Gift Jars

One reader mentioned filling jars with ingredients for cookie or cake recipes to give as gifts, I have seen these in stores and yes they are expensive. I would like to make my own also, and decorate the jars and lids with material ribbon etc.  I would love to hear from other readers what recipes they suggest to put in the jars. Thanks and Have a Good Day! Dawn

Last year a friend and I made several of these gift jars.  We got several recipes from allrecipes.com for the mixes.  We topped them with material found in the "extras" bin at the fabric store and printed labels from the computer with directions.  Cost was about $1.75 each

Someone was wondering about cake mixes in jars, I copied and pasted the following from www.realfood4realpeople Kaylin Cherry has several great gift-in-a-jar type of ideas. She publishes an  e-zine, consisting of one of her original recipes and many more sent in by subscribers. It’s free and I for one have found it to be wonderful, as most of the’cooks’ are just like the rest of us, on a budget and always looking for good, easy, economical and nourishing food for our families! Check it out! Here is an excerpt! — "Our delicious ‘Cake Mixes in Jars’ are quick, easy, and also a great low-cost answer to your gift giving needs!  Give them to family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, teachers, bus drivers & even your favorite delivery person!  She also has several collections of recipes that she has compiled for sale on her web site. –Linda

Here’s a link that I use for gifts in a jar. Enjoy!! Terri Smith

Cookie fixings and the recipe are always good, but how  about pasta and spices, a recipe for pasta salad, here are few suggestions:  seeds and fertilizer with a hand trowel, sea salt, essential oil and food coloring…to make your own bath salts, small bird  identification book, wild bird seed and a small pair of binoculars, stocking cap gloves and  hot chocolate or hot cider mix, soft socks , foot scrubber, foot lotion& foot soak or how about  crayons, paint brushes a small note book and a coloring book.    The possibilities are truly endless. Thank You for reading my letter.  –Sheree 

Here is one recipe — you could use any of your own recipes and leave out the wet ingredients for them to add later. I haven’t made these since last Christmas but I was thinking that when I went to make them it was more than would fit in a quart jar and I used a  gallon size ziplock bag to put the ingredients in and taped a bow to it and then they just added the other ingredients in the bag and kneeded it till it was mixed and poured it in the baking  pan.

Today’s recipe is a fun gift to make and give. When I make these as gifts, I always be sure to include the dry ingredient list on the directions card or label, for two reasons. First, in case the receiver really likes the mix, they can duplicate it. And second, they will know what is included in the jar, in case they have any food allergies.

Chocolate Chip Brownies in a Jar
Ingredients in Jar:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp  salt
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2/3  cup cocoa
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Ingredients needed to make brownies:

3/4 cup butter, melted
4 eggs, slightly beaten

Empty jar of brownie mix into mixing bowl, mix well. Add butter and eggs and mix until blended. Spread batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into 2" squares. Makes 2 doz.

Here are some recipes I use to give as Christmas presents.  They aren’t cookie mixes in a jar, but I have found these to be welcome gifts.

Herb Flavored Salt
1/4 C dried parsley flakes
2 Tablespoons dried basil leaves
1 Tablespoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 C salt

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend just
enough to combine.  Store in an airtight jar.  (I
usually by small little jars at the dollar store for
this recipe)

Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix
1/3 C brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 C coca
2 1/2 C powdered milk

Combine and blend ingredients in a small bowl.  Store in airtight container.  (I put a tag on the jar with directions to make they are: Mix 3 Tablespoons of the hot chocolate mix with 8 ounces boiling water and stir until smooth) Love and Peace, Kathie

They have tons and tons of recipes for these in the archives at:
http://www.frugalhomemaker.com/giftsinajar.htm

This is for Dawn who was looking for recipes for jars to give as gifts.  I found a great website with recipes for jars.  www.geocities.com/giftsinajar   There are lots of good ideas and recipes for gift jars. Thanks, Janet

I belong to an ezine by Kaylin White called Real food for real people. She has a section on her website with many free recipes for mixes in a jar as well as info on how to order more if desired.  http://www.realfood4realpeople.com

This is my favorite because you can make up a single batch and divide it into 5 gifts.

COOKIE MIX
8 Cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 Cups granulated sugar
2 Cups brown sugar, packed
4 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups vegetable shortening

In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda until well blended. With a pastry cutter or heavy duty mixer, cut in shortening until mixture resembles cornmeal in texture. Put in large airtight container. Label with contents and date. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 10-12 weeks. Makes about 16 Cups of COOKIE MIX.

If giving for a gift, place 3 cups COOKIE MIX in a 24 ounce jar, attach the following instructions and cover the lid as follows: Place lid on jar. Use scissors to cut a 9 inch-diameter circle from fabric of your choice. Center fabric circle over lid and secure with a rubber band. Tie on raffia or ribbon bow to cover the rubber band. Attach a card with the following directions:

Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 Cups COOKIE MIX
3 Tablespoons milk
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 Cup nuts or coconut
1 Cups chocolate chips or chocolate candies

Preheat oven to 375F degrees (190C). Grease baking sheets. In a large bowl, combine  COOKIE MIX, milk, vanilla, and egg. Blend well. Stir in nuts or coconut and chocolate chips or candy. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Makes 24 cookies.

My other favorite is Cake in a Coffee Cup. My son gave these out last year to teachers, office staff at his school, the principal and counselors.

Cake in a Coffee Cup
1 box Cake Mix — (any flavor)
1 package Instant Pudding mix — (4 ounce) make sure flavor compliments cake flavor
8 – 12 ounce coffee mugs — (non-metallic)

Glaze Mix
1/3 cup Powdered Sugar
1 1/2teaspoons Dry flavoring — (see below)

Place dry cake mix and dry pudding mix into a large bowl and blend well with a wire whisk. This will be about 4 – 4 � cups of dry mix and will make 8-9 coffee cup cake mixes. Place � cup dry mix into a sandwich size zip baggie. Smooth baggie so as much air as possible is removed, then seal. Continue making packets until all your dry mix is used.

Flavors
Lemon cake mix- lemon pudding
Yellow cake mix- chocolate pudding
Devils food cake mix- chocolate pudding
Pineapple cake mix- coconut pudding
Butterscotch cake mix- butterscotch pudding

Select a large coffee cup. Check it to be sure it holds 1 1/2 cups of water. That way you will be sure you have chosen the size the recipe calls for. Your mug cannot have any metallic paint on it because it will be used in the microwave.

**Dry flavorings for glaze: powdered lemonade mix, powdered orange breakfast drink mix, cocoa powder or Vanilla powder.

Select the flavoring appropriate to the cake. For the pineapple coconut cake include flaked coconut in a separate bag with instructions to sprinkle it over the frosted cake. Place the glaze mix ingredients into a snack size zip baggie and remove as much air as possible before sealing. Label this bag "glaze mix" and attach it to the other bag with a twist tie. Place one baggie cake mix & one baggie glaze mix into each coffee cup.

Cut two 16 inch sections of clear or colored plastic wrap and lay them on top of each other forming an `X’ shape, then place mug in center and bring wrap up around them, bringing the top together with a ribbon. Now attach the following baking instructions to each coffee cup:

Bake a cake in a coffee cup! Generously spray inside of coffee cup with cooking spray. Empty contents of large packet into cup. Add 1 Egg White, 1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil & 1 Tbsp. Water to dry mix. Mix 15 seconds, carefully mixing in all the dry mix. Microwave on full power for 2 minutes. (You may not get satisfactory results in a low wattage small microwave). While cake is cooking, place ingredients from "Glaze Mix" into a very small container and add 1 � tsp. Water. Mix well. When cake is done, pour glaze over cake in cup. Enjoy while warm. Mary

I have made quite a few of these jars to give away.   I started out using recipes just for gift jars, but then started just creating my own.   Find recipes that are a good basic recipe and cut the ingredients to make either a 9X9 cake, one quick bread, or one batch of muffins.   I set up the jars like an assembly line and add the dry ingredients with a canning funnel.   A 9" circle of fabric fits nicely over the top.  Secure it with a rubber band then a piece of ribbon with a note card for the directions.   Below are a couple of my favorites – watch out – the brownies are addictive!

Banana Bread Mix
Layer in a quart jar:
1 cup flour
1/3-1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup flour
1 cup dehydrated banana chips
1 cup sugar  

Mix the top layer of sugar with 1/3 cup butter or margarine. Add 2 eggs and mix. Add 2/3 cup water and the rest of the mix. Mix well. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 deg. for 55-60 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Let set 5 minutes, and remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing.  Note: for this, I use only my own dehdyrated bananas – they have not been ‘treated’ as the store bought kind.  

Crazy Cake Mix
Layer in a quart jar:
2 cup flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1-1/3 cup sugar  

This is a Crazy Cake because you mix the cake all together in the pan! Pour contents of the jar into a 9×13 inch baking pan, then add the following ingredients: 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 2 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cups water.
  Stir together using a wire whisk or fork, making certain all the ingredients are completely mixed together. Bake at 350 deg for 35 minutes. Frost as desired or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Are You Functionally Frugal?

It is very easy to be frugal but are you "functionally frugal"? Let me explain, by giving a real-life example.

Recently, I needed to repair the headboard in our bedroom. Previously, I had two screws with washers holding the headboard to the bed frame. The washers acted as a barrier to prevent the screw from slipping through the bedframe slots. Over time, the washers had bent and they were now going through the slot in the bedframe and soon the screw would be sliding through too. Consequently, this wasn’t working anymore.

Now I am frugal as much as most of you. So instead of buying what I needed I went to the garage and found the pieces necessary to affect the fix. All of that is well and good and like most of you, no big deal!

However, I was "functionally frugal" because I could find what I needed. Now I am not the most organized person, Just ask my wife! The reason I became functionally frugal is because of my wife.

This came about because my wife kept asking me over the years when I wanted to save an item "will you be able to find it?" Like most DIY’ers we all think that has to be ridiculous to even consider. However, over the years I started to notice that I was buying things at the hardware store that I already had. After 4-5 times, of purchasing something I already owned, I began to think her question wasn’t off the track that much after all.

So now when I am thinking should I keep this item, I now ask a question "will you be able to find it?" Most answers are coming up a Big Fat No! So I just trash the items. Case in point, I had a shoe string that wasn’t broken and thought I might need this some time. But when I asked the question "will you be able to find it" I knew the answer was No, so I trashed it.

Now back to the bedframe fix, I was able to find the screws and the oversized washers because I had separated out this big container of excess screws and washers a year or so back. Once they were separated I organized them in the garage and marked them well too. This was an example of being "functionally frugal" simply because I could retrieve the item when it was needed.

To be frugal is one thing but to be "functionally frugal" is even better.

Editor

Covering A Couch

Q.      I have a reclining couch and loveseat that are only four years new and the material has worn away… three young children and an old golden retriever. Besides using a throw to cover the holes what can I do?  Leslie, W

Recovering chair and couch–use the canvas sold for drop cloths as very inexpensive material. Dye it if you want to. You can make a simple throw to completely cover them or actually make slip covers. Your library will have books on how to make slip covers. If you have children, I suggest making a simple cover you can easily take on and off for washing. Be sure to preshrink your material.

The most interesting recovered chair I’ve seen was in the home of two quilt artists. They had a crazy quilt  chair. Apparently, it was begun with a patch over the first hole, hand-sewn to the chair with one of those semi-circular upholstery needles. Then another patch was added as needed or as wanted until the entire chair was recovered like a crazy quilt. For a piece of furniture receiving the hard use like the sofa mentioned by the reader, I would use very sturdy long lasting canvases & denims. You can make the color scheme as varied as you wish.  A variation on this is simply to get enough fabric to cover the entire item, and sew it on piece by piece. Lay the fabric on and sew it directly to the sofa, turning under the raw edges as necessary.

Many areas have vocational schools that teach upholstery and will reupholster your furniture at a nominal cost. The drawback is that you have to wait for their availability to do it, but if you can wait, this is the way to go. It comes back looking professionally done.  Marge N.

Christmas Cards – Don’t Trash or Stash Them

by Donna Watkins

I thought I’d share a Holiday Tradition that makes Christmas cards "last"much longer than just for the month of December. It takes away the guilt of just tossing them in the trash……and takes away the clutter of putting them away.

As the cards arrive in the mail, we sit them around the house as they come in so we can be reminded of the many friends we have been blessed with. After Christmas Day we gather them up and put them in a basket and schedule a time to pray over each person and family that sent them. It’s a special time to slip into lives in a way that will bless them for the year to come — and possibly for eternity.

When our son was little and life was a bit more hectic, we would place them on the kitchen table in a basket or napkin holder and each of us would draw one to pray for before we ate each meal.

After we’ve prayed, we cut the covers of the cards into 4×6" postcards and write thank-you’s on them. You can use the left side for the message, draw a line to the right of it, and then write the address and use a 20-cent stamp. This saves 12 cents plus the cost of note cards – and you "save a tree."

A postcard gives just enough space to say thank you and makes the task quick and fun. It isn’t as intimidating for children as a note card sometimes is with all of its blank space to fill in, and it teaches children an important character quality: gratefulness.

Read more of Donna’s articles

Help With a Bathroom Vanity

Q . I need a way to refinish a cultured marble bathroom vanity?

I’m buying another house that needs a complete remodeling.  I don’t mind replacing some of the vanity tops but not all if I can avoid that since I’m trying to bring the remodeling in within my budget.  These vanities are unsightly because of cigarette burns on them.  One is crazed in the sink where the drain is.  Can anything be done to refinish these without turning to a professional refurbisher?  Joan

A.  The only way to refurbish cultured marble is to sand down the top. This must be done with at least with a belt sander.  You can not just sand the affected area.  The whole top must be sanded to the same depth. Constantly check results with a straight edge.   

A.  The problems around the drain can only be solved with a new drainpipe that has an inner ring larger than the affected area.   If you can find this then fill the damage with auto body putty. Make sure that the sink bottom ring is sealed with a high quality sink and tub sealant and a rubber washer or it will leak after some use.  This is all a lot of work, but if you are intent on saving the cultured marble it may be worth your time.   If not then purchase new or find used tops that will work for your vanity dimensions  good luck!  Michael

A.  This is for the reader who wants to re-finish her vanity tops. I used a product called "Klenk’s", which I purchased at the Home Depot. It is an epoxy product, so there are two liquids to mix together, let set, then apply. AND, you can even ask the home improvement center to tint the base liquid (although the manufacturer suggests pastel colors only).  Read the directions, then follow every step exactly. Make sure to use a tack cloth after sanding – if you don’t sand, then "tack", the mixture will not adhere. I used Post-Its to mark off a grid on my vanities and shower floor, then sanded each grid (at night after work), or one or two grids.  Using a low adhesive marker, instead of masking or other types of tape, meant less sanding over the grid marks.  The box costs less than $20 and you should have enough to refinish several vanities. Oh, don’t worry about the first coat if it looks a little streaky- the second coat makes a huge difference. For the shower floor, I used two coats. Cora

Need A Specialty Wrench?

Don’t have the specialty wrench you need? No problem, you can still tighten or remove a specialty (Allen-head, Star or Square) head screw; just try different sizes of plain screwdrivers until you find one that will turn the screwhead. You will need to wedge the standard screwdriver in the recessed openings of the screw heads. Or, if the screw is protruding above the work surface you can remove it using 1 of 2 methods: 1. Grip the head of the screw with a pair of locking-grip pliers to loosen. 2. Use a hacksaw to cut a slot in the top; then use a standard screwdriver to tighten or remove it. Please note: please try these methods in order, gripping the head after a slot has been cut may weaken the head causing it to crumble. Randal