Re: Xmas Present Opinions
If you are really good at cooking, my personal thing would be to bake fresh cookies or some truly decadent fudge... but that is simply me. It's inexpensive, yummy, and shows some thought and effort (unless everyone really hates that stuff or something).
Just my two cents.
And a housedad? That's something I have never heard of before - how is he the same or different from a housemom?
McCain
Re: Xmas Present Opinions
actually, that is a REALLY good idea that i didn't think of. I'll bake cookies and that way it's for everyone in mgmt, no complaints. I suppose I'll still throw in the boxes of chocolates for the 2 mgrs - In fact, I HAVE to give the chocolates, b/c i need to request some time off for a trip. Gotta grease that wheel!
Thanx McCain - perfect idea :)
and yes, it's random and weird, but we have a housedad. i've got mixed feelings about him. he's straight, in his late 40's, married hairdresser. He's a nice guy and funny as hell with his "what da fuck" brooklyn attitude. I guess that we're so used to him by now, we don't even notice that he's a house"dad" rather than "mom". I've never seen or heard of another housedad, come to think of it!
Re: Xmas Present Opinions
Feel free to hurl things at me if this is too martha stewart (because, my god, that woman is truly frightening) but you can bake cake in jars and give them out. Or banana bread, or pumpkin bread or whatever. And I find it easier than cookies. With cookies I have camp in front of the stupid oven for like 2 hours because I can only bake 12 at a time and they only stay in the oven for like 10 minutes. Canning jars are about $1.00 per 500mL jar. There is about 3 servings in that, so you could get the even less expensive 250 or 125 mL jars. Cake is just flour and sugar so that is really cheap, so that is about $1.50 a gift. And people really seem to like it. I made a whole bunch for a one time girlfriend to take into her office for Christmas. Everyone said I "was a keeper." But, you know, apparently not. Anyway, back to cake. If you are interested I can post recipe and directions.
Re: Xmas Present Opinions
I have a kickass cookie recipe if anyone wants it! ;D
PS - I want the cake in jars recipe....
Re: Xmas Present Opinions
Also maybe make sure no one is diabetic. Opt for sugarless baked goods, that are still sweet!
Pamela
Re: Xmas Present Opinions
Actually, though my boyfriend can get more Martha Stewart than I can ( i swear he's the most domestic straight man i know), I can be quite M.S., and am always looking for new good recipes. Send me both - the jar one (which sounds like a very cool concept ) and the cookie one, Kermit. my bf is a cookie freak.and i'm tired of chocolate chip & walnut.
The jar one sounds good b/c i live in a manhattan apt, so my oven is like 1/2 the size of a regular oven, so i can even get a large cookie tray to fit in there properly!
Re: Xmas Present Opinions
Cake in a jar.
1) Use a wide necked jar. If your jars have a curving neck you won't be able to get your cake out. I have included an illustration.
2) I am assuming that you are making this cake in 500mL or 1 pint jars. That is 3 large servings. You can make it with any size, with pretty much any recipe although you can't frost. You just fill the jars half way and bake for the reccommended time.
3) Ingredients
/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 cups mashed bananas (you can apparently substitute other fruit or veggie, like pumpkin to make pumpkin cake. I haven't tried it yet though).
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup chopped pecans
4.1 Grease your jars. The above list should make 8 jars, but I find I always overfill and get six. Don't overfill. Preheat your oven to 325.
4.2 Cream together your shortening (I use butter flavoured shortening because it smells better) and sugar. Then mix in your eggs, bananas and water.
4.3 Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Mix into banana stuff and then add nuts.
4.4 Pour or spoon or whatever into the jars. If you have a cake decorator that would work well. Keep the rims clean, or failing that wipe them off when you are finished. HALF FULL! A little less is better than a little more. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven.
4.5 While you are baking boil the lids. When 45 minutes is up, take the jars 1 at a time out of the oven, wipe the rims and the lids and put on lid and ring. Don't worry about tightening the ring excessively, because it is all hot and expanded and it really only needs to be holding on the lid which will form a vaccuum as the cake begins to cool. You should hear a ping as the vaccuum is formed; I never hear it (because of the overfilling), but if you miss it press on the button in the centre of the lid. If it doesn't move at all, you're fine. If it does, maybe I missed something.
Sealed properly it will keep for at least 6 weeks (although I have heard reports of it remaining good nearly a year after the canning date, probably not wise to experiment to far in that direction.) If you didn't get it to seal properly you can store it in the fridge for a week.
Don't be scared of baking the jars. I only say because I was kind of apprehensive the first time (and yet I went ahead. This tells you everything you need to know about me). It's fine. The clinking noise you may hear and think is the jar getting ready to explode and leave you are your family is a messy bloodbath is probably just the lids being agitated in the boiling water (again with the personal experience). The vaccuum is very, very tight. You will need to pry the flat lid off with a spoon. If you try to use your nails you will hurt yourself.
Oh, and this is not mine. I found it on a website. Oh, and use a cookie sheet for your jars or they will fall over in the oven. This is actually a very quick recipe. I just include a lot of details because the jars tend to scare people.
Re: Xmas Present Opinions
LOL just goto the store and buy some already made ones that you just have to bake! they taste pretty good!