Cherry Cordials - Inexpensive Gift #11

Chocolate Covered Cherries or Cherry Cordials are one of my favorites and they are so easy to make. Why buy them with all those artificial flavors and preservatives?
I found this recipe on line by Start Nover. I just made one or two slight changes.


First combine 2 cups of powdered sugar - 1/4 cup butter - 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk - 1 teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of salt. Once that’s mixed, cover with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until firm.



While that is getting cold, drain a jar of maraschino cherries, place them on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for an hour.



When everything is cool, take 1-2 teaspoons of filling and form a ball around the frozen cherry. This is going to be a little more difficult if you keep the stem in but you can do it.
After they are all coated, put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze them for an hour.



You can use the dipping chocolate blocks you get at the grocery store if you want to or you can use chocolate morsels. Next time I’ll use the dark chocolate morsels but for this project I used milk chocolate. I put a bag of chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melted them - (microwave for 30 seconds at a time stirring after each time) until creamy and soft. Don’t over cook the chocolate or it will dry out.
Now take a frozen cherry and coat it with melted chocolate. Make sure that you don’t leave any holes were the liquid might leak out later. The chocolate will harden pretty quickly on the frozen cherry so move fast.
Now wait a few days to give the sugar coating a chance to liquify. They will keep in an airtight container for a month.



I had some extra chocolate so I toasted some Almond slivers and mixed them with the left over chocolate and put about a teaspoon each in a paper candy cup.
Now that you have made your candy you can place them on a pretty Christmas plate and give them to friends or bring them to a party. Better yet, paint a Christmas design on a plate and really make an impression!
Plate painting directions can be found here:
http://www.growitfirst.blogspot.com/2013/08/grow-it-first-with-ck-worley.html



Looking for a quick stocking stuffer? Give the gift of a garden with some gloves and good starter seeds. I like Martha Stewart’s 100% certified organic seeds. Then make sure that you include a card with my "seed sowing" blog post on it.
http://www.growitfirst.blogspot.com/2012/02/grow-it-first-with-ck-worley-sowing.html

And now for one last thing-

“But now we have a choice: whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation - or, whether we choose to become stronger through all of this struggle - to rebuild on a solid foundation. And I believe we are in the process of starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God”. Billy Graham

Spice Stocking Stuffer - Inexpensive Gift #5

This will be a perfect stocking stuffer for a college student or someone moving into their very first apartment.
I found approximately 156 spice suppliers in the United States. Spices may be packaged by different names but they come from the same places. So this is my premiss for buying spices at the Dollar Store. Paprika cost one dollar there or you can get Spice Island Paprika for $4.56 at the grocery store. Are they the same? Maybe not. Can you taste the difference? Perhaps. But in order to keep this gift an inexpensive one we are betting that they are of the same quality. Also, make sure to check the expiration date before you buy. The jars I picked up have expiration dates of 2015 or 2016. That’s good.




I found some of these cool plastic containers at Staples for 50 cents each. They are supposed to be used for paperclips and thumb tacks but I’m going to make a neat stocking stuffer with them. You can use any little stackable container. I found these in the school supply section.
Always wash things out before you begin. Better safe than sorry.
Choose spices that will look good together. Don’t put a garlic powder next to an onion powder. Try to make the color and texture interesting.
After decided which spices to use make labels on your computer or write on some white duck tape to tag each spice. Writing on the plastic is difficult and will be hard to read once the spices are in the containers.
Pour the spices in the corresponding jars. Now stack them on top of each other. The Lock Ups will snap into place. They are ready to slip into any stocking or wrap with ribbon to make a special gift topper.
The best part is they don’t take up much room and if you’ve ever been in a college dorm you know that space is hard to come by.
The containers were 50 cents each and they hold a half container of spice so each Lock Up cost about $1 per jar. You can make them as tall as you’d like.




$4 for the one on the left and $6 for the one on the right.


“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci