There's something about Christmas that brings out my inner craft maven. Whenever the holidays roll around, I break out the glue gun or begin looking for something to create in my kitchen and share with people. No matter how small or simple, it's always been the gifts from the heart that I've treasured most.
How To Make Hot Chocolate In The Slow Cooker
You can involve the kids and give them a sense of ownership over their gift giving by setting aside an afternoon and stirring up a snack mix or some hot chocolate for a friend. Include a card, tie with a pretty ribbon and include a cinnamon ornament, and you have a gift to remember long after the holiday ends.
Hot Chocolate Mix
Package mix in mason jars with a pretty ribbon and instructions attached. You could also get very creative and attach mini marshmallows in a small bag, with a note saying the following, You've been naughty, here's the scoop! All you are getting is snowman poop! Even young kids can help mix and pour. Using a canning funnel to pour the finished mix into mason jars will help to keep your counters clean.
Ingredients:
2 cups skim milk powder
3/4 cup instant dissolving (fruit/berry) sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
2 cups mini marshmallows.
Sift together the skim milk powder, sugar, cinnamon (if using) and cocoa. Stir in marshmallows. Spoon into an airtight container and seal. Makes about 3 cups. To make, mix 1/4 cup of mix with 1 cup of hot milk.
Adapted from Canadian Living's Holiday Best 2001
Cinnamon Cookie Ornaments
These ornaments have been a favourite in our house for years, and if handled carefully, can last for a very long time. These are best for older teens to help you make, as they are pretty fragile.
Ingredients:
1 cup cinnamon
3/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup white glue
a glue gun
drinking straw
pom poms, buttons, puffy textured paint, ribbon Mix the ingredients together to form a dough. Turn out onto a cinnamon dusted surface and knead, then roll out to about 1/4-1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. I allowed mine to dry on wire baking cooling racks for a few days. To put a hole in the top, just cut one by pressing the straw through the dough in the desired spot. If you choose to let them dry on a metal rack, the underside might be 'stained' from the metal. When they are fully dried, decorate by using a hot glue gun to attach small pom poms or ribbon, and try puffy textured paint like icing for noses and eyes. Gingerbread man shapes really work well with this, because they look like real cookies and then smell nice too!
**Note that these are fairly fragile decorations, and if dropped or handled roughly they will break-much like cookies.
Home made Kool Aid Playdough
Kool Aid makes wonderfully scented and vividly coloured playdough. For young children's stockings, whip up a batch and include dollar store cookie cutters, a new place mat, and a toy rolling pin.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup water Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool-Aid in a medium sized pot. Add water and oil, stirring until it forms a dough. Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes and when mixture forms a ball in pot, remove. It will be the consistency of mashed potatoes. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead until smooth.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge.
Gingerbread Shreddies Snack Mix
A sweeter version of snack mix, this gingery flavor will be delicious after all the indulgences of Christmas. What I love is that there is no MSG, piles of salt, or other flavor chemicals that you may not want to be eating. It's delicious! Tie up in a cellophane bag with a pretty ribbon for teachers, grandparents, or the mailman.
4 cups Shreddies cereal
1 cup each pecan pieces and almonds
2 cups mini pretzels sticks or twists
1 cup pumpkin seeds (I used unsalted)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp each ground ginger and cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
pinch ground cloves
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips (I omitted them) Pre-heat oven to 250 F. Spread the pecans and almonds on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven, allowing them to bake for about 15 minutes until toasted and fragrant. Put them aside to cool, then chop. In a large bowl mix together the cereal, pretzels, pecans, almonds, and pumpkin seeds. Toss. Set aside. In a saucepan on the stove, melt together the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and ground cloves, stirring until smooth. Drizzle over the cereal mix, tossing as you go to get everything evenly coated. Spread the mixture onto two rimmed baking sheets and put in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, and bake until golden and fragrant. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before tossing with the cranberries and chocolate chips. Store in a sealed container for up to a few weeks.
Makes 12 cups
Adapted from BakeFest 2010
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