With the holiday season upon us, now is the time to think about what you’ll bring to thank that special hostess. Skip the last-minute trip to the grocery to buy a bottle of wine, and instead make these your go-to hostess gifts.
They’re budget-friendly and easy to make. Plus, when you’re finished with the cleaning, no need to toss the leftover mess in your garbage can – just throw it into your InSinkErator®. Stickiness be gone!
Bonus: We’ve created printable labels (download here). Just print on 8.5"×11" cardstock and affix to your tin or jar!
Sugared Cranberries
Yield: 12 oz
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 ¼ cups sugar, divided
1 12-oz bag of fresh cranberries
Mint for garnish (optional)
- Create a simple syrup by combining water and ½ cup of sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve.
- Add cranberries, tossing with spoon ensuring all cranberries have been coated in simple syrup. Allow to stand for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In the meantime, set up a cooling rack over a baking sheet, and spread remaining ¾ cup of sugar onto a large plate.
- Transfer the cranberries to a cooling rack using a slotted spoon.
- Immediately begin rolling cranberries in the remaining sugar, working in small batches, then transfer back to cooling rack to dry.
- Allow the cranberries to dry completely before being packaged, about 45 minutes-1 hour.
- For gifting, line a small tin with parchment paper and add a sprig of mint if desired. Cranberries should be refrigerated and will last approximately 3 days.
Sea Salt and Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce
Yield: 2 cups
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 ¼ cup of brown sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
½ of a vanilla bean pod
¼ teaspoon sea salt (we used course French gray sea salt)
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Add brown sugar and stir until combined.
- Slowly pour in the heavy cream, while simultaneously stirring to prevent scorching the cream.
- Stir for 1-2 minutes. Note the caramel will be a very thin consistency at this point.
- Split and scrape the vanilla bean pod and add the beans to the caramel, along with the sea salt, and stir to incorporate.
- Pour into gift jars and keep stored in refrigerator. Caramel will thicken when cooled and can be stored up to 1 week.
