Guest Author - Anita Burroughs

I love to give friends and family home-made edible gifts for the holidays. For one thing, people really appreciate the fact that you have taken the time to lovingly make something in your own kitchen. Second, homemade food gifts are economical, and there are great ways to package and present these gifts.

One gift I give year after year is biscotti. These crunchy Italian cookies store and ship beautifully, and can even be frozen for several months at a time. Biscotti seem to have a mystique, but they are actually very easy to make, and are simply cookies that are baked twice. You first make the dough and shape it into a log. The log is baked, cooled, cut, and then the cut cookies are baked again

Another great gift is homemade granola. Kids love it as a healthy snack, and it’s a great breakfast for the entire family. You can purchase glass jars for the granola, or buy inexpensive colorful bags at your local party supply store or at places like Wal-mart. . Check out some of the beautiful paper boxes sold during the holiday season. I’ve found some unusual and lovely boxes at TJ-MAXX and at Marshalls.

Here is a recipe that I love to give as a gift during the holiday season. It’s a Maple Popcorn made with pecans and maple syrup. The only real skill needed to make this recipe is patience while the syrup heats to 300 degrees, and a candy thermometer is needed.

Here is the recipe for the Maple Popcorn:

1 cup pecans (3 1/2 oz), toasted and coarsely chopped
About 8 cups plain popcorn (about ½ cup unpopped)
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
Special equipment: a candy thermometer

To make the popcorn, heat about 3 tablespoons of vegetable or corn oil over moderate heat. Add a few kernels of the popcorn and wait until one pops.
Quickly add ½ cup of popcorn, then cook, covered, shaking pan frequently, until kernels stop popping, about 3 minutes.

To toast the pecans, you can heat them in a dry skillet over moderate heat until they are fragrant. Or, you can pop them in a 325 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until they start to darken or are fragrant.

Then, toss together the pecans and popcorn in a large bowl.
Line a large shallow baking pan with foil, then lightly oil foil and a wooden spoon.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Add the maple syrup and salt, then boil, without stirring, until mixture registers 300°F on the candy thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes. You will stand there thinking the thermometer is just NEVER going to make it to 300, but do stand by and watch carefully because the temperature jumps up quickly at the end of the process.
Pour the maple syrup over the pecans and popcorn, stirring briskly with the oiled spoon to coat. Immediately spread the popcorn in baking pan. Cool completely, then break into bite-size pieces.

You can put the popcorn in decorative bags, using an inner sealed plastic bag to keep the popcorn fresh.

Be aware that this popcorn is positively addictive.