Want to make the easiest bag or basket of Christmas goodies that will have all your friends and family thinking that you are amazing?
Try some of these recipes and presentation ideas.
“Bark” is the easiest candy, it can be made by melting two pounds of white, milk or dark chocolate in a double boiler, then, when it’s melted, add one bag of filling or more to suit your taste. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and spread out chocolate mixture to about ¼ to ½’ thick. Pop it in the fridge or freezer for ten minutes or until solid. Break into bite size pieces.
Some combinations to try…
White chocolate & crushed Oreos… dark or milk chocolate & crispies or malt…white chocolate & almonds & dried cranberries or cherries… white chocolate & lemon candy bits… white chocolate & peppermint crunch… s’more, white chocolate, crushed Graham crackers & mini marshmallows.
Another easy treat is to dip anything and everything in chocolate, some things like strawberries and bananas can’t be packaged but are great for a party.
In white chocolate you can dip: Oreos, strawberries, candy canes (then roll in red nonpareils)… brownies pieces…
In milk chocolate: pretzels… strawberries… bananas… nuts… peanut butter and Ritz sandwiches… chunks of angel food cake… caramel bits or squares…small sugar cookies.
In dark: pretzels… nuts… strawberries… bananas… caramel.
For prettier presentation try spooning your bark into silver or gold petitfore papers and sprinkling nonpareils or dragees on top while they are wet…
For sophisticated treats, dip spoons in chocolate to use as coffee or cocoa stirrers; you can buy flavoring from us. Things like crème de menthe butter rum and Valencia orange are good mixed into milk or dark chocolate. Melt a pound or so of chocolate, separate it into cups and mix a few drops of favoring to each cup. Buy colored plastic spoons and dip into chocolate then hold level so they are full but not dripping over; place level on a tray covered in wax paper. It’s good to trademark each kind, so people know, like drizzle green chocolate over the crème de menthe, or stick mini marshmallows into the pan. When they are cooked, stick in small plastic bags individually and tie with curling ribbons. Make sure to test one yourself!
Once you’ve made a variety of these goodies, you can dress them up by drizzling another color of chocolate over them and sprinkling sanding sugar over that, or just go right to packaging.
If you have three different types of goodies, try packing them in their own boxes, a large, medium and small, then stack them in a pyramid, labeling them in your finest handwriting or typed labels, with what the box contains and how to enjoy it (i.e. with the spoons, “stir into hot coffee or cocoa for a splash of flavor”). Then, tie a ribbon with a label around the entire sack.
Or you can package these in inexpensive holiday themed mugs or cups, or in festive cello bags, however you do it, your thoughts and efforts will be appreciated!
A good holiday party activity is to decorate sugar cookies.
Provide baked cookies in the shapes of stars, Santas, snowmen, snowflakes, trees, etc. Then mix tubs or royal icing and color, stick a few knives in each, and provide containers of nonpareils, jimmies, sanding sugars, dragees, and holiday themed candies. You may want to put a cheap plastic table cover over your table and one on the ground if you have young and messy guestlist! Take note: this activity suffices for a dessert dish so you don’t have to make the kids a cake!
A new twist on an old game is Pin the Nose of the Snowman. Attach three white felt circles onto a blue poster board and add small black circles to make eyes and mouth and attach a black paper hat. Scarf and stick arms are nice if you have time. Make a bunch of long orange triangles out of cardstock and attaché the sticky side of the Velcro to the back. Play like pin the tail on the donkey.
Cutting Snowflakes is an age old winter craft. Precut white squares, ten fold paper in half, then in half the other way, then fold from corner to corner to create a 45 degree triangle. Next, cut outside edge to round. Cut shapes out of folded edges, being careful not to cut all the way across. Let the kids hang them in a big window or take home to their parents!
A fun way to open gifts by turn, is to open them lottery style as you read “T’was the Night Before Christmas”. Directions are as follows: Choose key words from the story, such as Christmas, mouse, mamma, nap, stockings, St. Nicholas, etc. Select as many different words as the number of presents there are to open. Write each of these words on folded slips of paper and put then into a Santa hat. To begin, distribute all of the presents to the proper recipients. Allow each person to draw words from the Santa hat to equal the numbers of presents in front of them; having them put one word on top of each present. Your guests will then listen as the story is being read, and when they hear the word that is written on one of their slips of paper, have them call out “Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!” Stop the story long enough for the person to open the gift that has the matching word on top of it then continue the story, repeating this procedure until all of the gifts have been opened. Be sure to read all the way to the end of the story because you wouldn’t want to miss the ending!
