Preparing a feast, bringing a gift, or just plain planning ahead, there was much rushing about in my kitchen this last month. I could be heard muttering, "I need another hostess gift", repeatedly, for a couple of weeks. Like a child, standing in front of the open refrigerator, and claiming "there is nothing to eat", I, myself, stood in front of my pantry shelves, unsure if I could find yet another gift, for another impromptu invitation, or a made-from-scratch holiday treat for our celebrations.
Fortunately, pantry shelves hide many treasures, waiting for inspiration and festive packaging, yet with minimal fuss.
I did get that Buche de Noel done. I baked, filled and rolled up the cake and kept it frozen until Christmas Eve day. On the 24th, I took it out of the freezer and iced it. Then shortly before serving, I added some leaves (baby kale), and "berries" (red skittles), plus a dusting of snow (confectioner's sugar). I didn't make a side branch on my yule log, as I sometimes think those make the log look too stumpy. Plus my serving tray is long and narrow. I'm not sure a side branch would have fit very well.
I needed a last-minute hostess gift for a family we know. They are vegan and eat very little sugar. So, this was a challenge for me. I came up with a jar of trail mix, combining dried cranberries, pecan halves, roasted sunflower seeds, roasted almonds and pretzels. All of these were pantry items for us. And the jar was one of those nice square jars that I salvaged from the recycle bin at our church. I tied the neck of the jar with some raffia and red and white twine.
I found half-pints of heavy whipping cream marked down to 25 cents each. I bought 4 half-pints. At least half of it I used to make some rich chocolate ice cream, to save for my daughters's birthday this March. It's in the freezer right now, packed in a 1-qt container, with a sheet of plastic wrap between the top of the ice cream and the plastic lid. That should keep frost to a minimum.
I needed a small gift bag for another hostess gift to some friends. I turned to printed out sheet music and some reused red satin ribbon to make my own.
A couple of gifts for girlfriends came from my home canning, a jar of spiced fig jam and a jar of sweet cherry preserves. Simple presentation of jars tied with raffia, red and white twine and a sprig of rosemary.
