Khoollect tips: creating thoughtful homemade food gifts

Homemade food gifts can be a meaningful, thoughtful and affordable way to show your nearest and dearest you care at any time of year. And who doesn’t love a gift they can eat? If you’d like to create presents for loved ones that come from the heart, made with your own two hands, we’ve got some tips to help:

• Choosing your gifts
  With platforms like Pinterest sprouting endless food gift ideas, it can be a challenge to narrow down your shopping list. First, consider your recipient and their tastes or dietry requirements. Then, if you’re gifting on a budget, endeavour to choose homemade foodie gifts with fewer ingredients that won’t cost you the earth. We’ve put together three simple foodie gift recipes that are simple to make and taste delicious. Try our dark chocolate bark, savoury star crackers and a warming (just-add-water) soup for two ideas. If you’re short for time, you could also consider putting together a foodie hamper, with a selection of delicious goodies you know they’ll love.
• Preparation makes perfect
  Before you get started, create a workable space where you can spread out your ingredients and materials. If you plan to make pickles, jams, preserved lemons, or something else that requires canning jars, be sure to sterilise them first. Run your work space like a clean-and-tidy restaurant kitchen. Line up everything you’ll need, and ensure you’ve got enough food for all recipients, so you won’t have to pop out to the store again. It’s better to have a little too much on hand than not enough (in case those biscuits burn, for example). You can always make an extra gift to surprise a colleague or friend with.
• Time it right
  When you’re putting together your gifts, think about when you’ll be able to bestow your homemade presents first. It’s best not to bake brownies for someone you won’t see for another week, but rather make them something a little more long lasting. If you’re planning to make Christmas cakes, preserved fruits or highly fermented vegetables, make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to make these items ahead. You don’t want to pass your pals a half-finished gift. Ideally, your food gifts will be ready to eat as soon as they’re opened.
• Presentation is paramount
  Now for the finishing touches! Pretty up your presents with ribbons and twine, a little fabric on your jar lids, and gift tags with a personal message. It’s a great idea to label your food gifts with the ingredients, any instructions they might need, and the date you made them. This way, your recipients will eat your delicious gifts before they pass their best-before dates and won’t ingest anything they might be allergic to. You can keep your wrapping efforts simple, allowing the food to do the talking, or try out these creative gift wrap ideas.

Keep your eyes on the Khoollect newsletters to recieve your downloadable labels for our homemade food gift ideas, coming soon! If you make our food gifts, or an invention of your own, be sure to tag us @khoollect and use the hashtag #khoollectcook to share your results.

This post has been created in partnership with Maille, Knorr, Hellmann’s and Colman’s.