5 Quick and Easy Homemade Food Gifts

The_Stir
Image via theogeo/Flickr
Image via theogeo/Flickr

Teacher presents, graduations, birthdays, hostess gifts, thanks-for-watching-my-dog-for-the-weekend gifts. It feels like I've needed all of these just within the last couple of weeks.

I love to show appreciation to people around me, but my ideas don't always match my cash flow situation.

It's times like these that I always go back to some of the best gifts people have given me: FOOD!

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Here are five of my favorite quick and easy food gifts:

Chocolate-dipped anything: You can dip so many thing in chocolate: apricots, strawberries, Oreos -- even potato chips. Who doesn't love chocolate? That's right -- nobody!

Go nuts: Toss your favorite nuts like pecans, almonds, or walnuts in egg whites, dip in cinnamon and sugar, and bake for an hour. Sweet and salty -- the perfect combo.

Image via whitneyinchicago/Flickr
Image via whitneyinchicago/Flickr

Breakfast with a bow: Do you see all those spotted bananas at the grocery store? Take them home and make a dozen mini loaves of banana bread. You can wrap them in foil, freeze them, and pull them out whenever you need a little something to give.

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Cordials and liquors: When life gives you lemons -- make Limoncello! It's especially nice in the summer and only requires a handful of ingredients.

Sugar: It's as easy as it sounds: Fill a mason jar with sugar and insert one or two whole vanilla beans and a handful of dried lavender or cinnamon. The fragrance alone is a gift. Flavored sugar can be used for baking, for sweetening teas and coffees, or a sweet sprinkling over a fruit salad.

What is your best recipe for homemade gifts?

Written by Amy Jo Jones for CafeMom's blog, The Stir.

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