Great Gift Ideas From Your Kitchen
When I tried an old favorite recipe in the microwave
oven and it worked well, my husband was inspired. �Why wouldn�t that
be good for Christmas gifts?� he asked. I was shocked. He�s never paid
any attention to whatever I�ve concocted for food gifts before.
But I�m learning age does funny things to men.
He�s washing his own socks now. He�s decided that is the best way to
make sure they match and don�t disappear. He makes the iced tea
regularly and corrects me if I try. I don�t do it right.
Well, all this is good news, as other wives will
agree. What took so long?
Fortunately, I remember this stage of life with my
mom and dad so I know it is normal. Mom happily relinquished all the
things that she didn�t do right either. She just played more bridge.
But his idea was a good one.
The 1-2-3 Fudge Sauce was in the Virginia Press
Women�s cookbook that I bought in 1963. Mrs. Donald H. Parker of
Williamsburg contributed it. I found it quite good but didn�t make it
often � it required a double boiler. Recently, though, I decided to give
it a try in the microwave.
I should have done that sooner! Much easier and even
better. It sometimes turned out grainy with the old method but this time I
also used my handy little beater and the sauce was nice and smooth �
perfect for gift giving.
Spiced or candied pecans are gifts that we often
either give or receive, always happily.
However, spiced walnuts is a new idea for us. Perhaps
we�re used to pecans instead of walnuts because they are so prevalent in
the South. Walnuts, however, are often less expensive and, we�ve found,
they spice quite nicely.
The candied pecan recipe we�ve used for years is
incredibly high calorie � lots of butter and sugar. These walnut recipes
use no butter, egg whites and spices. A good gift for the diet conscious
or just for your own snacking. More and more I�m seeing walnuts or
pecans, glazed, in tossed salads. Either of these recipes, Indian Spiced
or Cajun Spiced Walnuts are good in salads.
For gifts for your sweets lovers, we�ve tried
Christmas Spirits and Peanut Butter Fudge.
All the recipes we tested are for busy cooks who,
still, want to give a gift from their kitchen.
The Christmas Spirits are a version of rum balls that
use coffee liqueur or rum. We liked the spirited balls with coffee
liqueur.
And, finally, if you�re looking for a recipe so
easy that your younger children can help, or, even make it, Peanut Butter
Fudge is both simple and good.
INDIAN SPICED WALNUTS
Ingredients:
