Pallet for Home

I stress now & can not stress enough... Packaging & Presentation.  You MUST NOT skimp on these with your homemade gifts. Yes, what is on the inside counts but your presentation/packaging hold their attention. Intrigue, pulling them in with desire & appreciation for the time & effort you put into a gift JUST for them. It is what sets your gifts apart from the rest. 

 Think local & natural for a theme in your gifts.

 I came across an *article sharing "More than three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn't exactly what the bees produce", according to testing done exclusively for Food Safety news.

Food Safety News decided to test honey sold in various outlets after its *earlier investigation* {Honey Laundering} found U.S. groceries flooded with Indian honey banned in Europe as unsafe because of contamination with antibiotics, heavy metal and a total lack of pollen which prevented tracking its origin.

YIKES! And that is just with Honey.Once you have had Raw, unprocessed honey from a true bee keeper, you will forever be spoiled to the taste, color and texture.It is DiViNe! Either buy from a LOCAL beekeeper, or if you have your own hives, PACKAGE them up GOURMET STYLE! Truly people. The simple method is fine for selling to keep cost down. But should you GIFT them... Put more effort into it. If you from a local, there is nothing wrong with making a more gift worthy label. Just be sure to add the beekeeper information in respect to their work as well as giving the recipient a way to seek out where their gourmet honey can be purchased.

I LOVE the amazing Graphic Fairy and all she shares of antique/Vintage graphics. I pieced together bits I found on her site to create my own Gourmet Honey labels to adorn the Hexagon jars I grabbed up at The Flower Factory {12 jars for less then $7!}. The labels were finished up in Pic Monkey after a simple edit program for combining. Printed out at the local office supply store which I had done on the white linen resume paper, costing twice the normal printing cost for colored. Great for gifts but the not so much for paper labels in LARGE quantities. I found a natural twill cotton ribbon but do not favor it's thickness. It leaves me not so thrilled. It will do for now, but I am on the hunt for a cotton ribbon less "bulky".

  I discovered some great gift & special occasion recipes from a book entitled *Gifts from the Kitchen by Annie Rigg.*

I'm eyeing the Limencello recipe for an after the New Year treat. {This is a lemon infused vodka ,only the outer zest is used to produce the lemon essence. Have storage containers handy so as not to waste the excess lemon juice.- I highly recommend using a nice smooth Vodka. I have tasted many varieties from low to high end and have found Seagrams Extra Smooth Vodka with the dark blue label to be very fine.It is distilled 5 times from the finest American grain . My preferred cocktail Spirit. I pay $10 for the 750 ml- 80 proof bottle.}

 My kids LOVE Nutella. Personally I had never heard of this chocolate hazelnut version of Peanut Butter.  Thankfully Aldi's has their own {much less in cost} version. Now if I can only find a local source for Hazelnuts, I can eliminate the store version ingredient questionable's. This is not a healthy food. It is an indulgence of taste best for occasional eating.

Whip this up {double/triple etc to your needs} and use spring latch or unusual shape jars with lids for packaging. Add some *Homemade Graham Crackers* ,maybe *Raising Janes {Mary Jane Butter's daughter} recipe here* English Muffins, a small similar shaped tin of homemade nibbles or pretzels for dipping into the spread to the top of the Jar{s}.I LOVE me some Alton brown and recommend  should you wish to make some impressive Hard pretzels, try *his recipe here*. No need to make them into sticks. Just play with twisting to fit in a smaller tin. Secure your jar & tin with a pleasant ribbon or natural twine. Don't forget the label as well as all their recipes so they can make more themselves!

Makes One - 1 pound jar

1/2 Cup Blanched Hazelnuts

3 1/2 ounces DARK chocolate{72% cacao content}, chopped

1/3 Cup & 2 Tablespoons sweetened Condensed Milk

1-2 Tablespoons Hazelnut Oil

pinch of salt

3-4 Tablespoons Hot Water

Preheat Oven to 350 {F} degrees. Place Hazelnuts on cookie & toast 5-7 Minutes until pale golden color. Remove & let nuts slightly cool.

Put warm nuts into food processor & chop until almost smooth Paste texture.

Gently Melt Chocolate, condensed milk & hazelnut oil in saucepan over low heat.Stir until smooth & ADD TO the Hazelnut paste in food processor.

Add pinch of salt & blend. Add hot water & blend again until thick & spreadable consistency.

Spoon into Sterilized/clean Jar{s} & let cool. Place on lid & store in refrigerator.

This will keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

Do you prefer something long lasting? Maybe your just not feeling crafty. Then I HIGHLY encourage you to buy up a few of these* Cast Iron bread pans*. The exact same ones My Captain bought for me a few years ago. I'm not sure if they offer the custom engraving for the bread pans as he had done for my cast Iron Pie pans. But if they do, why not have it personalized while your at it. I refuse to bake my breads in anything else. What a difference they make and once you try it, you'll know why I'm hoping for a few more under the tree this year.

Sportsman's guide* is where their at. For under $17 each. The Captain LOVES buying from them and if you become a member {for $30 a year which gives you lower prices & optional payment plan for your purchases- no hidden or additional fees}. Very nice for budgeting gifts. Back to those pans.

Growing up in Florida, you would think I would have had knowledge of this citrus fruit. I have never even hear of it's name despite being said to sell heavily in it's native state. It was born through a hybrid mix of a grapefruit & a tangerine back in the very early 1900's. I have found them to be seedless yet they are said to have very few seeds.

Yesterday I was browsing the fresh fruits at a small Dutch Market where I came upon these now Favorite citrus indulgence. The sign read a budget friendly 3 for $1!

I asked what they taste like and the produce man had no idea. So he whipped out a pocket knife and sliced us both off a wedge. Oh MY! The scent is almost orange like, more towards the Tangerine parent. The taste was like a combination of the sweetest orange mixed in with lemon. Not tart. More of an undertone with the orange sweetness enveloping any trace. I quickly grabbed up 6 and declared experiment time. I had to fiend off the children who are orange & Clementine lovers until I juiced up the amount I desired for this recipe. I did allow Frog & Little Man to share the one leftover. I was selfish & ate an entire one as I drove home from the market.

When it comes to citrus curds, my experience is with lemons. The tartness requires far more sugar for balancing in Lemon tarts. I much prefer Meyer Lemons and grab as many as I can when the rare occasion of our local grocer has a shipment in. Meyers lemons are divine! I have to hide those from Frog. She gobbles them up like oranges...

 I searched the net for Citrus Curd tart recipes and found one I decided to play with.  I adjusted with less butter and switching out the citrus they listed with the juice & Zest of the Tangelo.

I warn you, this requires some major Whisking if doing it by hand. Personally I did not find it too much but for the uncommon kitchen inhabitant, it may seem like more work then expected. Just think of the reward when you start to tire. 

 ** Note when Zesting, The skins are far easier to peel then oranges. Actually, I found them to be very tender and when zesting, caution must be taken not to cut yourself due to their soft form.

1 Pie shell pre baked in pan of choice OR use store bought Pie / Tart shell(s) & pre bake per directions.

In a stainless steel saucepan, bring to boil over medium heat:

~ 1/2 HEAPING cup sugar

~  1 cup Tangelo juice {I average 4 1/2 Tangelos to get this juice amount}

 ~ 2 1/2 tablespoons Tangelo zest {obviously from the rinds of the Tangelo}

Whisk the above together periodically to discourage burning.

While the above is heating, in a medium large bowl, whisk for 1/2 a minute:

~ 4 large eggs or 5 medium eggs

To the whisked eggs add another:

 ~ heaping 1/2 cup of sugar

Whisk vigorously  the above sugar with the eggs for a good minute

Pour 1/3 of your heated citrus & sugar mix into the egg & sugar mix, whisking vigorously during the pour of mixtures. Now pour the egg citrus mix into the remaining Citrus sugar mix left in the pan and keep whisking vigorously until the mix comes to a rapid boil and bubbles up in an almost foam like fashion on the top. Keep whisking! Be sure it boils so the eggs will "set" properly for your curd.

 Let the above cool to around 135 F degrees or less, but no higher then that.

Whisk into the cooled mixture:

~ 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temp

Immediately pour your curd into the prebaked Pie/tart Shell(s) & place into refrigerator. Let chill 6 hours for a more firm setting before slicing.

Top with a meringue or a time saver of Light whipped topping such as Cool Whip. No more then 1/4 an inch thick as a top layer to the curd. OR simply dust with powdered sugar and serve a small scoop of of Vanilla bean Ice cream & Tangelo wedges next to the Tart slice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh Spearmint.

If you enjoy citrus of the slightly sweeter kind, such as Tangerines or oranges, you may very well enjoy this Summer treat. I know Frog has... Not even even 24 hours after it's making she has enjoyed 2 big slices and when I opened the fridge before bed, I found 3 small finger streaks across the top of it... sigh.

Now I must be off. I have a compost pile to turn as well as chamomile, Comfrey, Lovage & Roses to harvest before the crickets serenade me to sleep.

Wishing you all...

Sweet Dreams,

~Tammie