It's the holiday season now and gifts are quite costly. Someone making meals as gifts for their community reminded me of some of the frugal gifts I've created using bread as the star of the show and I thought I'd share some. Perhaps you have similar gifts to suggest and we'll get a hardy discussion going.
Anyone can bake. You can make incredible, simple loaves of bread for as little as 30 cents US. If you have a loved one with dietary restrictions, you can find a recipe to suit them. One of the best resources is King Autrthur Baking. Another excellent site for super frugal (regular) bread is Budget Bytes. While cookies can be festive, everyone gets buried in them. Bread makes a great addition to any meal and it brings leftovers up a level. You can also make dough and freeze it, so it's easy to make a dough on one night off and do all your baking on a different day. And even if you lack an oven, you can do this by Googling "stovetop bread".
Nervous cooks can easily make: no-knead bread recipes, soda bread, muffins, and shortbreads.
Aside from making a good tasting loaf, the key to gifting it well is in packaging. Get brown paper bags and channel your Inner Martha Stewart by decorating the bags. You don't need to be artistic. Use thick cardboard or a dry dish sponge and cut the shape of a star, a tree, or whatever you like, make sure it's thick enough to hold, and use paint to stamp the wrapped bread. Tie with sisal twine in a festive color.
If your budget allows, you can add one or more additional treats...
Go to a local farmers market and look for small jars of honey and/or jam. If your farmers market has it, look for small portions of locally made cheese and/or seasonal "dry" salami. These gourmet treats tend to be cheaper straight from the source. If you live rural, see if any local farms have seasonal stands right on the farm or in town. You can really personalize things at this point if you know favorite flavors.
With more contents, you need more containment space. You can go to thrift stores or the dollar store and find baskets. Give them an upgrade using bows, paint, or anything fun. Tuck in your gift treats. Practical containers like baking pans or tins with lids are perfect, plentiful, and cheap. If you're really trying to save money, wrap a cardboard box in dollars store gift wrap or break out the paints.
Serious Upgrades:
Add a box of fine tea, hot chocolate packets, or coffee if it's someone special.
Buy a large bag of clementines or other small seasonal fruits and add enough to each basket for each household member. Dried fruits from value stores like Lydil and Aldi make wonderful additions too.
Add a jar of mixed beans and herbs in a sachet as a dry soup mix or make and freeze soup in Mason jars.
Add a mass market paperback or clean, like-new book for readers. They can curl up with a book and a snack of bread and honey and sip something pleasant.
I hope this helps someone make their holidays cozy and bright!
December 12, 2022 at 12:20AM
