These homemade bulk blends make lovely holiday gifts. And they are also appropriate for garden or herb club refreshments, for they are so easy to prepare for a large crowd. For gift giving, package instant beverage mixes in holiday tins or plastic-lined decorative cloth sacks tied closed with a cinnamon stick-adorned ribbon. Include instructions for their use on a fancy little card, and voila! you have a perfect much welcomed homemade gift from your kitchen (for other recipes and homemade gift giving ideas, go to betweenclosefriends.com).
Spicy Cocoa Mix Yield 4 cups
1 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 cup non-fat dry milk powder
1 T grated and dried orange peel
1 T ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground cloves
To use: add ½ T per cup of hot milk or water
Instant Herb Tea: Yield 2 cups
1½ cups store-bought instant tea
½ cup dried lemon or orange peel
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground cinnamon
For a hot tea, use 1 teaspoon per cup of boiling water.
Herb Garden Dressing—This dried mixture will keep through the winter until your herbs are growing again. It can be used to flavour salad dressing and to sprinkle over vegetables, casseroles and stews.
1 cup dried oregano
1 cup dried basil
½ cup dried marjoram
½ cup dried dill weed
½ cup dried mint leaves
½ cup onion powder
2 T dry mustard (homemade recipe available at betweenclosefriends.com).
2 tsp salt
1 T freshly ground black pepper
- Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
- Store your herb garden dressing in a tightly sealed jar, and use it as required.
Note: When making a batch of your herb garden salad dressing, add 2 T of the dry herb mixture to 1½ cups of extra virgin olive oil and ½ cup apple cider vinegar. Shake it together, mixing it thoroughly. Allow your dressing to rest for at least 1 hour in order to incorporate and blend the flavours into your dressing. Shake it once again just before serving.