Food in a Jar (now with bonus recipe)

Today’s gift is great for a) giving as a last minute present, b) giving to those who may be challenged in the kitchen, and/or c) giving to those are financially stretched and may be living on a diet of ramen noodles and popcorn (ie college students).

Food in a jar, It’s a classic do it yourself gift that has tons of variations, both what you put in, and how you present it.

The steps are simple:

1. Find a recipe that you want to give (below are some links for where you can find loads of food in a jar recipes).
2. Place the ingredients in the jar.
3. Attach a gift tag that indicating what you're giving, and all additional steps that need to be done to get a completed meal.

That’s it! You can gift a single jar, or create a meal of jars. We decided to do a meal with a southwestern theme: southern cornbread, 3-bean chili and chocolate chip brownies.

The nice part of these is that you can dress them up, or keep them very simple (we chose to show the simple route). Also note that you can use jars that you have around the house, or you can buy mason jars.

Below are a few links where you can get some ideas for gifts in a jar.

http://www.giftsfromyourkitchen.com/jarsoup/jarsoup.html

http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/mix-recipes/index.htm

http://www.recipelink.com/holiday/merrygifts.html

Are you ready for this? As a Thanksgiving treat we’re going to give you a bonus recipe. If you’re looking for a last minute pie to make for turkey day, break this one out and impress your guests!

White Chocolate Pecan Pie

2 large eggs
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 cups pecan halves
1 cup (about 5 ounces) white chocolate chips
refrigerated pie crust

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Using an electric mixer, beat eggs in a large bowl until light. Add brown sugar, both corn syrups, butter, vanilla and salt; beat until mixture forms soft ribbons when beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups pecans and white chocolate.

Transfer filling to prepared crust. Bake until filling is set and top is golden brown (this will take about an hour). If the crust is getting too dark, tent it with foil for the remainder of baking.

Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

Serve pie at room temperature.

This year, we added some dried cranberries, adds just a hint of tartness to the pie. Yum, yum!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!