/ Better Living

Gifts in a jar

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01:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 2, 2004

By Sherri Brennen

--Always use wide mouth jars. That will make it easier to layer your ingredients. Canning jars work best and are very inexpensive

--Make sure jars are completely clean. Wash in hot soapy water or use the sanitizing cycle on your dishwasher.

--It’s okay to reuse jars but the lids should always be new. Make sure you wash those as well.

Wendy Juren, WVEC-TV

It's easy to bake a cake in a jar.

--Decorate the lids to make the gifts even more attractive. Get creative and use fabric, bows, ornaments, glitter and glue to make them really stand out.

--Red and green candies layered in a jar make a quick and simple gift. It’s perfect for kids to make for teachers. Tie on a bow and you’re all set.

--Try layering the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies in a jar. Blend dry ingredients together first. Then alternate with brown sugar and chocolate chips.

Better Living Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

(makes about 2 ½ dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

½ cup sugar

½ cup chopped nuts

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

2 ½ cups flour blended with 1 tsp. Baking soda and ¼ tsp. Salt

Method:

Layer ingredients in the order given in a quart canning jar. (Make sure it has a wide mouth). Press each layer down firmly before adding the next ingredient.

Include these instructions with each gift jar:

Empty contents of jar into a large bowl and thoroughly blend mix.

Add 1 ½ sticks of softened butter or margarine, 1 egg slightly beaten and 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until completely blended. You may need to use your hands to finish the job.

Shape into 1 ½” balls and place about 2” apart on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 13 to 15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet and then switch to cooling rack. Cookies will firm up after they are completely cool.

Use a jar lid or small juice glass to press down each layer.

Keep a clean cloth handy to wipe the inside of the jar after each layer. This will prevent ingredients from streaking on the glass.

--Try layering your favorite spice blend in a jar. Or try this variation of a famous seafood seasoning. Blend together equal parts ground bay leaves, dry mustard, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, paprika, red and black pepper and a generous amount of celery salt. It’s fabulous.

--You can even bake cakes in a jar. Prepare your favorite cake recipe. A mix will work just fine.

Directions:

Grease 8 wide-mouth, one pint jars and add one cup of batter to each. (One regular cake mix will make about 4 jar cakes.) Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Sealed properly these cakes will keep for months or you can store them in the refrigerator for two weeks. The cake will slide right out.

Wendy Juren, WVEC-TV

Use an orange or lemon to create flavored sugar.

--Create your own flavored sugars in a jar. Fill a pint jar with granulated sugar and add a vanilla bean or a few slices of lemon or orange peel. Allow it to steep until the sugar is fully flavored. (A couple of days).

--Bath salts look beautiful and are simple to make. Just tint Epsom salts with food coloring. Add a little perfume if you like, then alternate layers with uncolored salts.

--Create matching bath powder by filling a jar with plain talcum powder and adding a drop of the same perfume as the bath salts. Packaged together they make beautiful homemade gift.

So try these few ideas for simple and beautiful gifts in a jar.