Handmaid Gifts: Letting Mother Earth Take the Reigns From Father Christmas
- Monica Sabella
- Apr 16, 2023
- 3 min read
By Monica Sabella, Horticulturist and Journalist
Nature is filled with a vast supply of resources and with the holidays closing in, I’m turning to mother earth for a little help for Christmas presents this year.
With a handful of herbs, peppers, vinegar, fruit and water, the world is your oyster. Choose your cuisine, the internet says. With just a few ingredients, you can turn a basket of produce into a beautiful and tasty Italian giardiniera or a can of tomato sauce. Cook down some berries and you have preserves. This year, I decided to make some good, strong hot sauce.
I started by grinding 10 balls of whole black peppers using a mortar and pestle. Then, I added two cloves of garlic and ground them up, releasing the oils. I placed these into a cute a jar I bought from the Dollar Store. Then I added a few bay leaves, sprigs of cilantro and a teaspoon of dried oregano. You can use fresh oregano too but I didn’t have any on hand.
Next, I ground up five dried hot chile peppers and added them to the jar. I chopped up some jalapenos and dropped them into it too. A dash of salt and a splash of lime juice with an added teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and you’re down to the last step. Simply fill the remaining space of the jar with water and seal it up. This recipe should rest anywhere from two to three weeks before using, just to ensure the potency of the hot sauce. The longer it sits, the spicier it will be.
So this year, most of my family will be receiving my beribboned jars of homemade goods. But there are other alternatives for those with gentler palates. During my research I discovered a few easy recipes which could easily become a cute and tasty stocking stuffer.
Homemade preserves is a great treat to top your toast, add to a bowl of yogurt or ice cream. I think amid the constant flow of advertising and commercialization of holidays, people forget that making a gift at home is just as worthy and sometimes even more appreciated as a shiny package off the shelves.
With only 30 minutes and three ingredients, strawberry preserves are only a few steps away. I like to forage and explore, so I like to find native berries and plants to use in place of the more popular flavors. You can easily supplement them if you’re lucky enough to find some still in season. However with the colder temperatures blowing in that may prove to be a challenge.
For strawberry preserves, take a bowl of strawberries, a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon juice, a half cup of sugar and lemon zest and set them to the side. Cut and quarter the strawberries and toss them into a sauce pan with shallow amount of water. Add your other ingredients and bring the mixture to a rapid boil, stirring over medium heat. Feel free to mash and break up the strawberries as they cook down. Over the next 20 minutes, the strawberries will slowly break down and cook into a jam-like texture. Take off the heat and allow the mixture to cool. Transfer it to a container and allow to set in the fridge. Enjoy with your biscuits or at the bottom your overnight oats.
Finally, what would the holidays be without a cocktail or two? I have the best recipe for mulling spices perfect for mulled wine or cider. These dried spices can be bagged and gifted too for a final addition to your homemade gift bag. Some of these can be grown and dried for next year. In the meantime, these are easily found in your neighborhood grocery store. All you need are three ounces of cinnamon sticks, six whole nutmeg, one-third chopped orange peel, one-third chopped lemon peel, one-fourth cup allspice berries, one fourth cup cloves, and two table spoons of crystallized ginger. You’ll also need single serve tea bags or cheese cloth, cut into five inch squares.
Throw the cinnamon sticks and nutmeg in a zip-lock bag. Press out all excess air and pound them out using a rolling pin or a heavy pan until completely broken up. Add this mixture to a bowl and combine orange peel, lemon peel, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger. Take two table spoons of your spice mix and add them to a tea bag and seal securely with a string. And that’s it! You’re ready to add these handmaid mulling spices to your Christmas arsenal.
Mother Earth has ample resources that can make the holidays lighter on the pockets and more fun than standing in a long line and hustling through traffic along the freeways. In this way, everybody gets to enjoy the season stress free.
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