DIY Christmas Gifts

A special installment of DIY gift guide. Christmas can be sooo expensive and tiring when you are making a million trips to the local mall for gifts. Why not spend the arvo chilling out with your favourite music, friends or pet and make some gifts? If not the ones below, perhaps it can inspire you to bottle up your specialty produce or get creative and make something unique.

Peri Peri Sauce

I am a wee bit of a chilli sauce fan... So giving a gift of chilli sauce is only natural for me.

Ingredients (no measurements on this one guys)

Tomato Sauce
Tobasco Sauce
Lime rind and juice
sweet chilli sauce
a good handful of fresh red chillis
worstershire sauce
One big red onion
Plain oil
chilli flakes

Blend all the ingredients together, use more lime juice and tomato sauce to make it mild and more chilli's for hotter etc. You will have to be brave and do the finger dip test for flavour until you get it right. My husband found this one out the hard way!

Source: An english chef friend of mine kindly passed on the recipie. Photos: Monika Berry.

Choc Chip Cookies - the BEST ever

I found this recipie on A Cup of Jo, I'm a sucker for a good cookie and these DID NOT disappoint.

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or chunks
Sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Source: A Cup of Jo
Photography: Monika Berry

Fresh Herb Christmas Cards

Found on Frolic-Blog, a gorgeous way to dress up a holiday ham, hamper or homemade savoury produce. Click here for directions.

Source: Frolic-Blog

Doggie Treat Jar

With my friends, we are pretty much all parents to fluffy kids. We discuss them over dinner as if they were actual humans! So giving a gift for a pooch is kind of ideal in this current phase of our lives.

Pretty Fluffy has provided this tutorial on DIY Treat Jars.