Book Review: Vegan Holiday Kitchen

Sometimes it's hard to come up with vegan specialities for holidays that kids and non-vegan family and friends will like, but Nava Atlas's new cookbook Vegan Holiday Kitchen is the answer to that dilemma. With recipes for Christian, Jewish, and nonreligious holidays and special occasions, the whole year is covered. And best of all, you don't have to spend your whole holiday cooking. These recipes are easy to make--but impressive enough to serve for company.

I received this book just in time for Thanksgiving and it's now after New Year's and I still haven't put it up on the shelf. I made the Walnut-Apple Stuffing, Agave and Mustard-Glazed Green Beans, and Cranberry Applesauce on Thanksgiving (my kids LOVED them!). On Christmas, I served the Hearty Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd's Pie (amazing!), Challah bread, and Red Wine-Roasted Brussels Sprouts. And though this is a holiday cookbook, I've made several other recipes on just regular old days. The recipes are easy to follow and so delicious--and very family friendly. I made dinner (from this book) for my friend and her kids, and she went right home that night and ordered it. That's how good the food is!

The recipes are organized by holiday which is a nice way to find a good recipe for that special occasion, but makes it just a bit tricky when you want to make a certain dish and forget what holiday it was categorized under (and the index is not terribly user-friendly).

All in all, this is a beautiful hardcover book with lots of beautiful pictures, and, most importantly, great recipes that your family and friends will enjoy. It is fast becoming one of my favorite cookbooks.

Cranberry Bread

Ever since the success of the cranberry apple sauce on Thanksgiving, I've been thinking what else I could make with fresh cranberries. Maybe it's my New England upbringing, but I just love the flavor of those tart berries. So, though I've been adding them to pies, sorbets, galettes, etc. . . . this weekend, decided to go back to basics and try a good old-fashioned cranberry bread . . . but a healthier, vegan version, of course. So here's what I came up with:

Cranberry Bread
I love the flavor of the tart berries in this slightly sweet bread. We love to dip it in yogurt for breakfast.

2 cups whole wheat pastry or unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch cardamom
Grated peel of 1 orange (optional)
3/4 cup nondairy milk
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used blood orange champagne vinegar but apple cider vinegar is fine)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh (or thawed frozen) cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a loaf pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardommon and orange peel in a medium bowl. In a separate larger bowl, beat milk, vinegar, oil, and sugars together. Gently mix flour mixture into wet mixture. Fold in cranberries and walnuts. Bakin 50 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf

A Very Vegan and Delicious Holiday Week!

What a delicious week this has been . . . family, friends, cooking, and of course eating. Here's a sampling of our favorites:

For friends and neighbors, we baked: Harvest Cookies from Quick-fix Vegan -- plus my own chocolate chip cookies to which I added a little orange extract and Global Garden's Dream Dust.

For dinner:

Hearty Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd's Pie, Agave and Mustard-Glazed Green Beans and Red Wine-Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Challah Bread (made with squash instead of eggs!) from Vegan Holiday Kitchen

For dessert:

Chocolate Chai Ice Cream Pie with Gingersnap Crust and dusted with Dream Dust (ice cream and crust recipes from Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love)

Nava Atlas's Red Wine Roasted Brussels Sprouts

As we count down the days until Christmas, I'm planning my holiday dinner--so I naturally turned to Nava Atlas's new cookbook: Vegan Holiday Kitchen--especially since her recipes were such a hit on Thanksgiving.

I had found some beautiful little brussels sprouts at one of my favorite local growers: Rutiz Farms last weekend so I thought I'd preview Nava's Red Wine-Roasted Brussels Sprouts. To make it more of a meal, I added some cauliflower and tofu and served it with baked butternut squash and applesauce. All I can say is WOW! The outsides of the sprouts were crispy and sweet, the insides just melted in our mouths. They were so good . . . and it wasn't just me, the kids loved them too. These will definitely be on our Christmas dinner menu!

Hot Cocoa with a twist

Tis the season for hot cocoa . . . fa la la la la la la la la

Oh yeah, the weather around here has been downright chilly and while I love my green tea, sometimes we just want something a little special to warm us up--and hot cocoa is just the thing. Lately, we've been experimenting with flavored chocolates to make a special thing, even more special. Like . . .

Orange Hot Cocoa: Add 1 tablespoon Triple Sec or 1/8 teaspoon orange extract to 1 cup cocoa.

Peppermint Hot Cocoa: Add 1 tablespoon Peppermint Schnapps or 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract to 1 cup cocoa.

Mocha: Add 1 tablespoon Kahula or 1 teaspoon instant coffee or coffee substitute (like Pero) to 1 cup cocoa--or you can have half brewed coffee and half a cup cocoa.

It's also fun just to add a little hint of spice to your cocoa -- cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, or a chai spice mixture--or a little chili powder too.

One more idea for something really special is the Hot Chocolate Float from Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love. Try replacing the vanilla with one of the variations above as well!

Vegan Hot Chocolate Float
Makes 4 servings
Who needs (vegan) marshmallows! Try a scoop of ice cream in your hot chocolate instead.

3 cups nondairy milk
1 cup nondairy dark or semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 scoops nondairy Vanilla Ice Cream

Place the milk and chocolate chips in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Heat, whisking occasionally, until the milk just starts to boil. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth and foamy. Pour evenly into 4 mugs. Carefully drop a scoop of the ice cream into each mug.

So, this is what we've tried so far . . . what are your favorites?

Vegan Holiday Heaven

I don't care if Santa comes or not this year . . . I've already gotten my presents. Two of my favorite cookbook authors came out with new books and I just couldn't ask for anything more.

About a month ago, I got Robin Robertson's new cookbook Quick-fix Vegan. I've been having such a great time trying out her delicious recipes (full review coming soon) and then 2 days before Thanksgiving, I got Nava Atlas's new cookbook Vegan Holiday Kitchen. I already had my Thanksgiving dinner planned and all my ingredients stocked, but as soon as I started paging through Nava's book . . . I knew I had to try them. So after a hurried trip to the store on Thanksgiving eve (which I do not recommend!), I was ready for the alterations.

The main dish was to be Robin Robertson's Seitan En Croute which is basically seitan and stuffing wrapped in puff pastry. I used the Slow Cooker Seitan I made the week before and substituted Nava's Walnut-Apple Stuffing (there was a lot left over so I cooked the rest of the stuffing on the side). My husband and I loved the Seitan En Croute, but my daughters were bigger fans of the stuffing plain.

I stuck to my original plan of Roasted Root Vegetables from the Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook, because I know it's always a sure hit--but instead of the roasted green beans I had planned, I made the Agave and Mustard Glazed Green Beans from Vegan Holiday Kitchen, which my daughters absolutely loved.

And finally, rather than the regular apple sauce requested by my apple sauce obsessed daughter, I made Nava's Cranberry-Apple Sauce (though I used double the apples and half the cranberries because I wasn't sure how it would go over)--and believe it or not, both of my daughters declared it their favorite dish of our Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, the next day as my younger daughter finished off the last bits, she told me she liked it better than regular applesauce. Lucky me--I still have half a bag of cranberries left so I'll get right on another batch!

The best thing is it's not even December yet so I'll have plenty of occasions to treat my family and friends to more of the wonderful dishes from both of this great cookbooks.

Bon appetit!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Ginger Cookies

These are a combination of my favorite cookies and boy are they good. They keep well too -- store in a covered tin and they'll keep for a week or more (if they last). They freeze well too.

Chocolate Chip Ginger Cookies
Makes 3 dozen

1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon nondairy milk (rice, almond, soy, etc.)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry or unbleached white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
1 cup nondairy chocolate chips
1/4 cup natural granulated sugar (for rolling)

In a large bowl, beat margarine and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses and water. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking soda, and spices. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined. Fold in chocolate ships. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until you are ready to bake.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are firm and tops begin to crack. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Homemade Holiday Gifts

This year the girls made beauty baskets for their friends. Homemade lavender-orange hand cream made from almond and coconut oil; body mists in a variety of flavors like tangerine-clove, rosemary-lemon, geranium-orange (just water and essential oils which they call "perfume"; and wintergreen lip balm. Very fun gifts that are fairly easy to make. They decorated lunch bags to put their beauty products in.

We also made a bunch of Millet-Crunch Granola using the recipe from The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook. I made 4 batches (2 at a time) to make 10 gift bags.

Here's the recipe:

Millet Crunch Granola
This healthy granola makes a great topping for fruit or yogurt. You can even eat it alone for a crunchy snack.

2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup uncooked millet
1/3 cup honey, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or maple syrup
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 250ºF. Place rolled oats and millet on baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. In small pan, melt sweetener, tahini, and water together over low heat. In large bowl, toss oats, millet, and seeds with tahini mixture until completely coated. Spread on unoiled baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes. Stir once or twice during baking. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Makes 8 servings

Variation: Add 1/2 to 1 cup dried fruit to cooked granola and store as directed. Do not bake fruit.

Tofurky Vegetarian Feast

The Tofurky people were nice enough to let me try their new Tofurky Vegetarian Feast, which is 100% vegan, cooks in about an hour and a half, and serves six. The feast contains:

- One Tofurky® Roast (made with organic non-genetically engineered soybeans) - now 20% larger
- Savory Giblet Gravy
- Wild Rice, Whole Wheat Bread Crumb Stuffing
- Tofurky® Jurky Wishstix
- New ! Organic Chocolate Cake from Amy's Kitchen
- Happy Tofurky Day card & coupons

Here's our review:

Everybody liked the Tofurky® Roast. I made the basting sauce as directed from olive oil, soy sauce, and fresh herbs and added chopped onions. My casserole dish wasn't big enough to close tightly over the roast so I lined it with parchment paper and foil and sealed it tightly. It came out moist and tasty. The middle of the roast contained stuffing, but it was not enough for my family--especially not for my husband. If you have a stuffing-loving family, you might want to make your own batch on the side. The gravy was delicious and there was enough to put over the roast and our mashed potatoes. We also had roasted butternut squash, veggies, and homemade applesauce, and cranberry sauce for a wonderful feast that everyone raved over.

For dessert, the feast included Amy's Chocolate Cake which was rich, chocolatey and moist, and the right amount for six people (since we are 4, we had 2 servings left over). I served it with homemade coconut ice cream from Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love.

The box also contained Tofurky Jurky but I'm sorry to say, none of us liked it at all--at least none of the humans. Our dogs LOVED it and were begging for more.

Stay tuned for leftovers . . .

Vegan Thanksgiving E-Cookbook

Get the e-cookbook A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving put together by Nava Atlas with recipes from your favorite vegetarian authors (including a few of mine!). It's a great deal at only $8.95, plus the profits will be donated to humanitarian charities concerned with hunger, microfinancing for women in developing countries, and the alleviation of human trafficking.

Click here for details.

Happy Halloween

Here I am as Tacky the Penguin from the story by Helen Lester.

If you have young kids and are looking for tips to keep down the Halloween candy consumption, check out my post from last year about The Halloween Fairy!

Time for baking

What a great day -- sewing machine is put away, presents are wrapped, and I actually have time to do something I really love: BAKE! So far, Barley Soda Bread (perfect for breakfast or with soup for dinner). And since we are having a friend over that can't eat gluten, I made these yummy Flourless Sesame-Almond Cookies (made with arrowroot flour!). Both recipes are from The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook. I've posted them below so you can try them as well.

Happy Holidays!

Barley Soda Bread

This bread is delicious plain but I especially like it with butter, cream cheese, or nut/seed butter.

3/4 cup rolled oats or rolled barley

1 cup regular or golden raisins

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (dairy or nondairy)

1/4 cup water or milk (dairy or nondairy)

1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or honey (optional)

3 1/4 cups barley or other whole grain flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oil a large baking sheet. In medium-size bowl, mix together oats, raisins, yogurt, water or milk, molasses, oil, and optional sweetener. In separate large bowl, whisk together flour, nuts, sea salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add oat mixture to flour mixture. Stir until dough holds together. Turn out onto a floured board and knead gently for 45 to 60 seconds. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into an oval ball. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between loaves. Use a sharp knife to make 2 slashes on each loaf about 1/2 inch deep.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375ºF and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, or until loaves are golden. The bottom should sound hollow when tapped. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Makes 2 loaves

Flourless Sesame-Almond Cookies

These delicious crispy cookies are gluten- and egg-free.

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 cup almonds

1/2 cup softened unsalted butter or coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grated orange rind (optional)

2 to 3 tablespoons water or orange juice

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Oil 1 or 2 large cookie sheets. In food processor or blender, grind sesame seeds and almonds to powder. In mixing bowl or food processor, mix ground seeds and almonds with butter or coconut oil, sea salt, arrowroot powder, evaporated cane juice, almond extract, vanilla, and grated orange rind. Add water or juice, a little at a time, until dough holds together. Place walnut-size balls on prepared baking sheet leaving about 3 inches in between. Press balls with fork twice to form a criss-cross pattern. Bake 20 to 22 minutes, or until bottom and edges are golden.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen

Note: I chilled the dough and then rolled out because my kids wanted to use the cookie cutters. The dough is a little crumbly for this so don't roll too thin.

Healthy Holiday Gift Ideas

Listen to my foodcast for healthy holiday gift ideas . . . and here are the recipes:

Multigrain Pancake Mix
(Makes about 8 cups) 

The flours in this recipe are very flexible - I recommend using at least 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour - but for the rest, feel free to substitute your favorite flour or use just a couple of different ones. This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled so make extra to keep for yourself!

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups barley flour
• 2 cups buckwheat flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup corn flour
• 1/4 cup baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 cup Ener-G Egg Replacer
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup natural granulated sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon or pumpking pie spice (optional)

Sift or whisk all ingredients together in large bowl until completely combined. Pour into jars or plastic bags and tie with a pretty ribbon. Make a label to attach to jar or bag with the following instructions: 

Whole Grain Pancakes

• 1 1/4+ cups milk (dairy or nondairy)
• 2 tablespoons oil or melted unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat or Multigrain Pancake and Waffle Mix

Whisk together 1 1/3 cups nondairy milk and 2 tablespoons oil. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Multi-Grain Pancake Mix. Mixture should be fairly thick but if it does not spread on griddle, add a little more milk. Cook on preheated, lightly oiled griddle or skillet until golden brown on both sides. 

Makes 6 servings (2 pancakes per serving) 

Note: If I did any canning during the summer, I like to give a jar of homemade jam or applesauce along with the pancake mix. Maple syrup in a pretty bottle or fruit preserves from your local farmstand or gourmet shop is also a nice accompaniment. 

Millet Crunch Granola
Makes 8 servings 

Granola is great as a breakfast cereal, topping for fruit or yogurt, or on its own as a crunchy snack. Your friends will love this version that is packed with protein and essential fatty acids. It's cooked over low heat to preserve the nutrients.

• 2 1/4 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup uncooked millet
• 1/3 cup agave or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon flaxseeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• Optional: 1/2 to 1 cup dried fruit (raisins, dried berries, etc.)

Preheat oven to 250ºF. Place rolled oats and millet on baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. In small pan, melt sweetener, tahini, and water together over low heat. In large bowl, toss oats, millet, and seeds with tahini mixture until completely coated. Spread on unoiled baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes. Stir once or twice during baking. Cool completely. Stir in dried fruit, is using. Do not bake fruit. 

Pour granola into jars or plastic bags and tie with a pretty ribbon.

How about a commercial-free black Friday?

Instead of spending the day after Thanksgiving in crowded stores spending money, we are staying home and making gifts. It's a great way to spend time together, save money, and give gifts that are really meaningful to us.

Check out this site for a guide to commercial-free holidays.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving

If you're looking for vegetarian alternatives to the turkey dinner this Thanksgiving, check out my foodcast with ideas for meat-free meals and even alternatives to the usual sit down dinner.

Also--if you want some great vegan recipes for the holidays, check out the e-cookbook A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving. For just $8.95 you can get the e-book delivered right to your inbox and the profits go to a great cause. There are recipes from Nava Atlas as well as many other respected authors and bloggers (including yours truly!). 

Halloween and Candy

We're gearing up for Halloween here -- we live in a rural area so I don't need to worry about having candy in the house for trick or treaters . . . . but we do go into town on Halloween eve so my daughters can trick or treat with their friends. As you might imagine, the bags of candy--loaded with high fructose corn syrup (made from GE corn), artificial dyes and chemicals makes me cringe . . . but luckily, we have a Halloween Fairy! 

My daughters choose a few pieces of candy to keep but the rest is left by the door for the fairy who takes the candy and in return leaves a gift for the girls. The more candy they leave, the better the present they'll get. The presents have been everything from stuffed animals to books (my kids are reading fanatics so that's not as boring as it sounds), however, the fairy always includes a brand new toothbrush!

Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Pie

Here's a yummy treat I made for our holiday dessert.

Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Pie

If you can't find the Jo Joe's, use Newman's O's or other oreo-type cookie.

Cookie Crust:

18 Candy Cane Jo-Joe's Sandwich Cookies (from Trader Joe's), crushed

3 tablespoons melted butter or nonhydrogenated margarine, or vegetable oil

1 quart Peppermint Stick Ice Cream, slightly softened

1 candy cane, crushed

Mix the crushed cookies and oil. Press into a 9-inch pie pan. Place in freezer 15 minutes. Carefully spread the ice cream into the crust. Sprinkle with crushed candy cane pieces. Cover and freeze at least 3 hours, or until firm.

Makes 8 servings

Tips:

- The crust is easy to make in the food processor. First crush the cookies. Then add the butter or oil and pulse until it starts to hold together.

- The candy cane can be crushed in the food processor -- or - just leave it in the wrapper and whack with a rolling pin until crushed (I enjoyed that method!)

- This can be made way ahead of time which is great. If the pie is frozen solid, leave out about 15 minutes before serving or in refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes.

Here's my vegan Peppermint Ice Cream recipe which will be in my new cookbook coming out this spring. To make a dairy version, just take any vanilla ice cream recipe and when almost done, mix in 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies.

Dairy-Free Peppermint Stick Ice Cream

1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk

1 1/4 cups soymilk or other nondairy milk

1/2 cup natural granulated sugar or agave syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together until well combined. Cover the bowl and chill the ice cream base in the refrigerator at least 2 hours. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. About 5 minutes before the end of freezing time when ice cream is just about to the firmness you desire, add 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies. Process for 5 more minutes, or until the ice cream reaches the desired consistency.

Makes 1 quart

 

Egg Nog Ice Cream

I thought I'd share a couple of my ice cream recipes that are perfect for the holidays.

Egg Nog Ice Cream

This is very rich and creamy and totally delicious. We put up our tree tonight and then treated ourselves to this ice cream as we admired it.

1 1/2 cups egg nog (I used Trader Joe's organic egg nog)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/3 cup granulated sugar (preferably unbleached and organic)

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons rum or brandy (optional)

Whisk all ingredients together and freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers directions.

For those avoiding dairy, here's a recipe that will be in my new cookbook "Better Than Ice Cream" which will be coming out this spring.

Makes 1 quart

Banana Nog Ice Cream

1 3/4 cups soymilk (or other nondairy milk)

1/2 cup maple syrup or agave nectar

1 (12 ounce) package firm silken tofu

1 ripe banana, peeled

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 tablespoons rum or brandy (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender. Puree until smooth. Chill at least 2 hours. Freeze mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. If you are using the alcohol, this ice cream will be on the soft side. Put in the freezer for 2 hours before serving to allow it to harden – this also helps the flavor to ripen.

 Makes 1 quart

 Enjoy!

Commercial-Free Holidays

With the economy the way it is, many people are tightening their belts this holiday season. Rather than looking at it as ruining our holidays because we can't buy lots of stuff--why not look at it as an opportunity to get some of the commercial-ness out of the holidays.

Our family started several years ago making gifts for family and friends rather than buying. We get items at yard sales and thrift shops (fabric, picture frames, jars, bottles, fabric, etc.), plus find things around the house--cans, jars, toilet paper rolls, boxes--and make things from them. Not only do we have fun planning and making the gifts, the presents are so much more meaningful to the recipient. Even the smallest child can draw a picture or glue magazine cut outs or put stickers on a jar to make a vase or pencil holder. Older kids can make books, sew little pillows or purses, make jewelry, maybe even knit a simple scarf. My children always amaze me every year with their creativeness. Edible gifts are always fun to make and give: cookies, pies, truffles and almond bark, granola, etc. are great options.

Check out the CCFC Guide to Commerical Free Holidays for more ideas.

Holiday Thoughts

Thanks for checking out my very first blog entry. Since it’s December, I thought I’d talk about gift giving. I encourage you to bypass the “box stores” and think about other places to get your gifts.

My family likes to make gifts. Some things you can do with your kids are:

- Make a photo collage on legal size paper, color copy and laminate to give as placemats
- Sew Christmas ornaments or dolls from felt
- Wrap yarn around clothespins to make little dolls
- Decorate shoelaces with markers
- String beads or noodles to make necklaces
- Use stamp pads or art to make original stationery
- Turn socks or paper lunch bags into puppets
- Add essential oils to sparkling mineral water in a spray bottle and give as perfume

Homemade food is always a welcome gift. There are recipes for Multigrain Pancake and Waffle Mix, Millet Crunch Granola, and Coconut-Almond Shortbread in “The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook” that I often give as gifts. We also make homemade jam, applesauce, spiced pecans, and quick breads.

If you don’t have the time to make your own gifts, support local small business, artists, authors, and other arts. Theater tickets, offers of babysitting, massage gift certificates are things most parents would appreciate. I’m sure you can think of many others.

Best wishes to you and your family for the holidays.