homemade christmas gifts

Posted on December 13, 2012 by dallaswoodburn

When I think back on my favorite gifts I’ve ever received, they are not the most expensive or glamorous, but the most thoughtful. Many of them are homemade: the blue-jean quilt sewn by my grandmother and passed down to me; the handwritten letters my dad writes for me on each birthday; the paintings made for me by my brother. My other most treasured gifts are not “things” at all but experiences: the “girls trips” I’ve taken with my mom; the Taylor Swift concerts I’ve been to with my friend Holly; the time my Gramps took me on a tour of the small Ohio town of his boyhood; the trip to Ireland I took with my brother to explore our family’s Irish roots.

This holiday season, I am approaching gift-giving not as a money-draining, stressful obligation, but instead as a fun challenge. How can I show all of the people I care about how much I care about them? How can I be thoughtful and proactive in gift-giving without breaking the bank?

My answer: homemade, personal gifts.

I mentioned in a post last week about my quest to upcycle gift containers rather than waste money on brand-new bags and boxes. Not only is this good for my wallet, it’s also good for the environment — AND it seems more thoughtful and personal, to boot!

One of my favorite homemade gifts to make for loved ones is hand-knitted scarves. My junior year of college, I studied abroad in England and my friends Janet & Lauren taught me how to knit. Ever since then, I constantly have some sort of knitting project going. {It’s a great project to do while watching TV or on long car rides!} My favorite thing to make is scarves because they are straightforward, versatile, and get a lot of use. With each stitch, I love thinking of the recipient wearing the scarf and staying warm during a cold winter day.

One Christmas, I made a “scarlet and gray” spirited scarf for my Gramps to wear to cheer on his beloved Ohio State football team. It was one of the first scarves I ever made and I worked on it painstakingly for months, trying to make my rows even and neat. I was so proud of myself when the scarf was completed. And my Gramps’s surprised smile upon opening the gift is one of my favorite Christmas memories!

Here are some good online tutorials for how to knit a scarf:

– http://www.wikihow.com/Knit-a-Scarf
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqeG05HFP1E
– http://www.ehow.com/video_12221356_knit-scarf-beginner.html

I also love to give homemade baked goods as gifts. I mean, think about it: even “the person who has everything” could appreciate a nice big batch of still-warm-from-the-oven brownies, right? 😉 To me, homemade food gifts carry the message of comfort, delight, and indulgence. One year, Holly mailed me a batch of cookies all the way across the country and they made me feel SO special and loved — I swear those were the most delicious cookies I’ve ever eaten!

Here’s a wrap-up of some of my favorite recipes for delicious holiday treats that would also make great gifts:

– holiday white chocolate pretzels
– butterscotch pudding cookies
– chocolate-covered popcorn
– pumpkin-oatmeal cookies
– red velvet cupcakes with coconut cream-cheese frosting
– rice krispies treats with m&ms

Making someone a homemade gift is almost like prayer: as you work on the gift, you spend time thinking good thoughts about the person and how much you care about them and how lucky you are to have them in your life. I love homemade gifts because, to me, they are the ultimate testament to the warmth, joy, gratitude and selflessness of the holiday season.

Are you making any homemade gifts this year? What are some of your favorite gifts you’ve ever received?

holiday white chocolate pretzels

Posted on December 6, 2012 by dallaswoodburn

How is your week going? Mine is flying by. It’s the last week of school before I head home to California for the holidays, and I am a mix of productive “aaack-so-much-to-get-done!” and lazy “it’s-December-and-I-just-want-to-bake-cookies-and-watch-Love-Actually.” Tonight I channeled both of these inclinations and baked festive white chocolate pretzel goodies to give to some of my friends and colleagues as Christmas gifts.

I came across this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Peanut Butter Fingers, and I tweaked it slightly because I couldn’t find the white chocolate wafer candies that Julie’s recipe called for. I just used plain chocolate and they turned out great!

Here’s all that you need:

pretzels
green and red M&Ms
small chocolate pieces {I broke apart these Andes peppermint white chocolate pieces}

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. If desired, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Spread a layer of pretzels over the cookie sheet.

3. Break chocolate apart into small pieces and place one piece in the center of each pretzel.

4. Bake for 3-4 minutes, until chocolate begins to melt.

5. Gently press a red or green M&M, writing-side down, into the chocolate.

6. Transfer pretzels to a plate and allow to cool.

7. When chocolate has hardened, store the pretzel treats in a tin or air-tight container.

I packed mine up in these cute tins I found at Target in the dollar section:

This is such an easy and inexpensive holiday baking recipe. These white chocolate pretzels are a special, home-made treat that your friends and loved ones will gobble up! {Or make a big batch for yourself — I won’t tell!} 🙂

Have a wonderful day,
-Dallas

——————-

-Time spent: 20 mins
-Cost: $6.00

*This post is linked up at I’m an Organizing Junkie as part of Menu-Plan Monday!

Here are the other posts in my “Make Your Holiday Season a Masterpiece” series:
– homemade festive decorative chain
– little oases of rest in a hectic, busy season

happy halloween! :)

Posted on October 31, 2012 by dallaswoodburn

Hi everyone! Hope you are having a spook-tacular Halloween today! Halloween is Mike’s favorite holiday so we have been celebrating all ~~week~~ month long with pumpkin decorations, listening to Halloween Pandora stations, watching ghost-hunting TV shows and scary movies {that I try not to pay too close of attention to … I am a total wuss when it comes to creepy/scary things!} and of course lots and lots of pumpkin-inspired food. {I will be sharing some of my favorite pumpkin recipes next week for a special Pumpkin Week on this blog — stay tuned!}

Do you like my ghost design?

My Halloween started off on a wonderful note last night when I came home to a package on my doorstep … and when I opened it up, I found the most beautiful bouquet of autumn flowers that my dad had sent to me for Halloween! It was such a sweet surprise! My dad always makes me feel so special and loved. I am a very lucky daughter. Now I get a huge smile on my face every time I look across the living room and see them on the table, brightening up the room!

Today I celebrated by making Halloween-themed cupcakes that I took in as treats for my freshmen students. {As I shared this summer, I tend to grow quite fond of my students and have a tendency of spoiling them with homemade baked goods.}

The best part about these cupcakes is the homemade chocolate frosting. I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com and tweaked it a little bit to use less butter but still taste rich and creamy. This frosting is a guaranteed way to make a box-mix cupcake taste gourmet and super special! These cupcakes could be decorated for any holiday or special occasion. I chose to decorate mine with candy corn for Halloween.

yellow cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting

– 1 box yellow cake mix {I just used the Kroger brand that was on sale for $1}
– 3 eggs
– 1 & 1/3 cup water
– 1/3 cup vegetable oil or applesauce
– 1/3 cup butter or margarine
– 1/4 cup cocoa powder
– 1 tbsp vanilla extract
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
– 4 tbsp half-and-half
– 1 small package candy corn

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cupcake tin with liners and set aside.

2. Bake cupcakes according to package directions. I combined my yellow cake mix with the eggs, water, and oil and beat with a whisk until the ingredients were well combined and the batter was smooth.

3. Fill each cupcake tin 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. While cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Turn off the burner. Add cocoa powder and mix well; then stir in vanilla extract and cinnamon.

5. Pour sugar in to a large bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and the milk and stir until the frosting is smooth and creamy. It will be thick! You can add more milk or half-and-half if you would like it to be thinner.

6. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, frost each one with a generous amount of chocolate frosting.

7. Stick 3-4 candy corn pieces into each cupcake so their tops stick out decoratively.

Here they are all packed up and ready to go for my students!

Inspired by Deme at Fresh Coat of Paint to make use of what you have, I used a striped shirt and vest I already owned to dress up as a pirate. Anyone else using what they already have to dress up? Anyone make a homemade costume? One of my favorite-ever costumes was when I was a little girl, maybe four or five years old, and my dad helped me hand-paint cardboard butterfly wings that we tied to my shoulders with pink shoelaces. It didn’t cost us a single penny and I had so much fun preparing my costume, and when I wore it trick-or-treating I felt like the prettiest little butterfly! I still remember it vividly to this day. One of my favorite parts of Halloween is seeing all the creative, innovative and funny costumes!

Ahoy, matey!

Hope you are having a wonderful Halloween full of creative costumes, fun activities, and yummy treats! What are you doing to celebrate today?

-Dallas

homemade yummy hummus = yummus!

Posted on September 7, 2012 by dallaswoodburn

Considering my love for hummus now, it’s hard to believe, but I did not discover this delicious dip until I was in college. I particularly remember falling head-over-heels for hummus my junior year, when I studied abroad for a semester in Norwich, England. The grocery chain Tesco made a superb fresh hummus, and nearly every weekday for lunch I would make myself a plate of hummus and pita bread before heading off to class. My flatmates {dormmates} would tease me about it, and I kept wondering when I would grow tired of my hummus lunchtime routine, but I never did. I ate hummus and pita bread for lunch nearly every weekday of my sixth-month stay in Norwich, and I kept eating it when I returned home to the States. I’ve never been able to find a store-bought hummus that tastes quite as good as my memory of that hummus from Tesco. Plus, store-bought hummus can get a little pricey, and who knows what preservatives and additives I’m inhaling along with my pita bread.

So, this week, I decided to get out my blender and try making my own hummus. I’m SO glad I did, because it is absolutely delicious, waaaaay cheaper than store-bought brands, and could not be easier to make! I also love how I can control how much oil, garlic and spices go in. And it was simple to make my hummus organic — I just paid 20 cents more for the organic version of Kroger-brand garbanzo beans!

easy-peasy garlic hummus

– 1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, most of the liquid reserved
– 1 tablespoon lemon juice
– 1 tablespoon olive oil
– 2 tablespoons tahini
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped {I used 2 tsp pre-chopped garlic}
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– black pepper, red pepper, or cumin to taste

1. In a blender, or by hand, chop the garlic. Pour garlic and garbanzo beans into blender.

2. Pour lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, and optional spices in blender. Blend until creamy and well mixed.

3. Add additional bean liquid to get desired texture and additional spices, salt and lemon to taste.

4. Optional: chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, or as long as you can stand the wait. I think this hummus tastes even better the next day, once the flavors have had a chance to marinate together for a little while!

I served mine with fresh sliced carrots and cucumber. I also love eating hummus with warm pita bread. Makes a great lunch or healthy snack! Hummus also makes a great sandwich spread — I’ll use it instead of mustard or mayonnaise.

What are some of your favorite veggie dips & sandwich spreads? Any other hummus-obsessed people out there?

-Dallas

———————————

-Time spent: 15 minutes
-Cost: $3.00

You might also enjoy these healthy snack posts:
– baked mango with brown sugar & cinnamon
– creamy avocado yogurt dip from Two Peas & Their Pod
– honey goat cheese dip from Peanut Butter Fingers

red velvet cupcakes with coconut cream-cheese frosting

Posted on August 3, 2012 by dallaswoodburn

I like to bring my students baked goods as a surprise at the end of the term {that is, if they’ve been a good class — which so far, they always have been!} I had an especially wonderful creative writing class this summer so I decided to eschew the usual cookies or brownies for a special treat: homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes with this fabulous coconut cream-cheese frosting you might remember from my carrot cake recipe last month.

{Here are the finished cupcakes all ready to go to class:}

I have made Red Velvet cupcakes to great success from a boxed mix before — I like substituting applesauce for the oil to make them a little healthier while still retaining moistness. I am a big fan of the Duncan Hines Red Velvet boxed cake mix.

If you’re feeling more adventurous, like I was, here’s a recipe I was excited to find on the wonderful site Annie’s Eats to make Red Velvet cupcakes from scratch:

Ingredients:

for the cupcakes
– 2½ cups cake flour
– 1½ cups sugar
– 1 tsp. baking soda
– 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
– 1 tsp. salt
– 2 large eggs
– 1½ cups vegetable oil {I substituted 1 cup applesauce}
– 1 cup buttermilk
– 2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring
– 1 tsp. vanilla extract
– 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

for the frosting:
– 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
– 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
– 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
– 1 tablespoon heavy cream
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring {optional}
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.

3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, vegetable oil {or applesauce}, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar. Beat by hand or with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.

4. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Beat until the batter is smooth.

5. Fill the cupcake tins about 3/4 of the way full.

6. Bake 15-18 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

8. While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream. Beat in the salt, coconut flavoring, and vanilla extract. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and spreadable. Add additional confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting, or more cream to thin. Stir in the coconut.

9. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, use a knife or a spatula to spread the frosting onto the top of each.

10. {Optional} I like to refrigerate the cupcakes for twenty minutes or so to let the frosting solidify.

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

Always,
Dallas
————————
Time spent: about 1 hour {including bake time}
Cost: $5-$7

Day-By-Day Masterpiece

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