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Friday, December 17, 2010

Friday Favorites: Five Spice Blends to Give for a Homemade Christmas Gift

Five spice blends
Five Spice Blends to give for a Christmas Gift.

Through the years I've discovered some favorite spice and herb blends that I like to mix up in large batches and give as Christmas gifts.  When I manage to plan ahead, I order small glass jars to put the spice mix in, but I've also given them in mini zip-top bags with the recipe stapled on.  If you're looking for easy ideas for a food-related gift, here are five of my favorites, starting with the Rosemary and Garlic Herb Rub above that's delicious on pork, chicken, or salmon.

If you have steak-lovers on your Christmas list, this homemade Montreal Steak Seasoning can make a very popular gift. 

One of my favorite spice blends is a Moroccan Spice Mix I discovered in Fine Cooking Magazine.  Through the years I've used this mix on Crispy Roasted Chickpeas, Roasted Carrots, and Roasted Butternut Squash.

One of the first herb blends I made and shared on the blog was this Rosemary Salt, my own version of a rosemary salt blend I purchased at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market in San Francisco.


And finally, I'm guessing the most popular spice mix I've ever given as a gift would be the Spicy Sweet Potato Fries Spice Mix.  This spice mix can also be used to make Spicy Crockpot Sweet Potatoes.

More Ideas for Homemade Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen:
Ten Great Homemade Food Gifts, and No Cooking Required for Some from BlogHer.com
Spice Up Your Christmas Gift Giving with Ten Ideas for Homemade Spice Mixes from BlogHer.com
Homemade Food Gift Ideas from Brown-Eyed Baker
40 Homemade Gifts from The Kitchn
Homemade Gift Ideas from Eliza Domestica

What's Your Favorite Homemade Christmas Food Gift?
Let us know in the comments about what would be your favorite homemade food gift to give or receive at Christmas time.
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11 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I love to give spice blends also. When I mix them, I feel a bit like a mad scientist!

Dinners and Dreams said...

This is a gift that would totally make me happy if I received it. tHERE ARE SO MANY USES FOR THIS AND IT SURE WON'T JUST SIT IN THE PANTRY UNUSED.

Nisrine

Johanna GGG said...

I love these gift ideas - unusual and so useful

Nupur said...

Kalyn- I have been giving the sweet potato seasoning mix as a gift and it is awesome.

Merry Christmas!

Gina @ Skinnytaste said...

I love the idea of giving spices as gifts, I love homemade gifts!

Paula {Salad in a Jar} said...

I must try the Sweet Potato Spice Mix. Forget giving it away! (Jut kidding).

blepharisma said...

Totally LOVE this idea!

Dawn said...

What a great idea! I didn't want to bake sweets so I was trying to figure something else out. I ended up doing a roasted garlic mustard that came out simply delicious but I didn't even think of a spice mix! Next year! I bet you would love the mustard mix.

Kalyn said...

Sorry I am not doing well at keeping up on comments. Much Christmas preparations happening around here, but glad people like these ideas.

Dawn, love the sound of roasted garlic mustard, yum!

CJ said...

Great suggestions and herb blend recipes Kalyn. I've made it a new tradition to share home made food gifts with friends and family. To me, it means so much more and when they use them, they say they think of you.

Sometimes I even get a request for a refill. That just tickles me silly.

The Moroccan spice and spicy sweet potato seasoning are going to be next years highlights.

Kalyn said...

CJ I love it when people ask for refills too!

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