Sunday, November 11

Gifting from your garden

Homemade jams, jellies, marmalades, sauces, salsas, herbed vinegars and infused oils are just a few of the gifts you can make from your home garden harvest.

Whether you tend an apartment patio or a multi-acre rural estate, gardens can make great "gift shops." Many a gardener has snipped a quick hostess bouquet or shared a harvest with friends, but with a bit more time and effort your home's landscape -- even a winter one -- can spread the joy even further this holiday season.

Two simple gifting tips can help you find the perfect "fit" for nearly anyone on your list:

Know the recipient
That statement should really be in the form of a question: How well do you know the recipient? Unless you have a great deal of involvement in the person's life (knowing their routines, habits, book and music preferences, favorite movies, favorite/least favorite foods or food allergies, hobbies and collections), it's safest to give a gift on the "light" side. Gifts with broad appeal, like food or flowers (in one of their many forms), are always popular choices.

Keep it simple
This is a good motto for many things in life and especially for gifting. That doesn't mean the gift or the thought needs to be simple, but receiving and enjoying the gift should be. Dropping off a bunch of carrots is a gesture of kindness and generosity, but not much of a gift. Even an entire basket of just-plucked garden goodies could be seen more as 'work' than 'gift' if the recipient has to cook them himself. Instead, why not prepare one or two dishes yourself and take them over in a nice baking dish, pan or platter that can become part of the present? And don't forget to include the recipe and any final cooking instructions.

Other garden gift ideas

Botanicals
(Consider including a unique piece of pottery, a vase or basket where appropriate.)

• Forced bulbs like amaryllis, narcissus, tulips and hyacinths that are about to bloom.
  
• Wreaths, garlands and swags are easy to make and can include any material that's in season.
  
• Dried or pressed flowers and petals can be used to make all sorts of decorative and useful items. Shrub-dried, green hydrangea blossoms arranged in a low glass bowl or massed onto a moss-covered wreath (which can lay flat or be hung) make a beautiful gift that is appropriate during any season and is neutral enough to blend with any décor. Smaller or broken flower heads and petals can be used to make candles, writing paper or can be added to glycerin soaps. I have a friend who is blessed with the ability to find four-leaf clovers. He simply presses them carefully in a large book (Make certain you mark the pages!) and uses them to decorate photo frames and mattes, cards and laminated bookmarks.
  
• If you know someone who loves to grill, dried herb bundles such as rosemary, sage and thyme make a great gift. Tie the dry, woody-stem bundles (about a dozen stems per) with a piece of the herb itself or a raffia bow. Pack them neatly into a beautiful wooden box by themselves or with some other grilling items like jars of homemade herb/spice blends or purchased grill utensils to make this otherwise simple gift seem very special. (To use the bundles, the recipient soaks them in the vinegar-based marinade or brine solution of the item being grilled, shakes off the excess moisture and then simply tosses the bundle onto the hot coals or briquettes to impart a smoky, herb flavor to the grilled meat, fish and vegetables.)

Delectable edibles
Foods are among the most appreciated gifts. I'd like to offer a suggestion for something that's a bit out of the ordinary, very versatile and extremely delicious -- the shrub. A shrub is essentially a sweetened vinegar that makes a refreshing beverage when you mix it with sparkling water or club soda, but it can also be used as the base for a meat or poultry marinade, as a flavor enhancer drizzled into fruit or lettuce salads, or as a substitute for a splash of vinegar or lemon juice in a favorite recipe. Following is the recipe for one of my favorites (you may want to try it with blackberries or a combination of the blackberries and raspberries):


Raspberry Shrub Syrup
From the book "How's Your Drink? By Eric Felten (Release date: November 28, 2007)

Step 1
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Bring water to a boil and whisk sugar in until dissolved, then reduce heat for a few minutes.

Step 2
• 2 pints fresh raspberries (You may use frozen berries; chop them coarsely.)
• 2 cups white wine vinegar

Add raspberries and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and bring to boil for two more minutes. Let mixture cool. Strain and bottle.

Raspberry Rum Shrub

1 oz. raspberry shrub syrup
2 oz. dark rum
4 oz. ginger ale or soda water

Build with ice in a stemmed goblet. Stir. Garnish with fresh berries.

For more garden recipe gift ideas, click here.

After completing culinary arts training at Joliet Junior College and working as executive chef at the Heartland Health Spa in Gilman, Alex Panozzo returned to his roots on the family vegetable farm in Limestone. He is active with the Kankakee Farmers' Market, the local agri-tourism industry and the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener Program.