How do I get Fall-loco/ How to DIY Presents for the holidays

November 5, 2006 3:07 PM

Double Question: Favorite Fall Traditions/Make your own winter-holidays gifts

1) What are some of your favorite fall traditions (cooking, decorating, bundling up?). I am trying to get "in the spirit" but low on inspiration.

2) I am a poor grad student. What kinds of gifts can I make for friends and family this holiday season. I want to get on it and do it well ( I am not all that crafty, ie no knitting, but I am happy to experiment with new and exciting projects)

Thanks.

posted by Meemer to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (16 answers total)

My sister made me curry paste last christmas. To make it properly you need to collect lots of hard to find ingredients, and once it's made your batch is always to big for just one person, so it makes sense to jar a bunch of it and give it to other people. She's also made me chutney before, and I've made "everything but the egg and butter" brownie mix before as a gift.
posted by furtive at 3:59 PM on November 5, 2006

I make all my own christmas cards. I do it by cutting all the different shapes out of different colors of cardstock(kinda like southpark before they went digital), which is a little time consuming/messy, but fun and colorful.
Every year in school when I was very small we'd take strips of construction paper and glue them into interlocking rings, one for everyday until Christmas. Everyday you tear a ring off the chain.
I save boxes and ribbons and scraps of fabric all year round for elaborate gift wrapping without spending as much on the packaging as I did on the gift. Cover shoeboxes with fabric for lovely gift boxes. They look so good, I still have one from years ago that I keep my stationary in, and I know my sister kept one too(don't feel guilty if you don't still have it, J).
This year I cut little strips out of fabric and tied bows in the branches of my tiny, fake christmas tree. I make a little tree skirt out of the same fabric as well.
Gingerbread cookies are easy to make and ship well. Gingerbread houses are also way easier to make than you think. I've lost my house template, but I used this recipe to make these cute little superhero cookies last year.
I have nowhere near the time nor the love of fruitcake to try it, but there's an episode of Good Eats all about making fruitcake, if you have the time and the cash and the patience to undertake it.
Egg nog is like bottled Christmas Spirit. It's easier to make than fruitcake, too.
I'd love more ideas on foods that ship well. Everyone I know lives out of state, and I like cooking for people. Cookies seems boring, and I can't can/preserve.
posted by Juliet Banana at 4:00 PM on November 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

It's a bit late for this, but my friends and I have an interesting Halloween tradition. Every year we have an Ancestor's Feast, where we each bring a dish of food that would have been traditional to our ancestors, and have a potluck. For example, I would cook something Mennonite or Welsh, my partner would make something Scottish, etc. We learn about our ancestry, get the chance to make wierd food, and have a fun potluck with our friends.

On the off chance that you don't know your cultural ancestry, making something that your grandparents used to cook for you (or maybe still do!) works as well.
posted by arcticwoman at 4:39 PM on November 5, 2006

My mom and I make a variety of cookies and pack them up in festive boxes to give to our friends and non-immediate family members. Everyone loves them - in fact they can't wait until the holidays because that's the only time we make baklava.
posted by miss meg at 4:39 PM on November 5, 2006

Unless you're going to learn to knit (which is easy and fun and I completely recommend), then give food in tins.

I have a cousin who always makes a huge batch of peanut brittle and gives each family a tin of it. It's usually gone in a couple of days, and holiday gatherings involve going to the other family's house to try to poach some of theirs.

A friend of the family does a similar thing with pfefferneusse, little rock-hard power-sugar-coated anise cookies. They are fantastic and keep well -- so they can be made 600 at a time, on whatever weekend you have the time, or in smaller batches over a month. You dunk them in hot drink to eat them; they are amazing.
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:00 PM on November 5, 2006

I make fudge every year, the recipe was from the back of the name brand marshmallow creme jar, for some reason they don't have the microwave recipe anymore. The one year I didn't make it, I heard about it until the next Christmas.

The fudge is made in the microwave and is super easy to make, you can add pecans or walnuts if you want to get fancy.


MICROWAVE FUDGE

3 cups sugar
3/4 c. butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 (5 1/3 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips or butterscotch chips
1 (7 1/2 oz.) jar marshmallow creme
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

In a 5 quart glass casserole combine sugar, butter and milk. Cover with plastic wrap. Cook on high 9 to 12 minutes. (Stir twice during this time.) or until sugar is dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and stir until chips are melted. Turn into a well greased 9 by 13 inch dish. Cut into squares and serve. Makes 5 pounds.

Cook's notes: Use largest pyrex glass mixing bowl. Non-stick spray works great to grease pan. Never make fudge when it is raining, (fudge will never harden).
posted by JujuB at 5:33 PM on November 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

I've done Bourbon Braised Applesauce, which was AMAZING (but I have trees... though in this day and age, Costco makes DIY fruit canning pretty affordable if you don't. The linked recipe has nowhere close to enough spices or Bourbon, imho) Peppermint Bark, Felted Wool Potholders and Oven Mitts (go to thrift store, buy sweaters in wool, angora or cashmere, shrink in a hot wash, cut out and stitch up with wool yard in cute patchwork patterns). Oh, and my family now has a tradition of playing Holiday Charades on Christmas Eve... you could write up the cards for something like that. I can't tell you how classic some of those moments are for us!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:53 PM on November 5, 2006

My mother made spiced nuts (from the cook's illustrated recipe) for gifts last year. She put them in bags and bought cheap little decorated baskets for them, but of course you could make your own. It isn't that exepensive if you shop around a little for the nuts.
posted by MadamM at 6:20 PM on November 5, 2006

Fall, to me, is a time for hot drinks. This includes, but is not limited to, hot apple cider, mulled wine, and hot buttered rum.

I also like cooking comfort foods: pot pies, soups, anything apple (crisps are the easiest thing for me to make).

And one thing that I really associate with fall is going to Friday night football games at my high school all bundled up and drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn. That one's probably just me, though.
posted by anjamu at 6:46 PM on November 5, 2006

anything chocolate coated is impressive. if you can find some good chocolate at a decent price (try places like trader joe's or cost plus, if they are in your area), you can make some really cool goodies that make nice gifts.

chocolate-coated oreos are really expensive to buy in gift catalogs and stores, but reasonably cheap to make, and they always look and taste decadent. trader joes has their own oreo-like brand called joe-joe's that is pretty decent and cheaper than the real deal. their candy-cane variety would be very tasty when dipped in chocolate and put into a nice little tin or hand decorated box.

i just melt the chocolate slowly (best to do it in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water) and stir it till it's smooth, then dip each item in with chopsticks and lay them on a cookie sheet coated with foil to cool completely. other things you could do this with would be pretzels, nuts, various other cookies -- even orange slices are really good. you just have to be really careful not to let any moisture fall into the chocolate or it will get really weird and chunky.

another cheap and quick holiday goodie i often make is just some yummy brownies (boxed are fine), spread (when completely cool) with white frosting and sprinkled with chopped candy canes -- which you can sometimes even get free in candy dishes in businesses! these are really rich, so you have to cut them small -- but you can make a lot of them inexpensively and they seem to go over big when given as gifts.

whatever you do, just be creative and remember it really is the thought that counts. i'd rather receive a thoughtful handmade gift than any of the tacky stuff people get in stores just because they feel obligated.

hope some of this helps. good luck!
posted by doplgangr at 6:54 PM on November 5, 2006

A friend of the family does a similar thing with pfefferneusse, little rock-hard power-sugar-coated anise cookies.

Lobstermitten: Oh my god, I love pfefferneusse. Recipe, by any chance? Please?
posted by hilatron at 7:29 PM on November 5, 2006

hilatron: Don't I wish. I've been present for the making, but their recipe is a family secret. There are recipes on the internet, which I've tried with moderate success; your googling is as good as mine there. Sigh. They're sooo good. The first year they sent them to us, I dreamed about them for the rest of the winter.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:27 PM on November 5, 2006

Fall traditions!

-Making the first big warm pot of soup of the cold-weather season. At my house we had potato leek this week.
-Warm some cider with cinnamon. For an insanely good drink, mix it half and half with dark rum and pop a cinnamon stick in.
-Walking where you can shuffle through a pile of dry leaves
-Buying a couple cool-looking gourds in the grocery store and setting them on your table where you can see them in the morning when you eat breakfast.
-Going apple picking, if you live where you can do that.
-Making pies. Chicken pot pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie. Whatever kinda pie you like.
-I always kinda feel like the Bringing out of the Sweaters, Coats, and Hats From Storage and the Putting Away of the Bathing Suits, Shorts, and Tank Tops is a bit of a nice fall ritual. It's fun. Same with First Day of Turning on Furnace. But then, I'm easily amused.
-Volunteering for your local elections board. Just a thought!
-Roasting the pumpkin seeds from your Halloween pumpkin with butter, chile powder, and cumin.
posted by Miko at 8:29 PM on November 5, 2006

Best answer: I live is Seattle and a lot of people I've become friends with have moved here from other parts of the country. Some of them, for various reasons, can't or don't like to travel to their family's homes for Thanksgiving so we started the tradition of "Orphanz Thanksgiving".
Basically, someone decides to offer their home for the event and is responsible for making the turkey. Everyone else brings their favorite dishes and we eat ourselves silly. It used to be a all day hangout event, but that's gotten difficult as we get older, have familys, etc.
Orphanz is usually held the day after traditional Thanksgiving, but we'll sometimes move date if it means we can accomodate more people.
This year will the the tenth year we've done it...it's one of the highlights of my year!
posted by black8 at 10:52 PM on November 5, 2006

For general fall mood-setting, I like mulled apple cider. You can go simple: just throw in a cinnamon stick and heat, or more complex: a cheese cloth bag with cloves, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, and whatever else you like. Especially good for drinking after a walk on a cool day.

For gifts, Buy Nothing Christmas has a lot of ideas. They are a Christian organization, but there's lots there for low-cost celebrating regardless of your level or type of faith. The Alternatives section has lots of ideas (some better than others) that have been submitted by people.

I'm not particularly crafty either, but some of the things that I've done are babysitting coupons for new parents and making a recipe book for a friend of all our favourite recipes.
posted by carmen at 6:55 AM on November 6, 2006

My family gets together and makes fudge from scratch, using my grandmother's recipe. It's a serious workout - hand mixing fudge takes a long time. But then we cut it up and put it in candy boxes and give it to lots of friends. Seems to be a hit.

I do think, though, that there is excessive food giving during the holidays. It might be appreciated if you gave/made something else. Two of my friends have joined pottery studios, and the best part of that (from my perpective) is that we've all been given beautiful homemade pottery - tea light holders, vases, bowls. That doesn't seem to be overly difficult. Other friends concocted some sort of cranberry alcoholic beverage and bottled it and gave everyone their own bottle. That was fun too. I've also been given homemade bath products - there are sea salt concoctions that can be made - and decorated candles (you can decorate them with beeswax and leaves). You could make photo-albums for your friends/family. You could make Luminarias for friends.

I love apple picking, and haunted houses, snow ball fights, hot cocoa in front of a fire, preferably after some snow activity like cross country skiing. Hot apple cidar too. Down hill skiing too. Cozy weekends in cabins. Wood fires all around. Cool boots and pretty coats. Eggnog. Winter soups. Hearty food in general - pot roast. Pretty outdoor lights. Luminarias. Lantern festivals/Saint George lantern walks.
posted by Amizu at 7:53 AM on November 6, 2006