Window Shopping Gift List and Cherry Almond Granola

When I was young, Christmas seemed to be all about what I would get.  I wouldn't sleep well on Christmas eve because I was dreaming about what might be waiting for me the next day.  Now, I find that I love pouring my energy into what I will give others.  I still don't sleep well on Christmas eve, but my excitement is more over sharing the day with others, and being able to bless them with gifts! 

When it comes to gifts, I'm more of a window shopper.  I love looking at the gift guides, seeing what's new and what's wanted, but I don't do much of the actual purchasing.  Apart from my husband and a few family members, most of my gifting is of the home-crafted kind.  But since I do love window shopping, I wanted to share my "window shopping" gift list with you.  Many of these things I already have and love, and others are on my wish list.  Maybe my little window shopping list will help you fill in those last few gifts that you have been looking for. 

My favorite gifts for the food lover:

Conecuh Sausage; Bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau; Oakview Farms Granary Stone Ground Grits

Peppermint Hot Chocolate (Williams-Sonoma); Tucker Honey Glazed Pecans; Crate of Clementines

Shoreline Olive Oil; Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange (Amazon); O&H Almond Kringle

My favorite gifts for the host:

Mug Cozy (Socks and Mittens); Monogrammed Mug (Anthropology); Dorothy Gail Apron (ImaginAprons)

Latte Bowls (Anthropology); Alabama Dish Towel (Catstudio); Provence Platter (Williams-Sonoma)

12 Days of Christmas Napkins (Williams-Sonoma); Cow Creamer (Williams-Sonoma); Bon Appetit, Y'all (Amazon)

My favorite gifts for the chef: 

Peppermate Pepper Mill (Amazon); Henckels Twin Cuisine 7 Inch Santoku (Amazon); Le Creuset Oval French Oven (Amazon)

Smart Stick Hand Blender (Amazon); Mini Spatula and Spoonula Set (USPHome); Multi Mount Oven Thermometer (Sur La Table)

Retro Kitchen Timer (Amazon); Kitchen Twine with Cutter (Sur La Table); Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Vanilla (Amazon)

In case you're like me and prefer to give gifts of the homemade variety, here are a few ideas that go beyond the cookie jar.  I love the combination of Colonial Oatmeal bread with Apple Butter, or a pretty glass container of pimento cheese.  And a bag of granola will always be welcome. 

Colonial Oatmeal Bread; Pimento Cheese; Orange Rolls

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal and Fruit Muffins; Cherry Almond Granola; Cheese Straws

Black Russian Cake; Apple Butter; Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

Cherry Almond Granola

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup powdered milk

½ cup honey
1/3 cup 100% cherry juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon almond extract
5 ½ cups old fashioned oats
¼ cup wheat germ
¼ cup oat bran
½ cup millet
1 ½ cups dried cherries
1 cup slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, stir together the sugar, powdered milk, honey, juice, and oil. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the extract.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour the sugar mixture over the oats and stir well.

Spread the oatmeal over a large baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring 2-3 times. Reduce the heat to 250 and bake for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

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Free Apples

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were walking through our neighborhood and saw this:

We had seen the table (and an accompanying sign that said "Free Apples") a few other times, but there had never been any available bounty. This time, however, the table was full of apples. These apples were the kind that you don't see at the grocery store; they had bumps and bruises and lopsided parts. Nevertheless we stuffed our pockets full and snagged as many as we could hold in our hands and headed home.

It didn't take me long to know what I would do with my new found bounty. I was talking about it before we even reached our front porch. I would make apple butter, loaded with spices and sugar and just delicious. By 2:00 the next day, I had two beautiful jars of apple butter to put away in the pantry, and one container in the refrigerator to eat immediately.

This recipe was developed from several others; I primarily went off of my mother's pear butter recipe which I have made in the past, but I also referred to Elyse's recipe at Simply Recipes and some posts on the web. I read several posts on a message board about cooking apple butter in the oven (after the initial 20 minute cooking). This resulted in a gorgeously dark and rich apple butter.

By the way, you can use several different kinds of apples, particularly those that you would use for a pie, crisp or baking. Stay away from Golden or Red Delicious.

Apple Butter

2-3 pounds apples, peeled and cored and sliced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
zest and juice of one lemon
1-3 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves

Place the apples, vinegar, water, lemon juice and zest in a large oven-proof pot. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour the cooked apples into a blender or food processor and blend until well pureed.

Return the pureed apples to the pot, measuring as you go. For every cup of blended apples that you have, add 1/2 cup brown sugar.* Add the spices to the pot. Cover the pot and put the whole thing in the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours at 300 degrees, stirring every half hour. When you stir the pot, taste for sugar and spices; you may want to add more depending on your preferences.

Store in the refrigerator, or seal in canning jars to store for months (or years) in your pantry, give away for Christmas gifts, etc. If you're not familiar with canning process, The Pioneer Woman gives step-by-step instructions here.

*You might want to go easy on the sugar to begin; you can always add sugar as you go.

Oh, and "thank you" to our kind neighbors, for sharing your apples.