GIFTS FROM THE KITCHEN AND THE HEART

Gifts from the Kitchen and the Heart

            Holiday shopping may be where it is ‘at’ presently, but there is another way to tackle that unfilled shopping list. Cooking in all its forms has often been defined as a labor of love, a gift from the cook to those meant to share the food created. So, what better expression of that warm sharing than those gifts created in your kitchen?

            We usually try to find an individualized gift meant to please the receiver both in appearance, taste and size. With gifts from the kitchen you can omit any worries about size unless the receiver is a gourmand and would find the offering insufficient. But they are likely to be polite and just try to savor the gift. If you make preserves of special pickles you can even partially fill your Holiday list during the summer and early autumn and store the product in a cool dark place until the gifting season.

            As for appearance, packaging can still be done with a lacy ribbon or sprig of winterberry and the edible part is beautiful by definition. And it is very easy to individually tailor gifts to the taste of the receiver. There is that special friend who always needs to receive dilly beans and dill pickles, different family members are partial to currant jelly or peach conserve, others like blueberry jam and the grandchildren always count on gram’s lemony chocolate chip cookies.

            With family and friends scattered far and wide these days, such personalized gifts also send with them the flavor of long held relationships. A special example is my memory of the year my younger son was traveling the world with a backpack and two cameras. For 6 months we had communicated by letter (before the time of universal email), which I had to send to cities or towns at ”Poste Restante”, where he would pick up his mail. Christmas came and I sent him a large coffee can filled with buttery cookies from a family recipe to Auckland, New Zealand in care of “Poste Restante”.  Apparently he made quite a spectacle sitting on the wide Auckland post office steps outside and eating every one of those cookies right there. I never did ask him if he got a stomach ache.

            Baked gifts are particular favorites this season and can be both savory and sweet. Many cookie recipes make 3 to 4 dozen cookies, which can be distributed for more than one recipient. Gluten free versions can be made easily of many of these, by substituting rice flour for wheat flour. Some of my favorite gifts are savory crisps made with cheese and pecans.

                        Savory Manchego Crisps

            Preheat oven to 350 degrees . Toss thoroughly 3 cups coarsely shredded aged Manchego cheese with 2 Tblsp. flour (or 3 Tblsp. rice flour for gluten free). Spoon level tablespoons of mixture 4 inches apart on parchment lined baking pans, spreading the mounds slightly. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool crisps completely on the pan and remove with a thin spatula. Will keep for several days stored in an airtight container between layers of wax paper (36 crisps)

                                    Pecan Cheese Crisps

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix 1 ½ cups coarsely shredded Parmesan cheese (6oz) with ¾ cups toasted chopped pecans. Place 1 Tblsp. on parchment lined baking sheet, slightly flatten and bake 7-8 minutes. Cool and store like Manchego crisps. (24 + crisps)

            The recipe of Lemon squares originally came from my friend Jane Button and has deliciously served many throughout the years. (24 + crisps)

                                    Lemon Coconut Squares

            Blend 1 ½ cups flour with ½ cup packed brown sugar in a bowl and cut in ½ cup cold butter until crumbly. Spray a 13x9 inch glass dish with a butter flavored baking spray. Press the flour mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and bake at 250 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile combine: 2 beaten eggs, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 ½ cups shredded coconut, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 2 Tblsp. four, ¼ tsp. salt, ½ tsp. baking powder and ½ tsp. vanilla. Spread on top of the baked crust mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. While baking, combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tblsp. melted butter and juice of 1 lemon. Drizzle lemon mixture over the baked cake while still warm. Allow the flavors to blend overnight, before cutting in desired size squares. Cookies will keep in pan lightly covered for several days.

            Most cooks have their own Holiday favorites to savor and to gift and as these gifts are created in the kitchen their aromas continue to fill the house as added harbingers of  the season.

            (I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)