts.

Photo: Courtesy of Whole Kids Foundation. Community Garden.

Make a gift to the Whole Kids Foundation™,  a national network, which gives aims to help children develop a healthy positive relationship with food and a better experience in eating it. Programs include school and community gardens, greenhouses, and upgraded school cafeterias.

Photo: Courtesy of Whole Planet Foundation.

Whole Foods partners with local growers and producers who donate their products to help families and children eat better. Partners include:
 

• Red Jacket Orchards in upstate New York: cold-pressed juices

• Peeled Snacks in Brooklyn, New York: fruit and nut snacks

• Nona Lim in Oakland, California: soups with no added sugars or preservatives

• To-Go Ware in Berkeley, California: bamboo utensils

• High Mowing Organic Seeds in Wolcott, Vermont: organic seeds

• Roots in Asheville, North Carolina: gourmet hummus and dips

• Yellow 108 in Long Beach, California: hats made from sustainable materials
   

A gift to the Whole Kids Foundation can help make this world better for the next generation of gardeners, farmers and entrepreneurs.

 

Photo: Courtesy of Life With One Eye Open.

 

Read more about Beautiful Giving, as it relates Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact in our posts throughout this week, including The Most Beautiful Books to Give, and Beautiful Then & Always Gifts.

 

Get busy and enter the BN Competitions, Our theme this week is Beautiful Giving. Send in your images and ideas. Deadline is 12.15.13.

 

Photo: Courtesy of InterActiveMediaSW.

 

Also, check out our special competition: The Most Beautiful Sound in the World! We are thrilled about this effort, together with SoundCloud and The Sound Agency. And we can’t wait to hear what you’ve got!