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Homemade Edible Christmas Gifts -Part 1

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I love making Christmas gifts for family and friends. I generally buy gifts too and these are a special treat on top but you could easily put a collection of homemade goodies together to make a festive hamper which would make a really thoughtful present.

I’ve rounded up a collection of homemade gift ideas for you and as there are so many I will be sharing in two different posts. Some of the ideas are super simple and ideal for getting little hands involved in the kitchen,you could also adapt quite a few of them to make something a little experimental if you are a creative type.

Without further ado here we go…

Raspberry Coconut Ice:

Homemade coconut ice

Cranberry & Pistachio Nougat:

Homemade nougat

Candied Orange Peel Dipped In Chocolate:

Candied orange peel dipped in chocolate

Slow Cooker Apple Butter:

Slow cooker apple butter

Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups Fudge:

Peanut butter cup fudge

Gingerbread Biscotti:

Gingerbread biscotti

Easy Homemade Peanut Butter Cups:

Homemade peanut butter cups

And finally these rather awesome Christmas Tree Cookies:

Christmas tree cookies

Slow Cooker Tomato & Chilli Chutney

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I hate waste. We were recently given a lot of tomatoes from a family member and as well as making Sundried tomatoes I decided to give Slow Cooker chutney a whirl.

I love chutney, I’ve made it several times on the hob and it’s always delicious. I really wanted to try and make some tomato and chilli chutney as it’s my favourite but I didn’t have the time or the energy to spend standing at the stove so I decided to give it a whirl in the slow cooker and woohoo it worked. Now I don’t normally abide by strict quantities for making chutney but I wrote down what I used this time and you can probably be a little flexible with it. This makes a fairly sweet chutney perfect for pairing with a strong cheese or in a nice ham toastie. Next time I make some I will change to red wine vinegar instead of sherry for a milder taste. You could also increase the chilli content for more of a kick – this is quite a subtle heat.

Slow Cooker Tomato & Chilli Chutney

You will need:


2 large red onions diced
750g of tomatoes, roughly chopped ( any variety you like or have a lot of)
3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped ( I used Gala)
1 cube of frozen ginger or an inch of fresh ( the frozen dissolves but fresh needs to be diced)
200g dark brown sugar
200g light brown sugar
175ml sherry vinegar
1 small dried or fresh chilli diced finely or 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes
150g of sultanas diced

Place all ingredients into your slow cooker and stir well. Place the lid on and cook in high for 5 hours. Don’t peek. Open up and stir again and leave on low for 8-10 hours. To thicken it more you can leave the lid off for last 30/40 mins of cooking but otherwise just spoon into jars leaving most of the liquid in the slow cooker. This made 2 large jars of chutney and it’s absolutely delicious.

You can eat it straight away as it’s a slow cooked chutney but it will be even better after storing for a few weeks.

I re use my jars so I wash thoroughly then sterilise in a hot oven.

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These would make fabulous Christmas gifts..if you can keep your hands off them for that long!

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And So This Is Christmas..

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Sorry. No really I’m sorry. Posting about Christmas in October? I am really sorry.

Go away now if you aren’t quite ready yet. I won’t be offended.

Arrgghhhhhhhh where did you all go?

Last week I asked on my social media channels if people were ready for some festive posts and I was surprised. A few of you said woah there but most of you are more than ready for a glass of baileys and Fairy tale of New York. I went with the majority..

Ok so I’m excited about Christmas this year. More so than last year.

Izzy is at the absolute best age for Christmas. Three years old.

Full of wonder at everything and still too young to doubt Old Santa Claus.

I’m already planning EVERYTHING I want to do with her and Chloe.

Chloe will be too young to participate in a lot of things but I’m excited to see her face around the Christmas lights and at the carol concerts – she loves a good singsong.

It’s also something positive, something fun and something to aim towards. I need this.

Not at all scary that I will be back in work then. No not at all. Really. Hmmmmmmm.

So you can expect lots of Christmas on the blog this year.

Recipes, Gift ideas, crafting fun.. Thrifty DIY hampers.. Festive photos and more….

I’ve nearly finished my Christmas present shopping for my (rather large) family. Now onto planning our Christmas menu. The best part hey?

And I’ve already made the chutney 🙂

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Have you started planning Christmas?