Anyone have any recipes for jar mixes to give as gifts?

[netmechwife]

This year for our parents and married couples in the family DH and I are making romance baskets. We wanted to include some of the canning jars with ingredients for soups, cookies, etc. You know the kind the receipients just add the wet ingredients and stir? Any ideas? I think I can just use a regular recipe and omit the wet ingredients. Is that correct? I am hoping these turn out nice. We don't have a lot of money this year and wanted to do something really special. Thanks for your help.

[KarlaB]

Here are a few links! :)

http://recipestoday.com/resources/articles/gifts.htm

http://www.geocities.com/giftsinajar/index.htm

http://www.makestuff.com/foodstuff/mixes.html
http://www.kitchenlink.com/cgi/public_frames?page=holiday/merrygifts

http://frugalhomemaker.com/giftsinajar.htm

[RCT]

wow, thanks.....this looks like a fun and interesting gift idea...

[Diane]

These are always a big hit... I received two last year as Christmas gifts and I gave out about 5 of them myself. Everyone seemed to enjoy getting them. I know I did. :) Thanks for the sites.

Diane... :wave:

[netmechwife]

Thank you so much KarlaB. That makes my planning much easier. I love making gift baskets and I think these ideas will fit great in my romance baskets!

Have you ever tried any of the jar breads? It sounds interesting but I'm wondering what they are like.

[KarlaB]

I haven't tried any of the jar breads. I actually haven't even made any of the jars, but I did get one from my sil once that she bought. :) I would like to make a few this year.

[littlesista06]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Diane P.
[B]These are always a big hit... I received two last year as Christmas gifts and I gave out about 5 of them myself.....

Diane P - what kind did you give and receive??

[littlesista06]

KarlaB - just checked out those recipe sites They are great!!
I'm going to do the "Snowman Soup" (frugalhomemaker.com) and add it to cute Santa mugs I have!! I can't wait!!!
Thanks for posting those!!

[KarlaB]

You're welcome! Everyone needs to post back ofter the holidays and share favorites! :)

[arianna]

MM! I surfed upon this page this morning and thought of this post. It has links to mix recipes and a crochet pattern to cover the jar. Really cute.
http://members.aol.com/lffunt/snococoa.html

ßß!

[Diane]

THANKS!!! :) Great site.

Diane... :wave:

[Lynda/WA]

I have literally thousands of these recipes. Unfortunately most of them are in books. If you're looking for something specific let me know. I can type it in. Otherwise my typed in recipes for mixes and related recipes is at nearly 500. I'll post some of the more interesting ones but don't want to overwelm this site!

If you are interested in doing this I suggest pulling them off the net from the sites Karla and Arianna gave and filing them since a large number of the circulating ones come from the same series of books and the author has been contacting webmasters to take them off as she finds them. In fact you will see that on one of the sites posted. The author I am refering to is Jackie Gannaway. She has a series of booklets called Layers of Love Collection from Cookbook Cupboards. The books are 3.95 a piece plus shipping. I ordered my first ones from her direct in 96. I think she's on the web now but not possitive. Otherwise one of Karla's sites gives the 1-800 #. Since then they have started poping up in craft stores and other places on the net. The titles I have and know of are *Mixes For Cocoas, Teas, and Cappuccinos*, *Cookies in a Jar*, *Bread in a Flowerpot*, *Brownies in a Jar*, *Cake in a Jar*, *Many More Mixes*, *Gift Goodies - Food Gifts and mixes*,*Gift Mixes*, Mix it Up!*,*Gingerbread*, and *Muffins in a Jar*. Nearly all if not everyone of the recipes from Cookies in a Jar is already floating on the web.

Word of warning about the Cake in a Jar recipes. It isn't considered safe to *can* cakes in jars. That has been proven scientifically and warning put out by the officials. If you do this they need to be refridgerated.

There's also a series of books you can probably get at your library. Leisure Arts puts out the Memories in the Making and Gifts of Good Taste series plus similar books. These books give some mix and other food gift recipes. Plus they give ideas for presentation. I love these books!

Another series is by Gooseberry Patch. The annual Christmas book (3 so far) have a couple of mix recipes and many other gift ideas. They also have a spiral bound series for various holidays and themes. I think they are on the web and sell premade items as well. I did hear one complaint about service but don't know how reliable.

Others you can try - Make A Mix, More Make a Mix both by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover. Make Your Own Groceries by Hartwig. Make Your Own Mixes and Prepared Foods by Ben Howard. None of these have layered mixes but all have both mixes and various recipes to use them. The Perfect Mix by Diane Phillips is another good one.

Or you can try modifying your own favorite recipe. Most leave out the liquids and margaine. Some include crisco. If its something you want added after mixing like M&Ms you can put it in a baggie. And if you want to prevent dry ingreients from sifting (ie flour from on top of choc. chips) you can insert a round piece of paper. I'd recommend making these on a dry day when you aren't cooking. I was given one where the brown sugar had hardened together. I think it had picked up moisture. also don't make them to early. That same one was a little stale.
And do a test run. Layer the ingredients then dump and bake. I've made the Dreamscicle cookies (with Tang) and found them waaaay to sweet. I won't be giving them away. The kids enjoyed them though! This will also help you figure out how hard you need to pack. Some take alot of packing. My mom demonstrated this for Homemakers club and needed to place some of the M&Ms in a baggie that she attached to the side.

If you are making a drink mix you may wish to use the lid from a Kraft parmasen cheese container. It will fit perfectly on either a regular mouth mason jar or a mayo jar. It's nice because it has a opening for a spoon and it looks better than a traditional screw on lid.

On Carol Duvall's HGTV show last year she showed etching the jar and them decorating it with a special stamp. The stamp was the instructions for mixing the ingredients. I've never seen these stamps and last I checked the web site (last year) it was under construction.

Ever noticed I can't answer anything with less than a book!

[RCT]

Originally posted by Lynda/WA

Ever noticed I can't answer anything with less than a book!


ROFLMAOPMP......but you sure are informative....:biglaugh:

Hey didn't you post about a million of these on one of the old boards.....can't DavidL retrieve them? I sorta remember you posting alot of great gift ideas.....

[Diane]

Originally posted by Lynda/WA
Ever noticed I can't answer anything with less than a book!

Just proves how talented you are... Thanks for all the info...

Diane... :wave:

[Diane]

[i]Word of warning about the Cake in a Jar recipes. It isn't considered safe to *can* cakes in jars. That has been proven scientifically and warning put out by the officials. If you do this they need to be refridgerated. /B]

Thanks for the warning... I wasn't aware that these needed to be refridgerated. I received two of them as gifts last year and now I'm thinking that I was lucky that I used them both within a week after I received them. I never would have thought to refridgerate them.

Diane... :wave:

[netmechwife]

Thanks for all the great ideas and book references! I am going to save the book titles in a list and look for them.