Have You Ever Heard Of Basket Meals? With Chocolate Fudge Gift In A Jar Recipe

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Nothing says "I love You" or “I care about you” like homemade food. Meal in a basket is such a thoughtful gift for just about anyone on your list. The concept is to put homemade mixes for the entire meal in the gift basket. For Example: Breakfast Basket College Survival Meal Basket Cookie Monster Basket County Comfort Gift Basket Desert Basket Family Snack Basket Italian Basket Pizza Kit Basket Salad Basket Southwestern Basket You can use baskets, tins wicker baskets, picnic baskets, laundry baskets, decorative boxes, decorated bags, shoe boxes covered with material, flower pots (these are great)or buckets. And even sewing boxes work well. The possibilities are endless. Use your imagination and the interests of the person or family whom you are making the basket for. After you decide what you want to put in them, just place them in till they look good, adding ribbon or lace or what ever to make it attractive. You can use shredded paper, styrofoam peanuts, in the bottom covered by tissue paper to look nice. There are a lot of recipes for gifts in a jar already posted by me. Mug recipes are great also .I have already posted some of these. I will be publishing more of them later. Keep checking for them. Here is one to let you know what they are all about: Chocolate fudge gift in a mug 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup sugar 1 T finely chopped pecans or walnuts Measure into small Ziploc baggie, seal & shake to combine 1/2 cup mini marshmallows : measured into a separate small baggie. Place in a Mug lined with Tissue paper, attach pretty tag & tiny wooden spoon. Don't forget to Attach Tag: Combine Fudge Mix, 2 1/2 T. Margarine & cook in microwave 3 minutes. Remove & quickly stir in marshmallows, until well melted. Cool 5-7 minutes and then place in fridge for 8-10 minutes to set. How to prepare your meal basket? There are different ways of preparing the mix in a jar recipes, the geologic group and the happy mixers. In the geologic group the ingredients are all layered in a clear glass jar separately so that each layer is distinct. This gives the container the look of strata (think of the rocks in the Grand Canyon in Arizona) or 'sand art'. The happy mixers toss everything together so that there is no need to go through the trouble of layering, thus allowing for greater variety in the choice of containers. A recipe from either group can easily be adapted to become a recipe of the other. Keep in mind that if you're going for the layered look, the ingredients need to have different colors and textures. A sugar cookie mix made with white sugar and white flour is not going to give you good strata! Packing them In! Most of the cookie and brownie varieties of mix in a jar recipes will fit into a 1 quart or 1 liter size WIDE mouth canning jar,(read your recipe before determining the size for sure) as long as you pack the ingredients in as tightly as possible. One quart equals 4 cups; one liter equals just over 4 cups. Some of the mix-in-a-jar recipes may be a bit confusing, for if you add up all the cups it equals more than the maximum amount of four! This is because the ingredients, if packed down properly in the jar, will lose volume and thus be able to fit. Careful packing is the key. After placing one ingredient in the jar, press it down with a utensil with a fairly wide flat bottom (a long-handled tart tamper works great). Do this after each and every ingredient, especially so after you've added ingredients like brown sugar, flour, oats, nuts, confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, shredded coconut and dried fruits. Here are few tips for achieving an artfully layered strata: White sugar will seep down into layered items like colored candies, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. It's better to put white sugar below these ingredients. All-purpose flour and XXX (confectioners') sugar also have that seeping problem so place them below the same items as white sugar. The layers will stand out most if you pack the most contrasting items next to each other. Fun-Filled Containers Why be chained to just putting these great mixes in glass jars when there are so many other options?! One way to get around the problem of finding just the right jar is to use heavy-duty plastic bags. Once you've filled the plastic bags with the mix, there's an endless variety of ways you can fancy 'em up for gift giving. Place them in a decorative tin or cookie jar. Place them in a cloth-lined basket Have your kids paint pictures on lightweight cardboard gift containers (available at craft stores) or use leftover oatmeal containers. Place them in a beautiful mixing bowl, and if you want to be extra nice, include a good quality wooden spoon. Make it a whole baking kit! Along with the mix, include a cookie sheet, measuring spoons, cups and timer! Students away at college would sure love to receive this package in the mail! Steps to Give Remember to include a card with the instructions on how to finish the recipe. Many of the recipes call for 1/2 of an egg. Now, How does one measure that? Simply beat the egg and place it in a glass measuring cup and divide that amount in half. Or you can just use a whole egg. This will just cause the cookies to rise a little higher while baking. It's also a good idea to include the amounts of the dry ingredients you used , that way, they can make the gift again and again! Shelve It! Many people ask about the shelf life of these mixes. If stored in a cool, dry and dark place, your gift can last for up to 6 months, as long as all of the ingredients used to make it were fresh! Make sure your baking powder and baking soda aren't going to expire anytime soon. If the mix contains nuts, they should be used within 3 months. Now that You get the idea. Just go and have fun with it. There is no right or wrong way to make your basket. Explore the discussions that I have already published for other helps and recipes for mixes in a jar, mixes in a can, Homemade Mixes, Mixes in a Mug. Enjoy and Have fun!