Make magic in Mason jars
DIY herbed salts and spiced sugars are an easy, storable token of appreciation
When it comes to food-related gifts, I love things that I can use immediately. A little baggie of cookies and candies? Excellent, I’ll inhale those during a Netflix marathon. Preserves? I’ll spread those on toast or pancakes during a lazy brunch. A gift card for a food delivery service? Yes please, especially after spending an entire day cooking a turkey for the family.
But for the gift-givers who don’t have the kitchen space — or energy — to bake batches of cookies or simmer a giant pot of preserves, or the funds to treat all their co-workers and friends to takeout, consider gifting jars of herbaceous salts and spiced sugars for a tasty DIY present.
The sugars can add sweetness and flavour to coffees and hot chocolates, or be sprinkled on cookies, pancakes, toast, sweet buns and cakes. The salts can be rubbed on roasts, or simply used as a finishing salt in soups, salads, seafood, vegetables and savoury breads. They require zero baking skills, ingredients are inexpensive and they can be made en masse.
When packaged and stored in adorable jars with a personalized label, they become thoughtful gifts. Keep a few for emergency gift-giving situations — an unexpected plus-one at the family gathering or to thank a co-worker who surprised the office with cookies.
Mix any herb with salt for a herbaceous boost. Just keep in mind that herbs first need to be dried in the oven to get rid of any moisture. This will extend the salt’s shelf life. While fresh herbs will give the herbed salt a more vibrant colour, this blend should be used immediately as the extra moisture makes the salt less shelfstable. For a non-culinary application, replace coarse sea salt with Epsom salts to make bath salts.
For sugar, opt for warm spices associated with the winter such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, star anise, ginger and cardamom.
Use any combination to create a signature blend, adjusting the spice levels for different recipients (e.g., add an pinch of black pepper if they like heat). Vanilla sugar is also a popular choice, but with the ever-increasing prices of vanilla pods, I opted out.