Food: The Holiday Gift That Keeps on Giving

There is something so wonderful about sharing food with people you care about. I suspect it goes all the way back to our tribal roots. Sharing food during the winter, a time of scarcity, has even more significant connotations. If you celebrate holidays during this time, sharing food can remind us that we depend on each other.

The other great thing about gifts of food is that food doesn’t have to be the right size or go with a certain décor. It can be tailored to food preferences or interests of your family and friends. Making food gifts can fit every budget; it’s often something children can help with; and you can help your family or friends learn new recipes to cook. Who knows? You might get invited to dinner! If nothing else, by collecting the ingredients for them, you will be giving your loved ones the most precious gift — the gift of time. 

I’ve received many food gifts in my life, and they have all been memorable.

One year a friend gave me a basket filled with all her favorite specialty foods. This included a bottle of her favorite olive oil, a jug of homemade vinegar, a jar of tomato sauce, and a loaf of French bread, all of which provided me with all the fixings for a pasta dinner, complete with Christmas tree shaped pasta, and her homemade pesto. I received everything needed for a lovely dinner for my family, ready to go, complete with a salad dressing recipe that we still use today.

Another great food gift came from my son, who knows I like trying new cuisines. It included a basket with what is now one of my favorite Thai cookbooks, in addition to several hard-to-find ingredients mentioned in the recipes, including the author’s favorite brands of fish sauce and chili paste.

Once I received a cast metal tortilla maker, a bag of Masa Harina and recipes and ingredients for a homemade taco meal my family raved about for months. Another friend gave me my first “Homemade Vanilla kit,” which included a package of vanilla beans, a bottle of cheap vodka, and some pretty bottles. It was so simple that I immediately started making my own for gifts — flavorful homemade vanilla.

Infused oils, honey, vinegars, extracts, alcohols, and simple syrups can build big bold flavors that will brighten up the everyday items in your food basket gift. Making part of the gift with infused foods can save you money as well. If you are going to infuse oils, vinegars, honey, or syrups, buy the cheapest ones you can find. You are adding a lot of flavor through your infusions, so you don’t have to spend much on the basic ingredients. Your flavorful spices, herbs, garlic, or extracts will give these infusions that gourmet taste you are looking for.

Come fall, I start visiting the local thrift store looking for low-cost baskets to stock up on. I also keep my eye out for pretty bottles or containers. A friend saves her Tequila bottles for me, which I fill with homemade flavored vinegars every year to give away with recipes for how to use them.

The great thing about these gifts is that you can tailor them to your loved ones’ favorite things. If you have a friend who raves about Japanese food, take a trip to an Asian market, where you can find sauce bowls and maybe a rice cooker, a bag of short-grained rice, and maybe a cookbook. Add a homemade teriyaki marinade, and your gift is done.

For a friend who doesn’t cook much, try making a batch of low salt “Master Mix,” a great substitute for salty store-bought baking mixes. Add a recipe for homemade pancakes or scones, put a bag of the mix in your thrift store basket with a jar of your flavored honey or syrup, add a cute wooden honey spoon or dipper, and you have another great gift.

The Master Mix recipe below makes enough low-sodium baking mix for several friends, or you can save some for yourself.  Use this baking mix in any recipe that calls for Bisquick or other store-bought baking mix. You can store it or pack it into pretty boxes or tightly woven fabric bags, along with recipes for using it in pancakes, biscuits, (recipes at NWKidney.org), or any recipe calling for Master Mix or Bisquick. Add your homemade infused syrup, a bag of tangerines, and your friends will love the low-stress Christmas morning breakfast you gave them.

Cardamom Pear Simple Syrup

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 fresh pear

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (not pods)

Bring sugar and water to a boil. Meanwhile grind cardamom in food processor, mortar and pestle or pepper mill. When syrup is boiling, remove from heat, stir in cardamom. Peel, chop and add pear quickly so it doesn’t turn brown. Cover and let sit about 20 min. Strain through coffee filter or cheese cloth and chill. Use to poach fruits or add to tea to make a great Chai. It can be made into a lovely sherbet as well.

Nutrition Facts: Per 2 tablespoons: Calories: 60, Carbohydrates: 15, Protein: 0, Sodium: 0

Vanilla Bean Extract

2-3 vanilla beans

12-16 ounces of vodka or rum

Several small glass bottles

Split beans in half, lengthwise. Fill bottles with vodka, covering beans. Store in a dark place for about a month. Remove beans, strain liquid thru a coffee filter, return to bottle. Use the beans to make vanilla sugar; just immerse the beans in a cup or two of sugar and let sit for a few days. Use in baking or give as a gift to flavor tea or coffee. 

Nutrition Facts: Per teaspoon: Calories: 11, Carbohydrates: 0, Protein: 0, Sodium: 0

Infused Honey or Syrup

1-2 cups honey or maple syrup or corn syrup

2-3 sticks of cinnamon

Fine grated orange peel from one orange

Food thermometer

Put honey, orange peel and cinnamon in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Put in microwave for one minute. Stir and check temperature. For food safety, you want the temperature to reach 185 degrees. If not at 185 degrees, keep heating in small, 15 second intervals until it reaches temperature. Be careful not to burn yourself; it will get hot. Let set until cool. Put in pretty bottles and store in cool place.

Nutrition Facts: Per 2 tablespoons: Calories: 106, Carbohydrates: 34 gm, Protein 0, Sodium: 0

Master Mix

8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder (low sodium if possible)

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups instant nonfat milk powder

2 1/4 cups shortening

Sift together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and milk powder. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or food processor or a fork until evenly distributed. Store in a large, airtight container in a cool, dry place. Use within 10-12 weeks.

Nutrition Facts: Based on 42 1/3 cup servings: Calories: 186, Carbohydrates: 20 gm, Protein 3 gm, Sodium 86 mg.

Contributor Katy G. Wilkens recently retired as registered dietitian and department head at Northwest Kidney Centers. The National Kidney Foundation Council on Renal Nutrition has honored her with its highest awards for excellence in education and for significant contributions in renal nutrition. She has also been awarded the Medal of Excellence in kidney nutrition from the American Association of Kidney Patients.

Photos by Rich Wilkens.

Eating Well, Living Well classes

Studies show that working with a registered dietitian can delay kidney failure and postpone dialysis for longer than two years. FREE nutrition classes taught by Katy’s former team of registered dietitians are available at convenient times and locations around Puget Sound.

Eating Well, Living Well classes teach people how to eat healthier to slow the progress of kidney disease and postpone dialysis. Learn more at www.nwkidney.org/classes.