Robbins-Brock - Food Gift Recipes From Natures Bounty: Easy & Delicious Recipes to Make and Share for Every Occasion

Food Gift Recipes From Natures Bounty

Easy and Delicious Recipes
To Make and Share For Every Occasion

Lilly Robbins Brock

Copyright 2015 Lilly Brock

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Edited by Vivi Anne Brock
Cover & interior book design by Vivi Anne Brock

DEDICATION

To My Mother

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful for the hand-written recipe cards written by my mother and mother-in-law. My mother and mother-in-law have passed on now which makes their recipes even more precious. They would have been thrilled to see the recipes that were important to them published in this book.

I am also grateful to my other family members and friends who have provided me with their favorite recipes. I am grateful to my daughters Alecia and Vivi Anne who have influenced my husband and I to eat healthier food.

I owe a big thank you to my younger daughter, Vivi Anne, for being by my side in the garden, the test kitchen, and helping me to hone my computer skills. She has been instrumental in the design and compilation of this book as well as preparing it for market. A thank you goes to my husband for his patience during the process of the test kitchen and the late dinners. I also want to mention and thank my sister June who is always by my side no matter what project I'm taking on. She's a constant supporter and cheerleader. In addition, many other family members and friends have jumped on board to show their support who have my gratitude.

One person who has been an ardent supporter and friend is a special lady by the name of Claudia Svartefoss. A shout-out goes to her for trying out some of the recipes from this book, and making her own food gift creation- the Lady Kay Apple Pie, as well as her contribution of the picture.

And last, but not least, a big thank you to Chandler and his buddies at Self Publishing School. This book would have taken much longer without the school. I also want to acknowledge the schools private Facebook group, and thank all the new friends in the group who were always caring and supportive.

FOREWORD

Have you ever had the occasion of needing to give someone a gift, and you didnt know what to give? Maybe youve been invited to a dinner party or a house warming. Do you run to the nearest store to grab a bottle of wine? Should it be red, white or sparkling? Or perhaps theres a Christmas family gathering coming up. Budgets are tight, and gift exchanges have been eliminated, but you dont want to go empty handed. The answer for me is the gift of food from my kitchen prepared well ahead of time with love and affection for family and friends.

For hundreds of years food has been a symbol of friendship and hospitality. It doesnt matter where you live or what language you speak, the gesture of offering or giving food is as powerful today as it was so many years ago.

The garden, orchard and berry patches are bountiful resources for your food creations. Take advantage of Mother Natures generous supply during the summer and fall harvest times. In addition to creating and preserving the food for gifts later, you can also use the fresh harvest itself as a gift. Why not say hello to your neighbors while offering them something just gathered from your bounty? I guarantee they will be thrilled by your gesture of friendship.

The recipes in this book have been selected with these resources in mind and for planning ahead. Also by planning ahead, if youre unable to have a garden or orchard, youll have the freedom to purchase fresh produce and fruit in season. It will cost less, and youll be supporting your local farmers. Who can resist a farmers market with all the bins of fresh vegetables and fruit on display or the lingering aroma of freshly baked goods. Take your favorite basket and fill it up. Once your freezer and pantry shelves are filled with your creations, youll not only be prepared for the expected occasions, but for the unexpected occasions as well.

The spirit of giving inspired me to create this book, and my daughters and I invite you to experience what we experiencethe satisfaction of giving ones self in the deepest and most generous way possible. When heart and soul goes into a kitchen creation, it will be the beginning of cooking with love and sharing that love.

Enjoy!

Lilly

www.lillyrobbinsbrock.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

My daughters and I have been on a path of eating healthy. It was a natural conclusion to grow our own organic food and preserve that food. Heres a tip on purchasing seeds. If youre planting a garden, use organic heirloom seeds. When the plant is finished, youll be able to harvest its seeds when its ready, and youll have a wonderful new supply for the following year. If you use hybrid seeds, you wont get the same plant. With hybrid seeds, you are forced to replace them year after year.

Our garden and orchard reward us every year, and soon the freezer and pantry shelves are filled with delicious and healthy organic food. I soon found out how convenient it is to simply go to my freezer or pantry shelves and choose that special gift. Sometimes its a single item, and sometimes Ill put a nice basket together with a variety of items.

At holiday time, I have an annual tradition of giving my family and friends a bottle of my special blackberry cordial or peach liqueur. The happy recipients always immediately give me back the bottle for a refill the following year. And, if I have overnight guests, theres always a bottle of cordial waiting for them in the guest room. Whatever the gift, the recipient is always thrilled to receive something homemade. Dont we all long for some of the old fashioned traditions in this fast paced life of ours?

Its enjoyable to be creative- even therapeutic. Once youve decided what youre making to be used as a gift, youll be able to plan ahead for how youll want to package it.

There are many resources on the Internet that offer gift boxes, jars, bottles and printable labels. Check out antique or thrift shops for interesting glass or tin containers. Look for baskets, trays or wood boxes. Of course there are always the craft stores, and dont forget about the dollar stores. The dollar stores offer a variety of gift bags, tissue and ribbons. Add some twine, yarn, tape and marking pens to your collection. I keep a pantry cupboard in our garage as the go-to place for my collection of gift trappings. No rushing to town for me. My husband and I live 10 miles away from the nearest store.

The recipes are from a variety of sources. Many are from the hand written recipe cards of my mother and mother-in-law. I have updated them slightly such as substituting vegetable shortening for coconut oil. I was fortunate to taste their food creations throughout the years. Some are recipes that I have collected over the years, some from friends and family, and some are my daughters and my own creations.

There's just one more thing I'd like to share with you. Two of the recipes in this book, the Lady Kay Apple Pie and the Apple Coffee Cake, play a role in my upcoming historical fiction novel. If you would like to be one of the first readers to know when it's available and be able to download it for free on Amazon, you're most welcome to sign up here . It will be my pleasure to contact you.

A special note:

In many of the recipes, youll find that I have substituted some ingredients with some of my favorite standbys. An example is my choice of using raw sugar versus granulated sugar. The main difference in the ingredients that I prefer is the fact that they are less processed. Ill always defer to less processed or organic ingredients.