Handmade Holiday
One memorable Christmas, my older sister and I became frothing fanatics for “Here We Come A-Wassailing.” My mother sang it to us innocently on a car ride, and immediately we determined it to be the most enchanting, exhilarating song we’d ever heard. As far as Margaret and I were concerned, other music would no longer be necessary. “Sing it,” we menaced. “Again.”
Even today, I’m enamored with wassailing—bringing people joy and cheer, wishing them well, hiding my inability to sing within a merry chorus. This year, I’m wassailing with food. And as they say, “Give a man a loaf of Friendship Bread, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to make Friendship Bread…”
What follows are recipes for batch gifts with touches both gourmet and personal: a cocktail kit with homemade ingredients; a bread starter for my fellow foodies which can easily be “converted” into a ready-to-eat loaf of Friendship Bread; and a bottle of garlic lemon oil, adding welcome zest (pun intended) to any dish.
Ingredients: For the batter: 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter (recipe at the link below) 3 eggs 1 cup oil 1/2 cup milk 1 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla 2 tsp. cinnamon 1+1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda 2 cups flour 1–2 small boxes instant pudding (any flavor) For the cinnamon sugar mixture: 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon Get the recipe here!
Ingredients:
1 bottle bourbon
Aromatic Bitters (recipe here)
Pomegranate Molasses (recipe here)
1 orange (for both juice and peel)
1 small bottle pomegranate juice
Method:
To make the drink: Carve a twist from the orange and set aside. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine 2 oz. bourbon, a dash of bitters, 1/4 oz. pomegranate molasses, 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed orange juice, and 1/2 ounce pomegranate juice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add orange twist. Drink up!
Ingredients: 2 lemons 12 garlic cloves, peeled 2 cups olive oil 1+1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes salt and pepper (to taste) Get the recipe here!