The relationship between what's in your mouth, on your face, and how much you smile

Posts Tagged ‘gift idea’

Olive Bread Making Adventures

In Baking, DIY, Gift Idea, Recipe on September 23, 2010 at 08:00

I should start by saying I’ve never made bread before.  

If you’ve ever had homemade bread, you know that it is damn good and no store bought, abnormally squishy bread could ever compare.  But making bread… wow, what a process.  

It takes commitment to make a loaf of bread in your own kitchen.  Heck, I’m not even talking about good bread.  To make a good loaf of bread takes a whole other level of competence and patience.

As you may know, I am not a patient person. 

However, I was going to be a guest at the house of some friends and I wanted to bring a little thank you present.  What do you bring a group that includes a health-nut, a chocolate allergy, and a cookie-holic?  

The only thing I could think of was bread.  

My father found me this recipe for this Japanese/Chinese style bread that I wanted to try, but for a gift I felt I needed something more special.  More artisan. Then, this food memory hit me on the head: there was this bread I had when I was in the south of France with green olives, topped with sea salt.  It was the absolute tastiest thing you could have especially with that warm, ocean breeze on your back. I remember seeing olives (which I used to hate) in a whole different life after eating that bread.  

So olive bread it was.   Click for the recipe.

Homemade Gift Bag and Birthday Card (for a clean freak)

In DIY, Gift Idea, Smiles on August 9, 2010 at 09:44

When the birthday of someone I know who is a complete clean freak came around, I couldn’t resist doing something custom made.  

Firstly, I made a cute little gift bag for the present, with the help and inspiration of this tutorial.  How amazing!  You can use a ripped out page of a magazine or an old book for these gift bags, which is such a green idea.  
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Button Sugar Cookies on City Bandit

In DIY, Gift Idea, Recipe on August 5, 2010 at 13:28

Here’s a classic sugar cookie recipe, along with my directions on how to  turn your cookies into darling buttons on City Bandit.

It’s really not too difficult. Just roll out your dough…

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To-Die-For Lemon Cookies: Packaged for a Birthday

In DIY, Gift Idea, Recipe on August 2, 2010 at 09:34

It was two of my friends’ birthdays, so I used that as an excuse to bake and get creative.

I decided to make for them a jar of homemade cookies, and decorate the jar with ribbons and simple, homemade birthday cards.  This is a really great gift idea for anyone.  It is a perfect way to package and transport the cookies, without needing to worry about the cookies breaking or cracking.  In addition, for the days to come the cookies will stay fresh until they are done! And then the gift receiver will have a useful, beautiful jar for them to store anything they want – flour, sugar, pasta, etc.

Firstly, I needed the perfect cookies to put in the jar, and I couldn’t think of anything better for the season or for the occasion than Giada’s lemon ricotta cookies with a lemon glaze.  They are bright, cheery, full of flavour cookies, and they are perfect for packaging up and giving away.

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