Homemade, Handcrafted and Heart-filled

Seasonal Gifts to Make and to Savor

As the Christmas season nears, our minds begin to fill with abounding and sometimes stressful thoughts: memories of the past, to-do-lists, and sensory experiences of the holiday—the taste of homemade eggnog, the warmth of the fireplace, and the smell of fresh pine.

For me and my sister, who grew up baking in the kitchen, the thought of Christmas is intricately connected to creamed butter, flour-covered countertops, melted chocolate, and cookie presses. It’s the first thing I think of when the weather steadies into a consistent cold, and I find frost webbing its way across my windshield each morning when I go to work.

While baking is the most integral part of my Christmas preparation, the other necessity is buying gifts, the latter much less enjoyable and a million times more stressful than the former. That’s why this year our Edible Ohio Valley team wants to offer our readers a way to combine the two. Maybe this year’s gift list could come from your very own kitchen. And we’re not just talking cookies here: We’re offering a slew of holiday recipes that could make very meaningful and quite delicious gifts. From infused liquors to preserved lemons, these recipes just may shift your gift-giving inspirations from the mall to the kitchen.