Culinary Gift fo Your Christmas

If the best gifts come from the heart, certainly the next-best gifts come from the kitchen. Culinary treats can be perfect presents for your foodie friends or just about anyone on your list. Food gifts are especially perfect for friends, neighbors, teachers and others for whom more elaborate gifts are neither expected nor required. What's more, the possibilities are endless and can be adjusted for varying palates, allergies and preferences. Here are several suggestions for serving up delicious holiday gifts this season.

Sugar

Just about everyone looks forward to seasonal sweets, from Christmas cookies to jelly doughnuts for Hanukkah to benne cakes or sweet potato pie for the final feast of Kwanzaa.

- Rethink your cookies. When it comes to culinary delights, there's nothing wrong with sticking to the basics. But if you want to put a twist on tradition, consider some alternatives to the holiday cookie sampler, such as decorating greeting-card-sized cookies with personalized messages, filling decorative jars with all of the dry ingredients needed for your favorite cookie recipe or giving the gift of dough - three different kinds of cookie dough rolled into logs, wrapped in wax paper and tied at the ends with festive ribbons.

- Take a dip. Dipping store-bought confections such as peppermint sticks, candy canes, candied orange peel, shortbread cookies or even fresh figs in good-quality chocolate (a mix of dark, milk and white chocolate is even better!) will transform these everyday items into holiday-worthy gifts.

Photo Galleries | Prep Sports Photos

- Think drinks. Nothing takes the chill out of a cold December morning like hot chocolate - especially when it's homemade. Make your own mix with ground chocolate and sugar or package a high-quality store brand in a festively decorated jar, then add some peppermint sticks, chocolate-coated spoons or homemade marshmallows to the mix.

- Have a jam session. Handmade jams, preserves and fruit compotes are always appreciated.

Your creation can be accompanied by the recipe, some scones or great toasting bread, or even a decorative serving jam jar.

- Bark that's as good as its bite. Chocolate bark is a delicious no-bake gift that's so easy to make you'll wonder why you've waited so long to try it. Recipes are everywhere and you can customize the bark with your recipients' favorite nuts, dried fruits and other tasty tidbits.

And spice

For people who love to cook, great ingredients make exquisite gifts. Think about giving your favorite foodie the gift of flavor in the form of spices, either from the bulk aisle at your favorite upscale grocery chain or a well-loved specialty retailer. Since spices don't stay fresh forever, your culinary connoisseur is sure to appreciate a new assortment. For the more adventurous cooks on your list, consider purchasing a few special spices, such as saffron or vanilla - either the bean or a high-quality extract. Spices can be purchased in small amounts and then presented in decorative airtight jars with handwritten labels. Other options include making and giving your own spice blends and purchasing whole spices, such as nutmeg or allspice, and presenting them along with the appropriate tool for grinding or grating them.

And everything nice

Themed baskets of food will generate big smiles from everyone on your holiday list. Putting together an assortment of items for a particular meal or kind of cooking is as much fun for the giver as it is for the receiver. Here are some ideas that are both simple and special.

- Breakfast basket. Fill a basket with homemade pancake and waffle mix and a bottle of real maple syrup, or go continental with a batch of freshly baked scones and a jar of lemon curd. For the caffeine lover, two mugs, one filled with a favorite gourmet coffee or tea and the other packed with some homemade pastries or a jar of jam.

- Pasta basket. The centerpiece of this gift could be a jar of your famous spaghetti sauce, which is surrounded by a package of fresh pasta, a bulb of garlic and a wedge of Parmesan cheese.

- Pizza basket. Start with a package of homemade pizza dough, add a jar of pizza sauce or pesto made from the basil in your garden, then decorate the basket with a merry mix of cheeses and popular pizza add-ons, such as pepperoni, olives, olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and small packets of spices, such as oregano or red pepper flakes.

To ensure that your gifts don't go to waste, be sure to add instructions for storing and handling the food -- especially those items that need to be refrigerated.