Cheer up friends with a fun little gift of food
Fun food gifts and even those where you are just sharing a part of your family meal are welcome and appreciated by friends and neighbors alike.
We live in a retirement community and especially during this pandemic, we have many friends who are alone and lonely.
Since we can’t go and be with some of them physically, we take them some little gifts of food. It might be part of our dinner one night (as I said) or a piece of pie or some cookies.
I’ve mentioned many times, that my husband Ron, heads for the kitchen when he gets bored. He sometimes even gets bored with watching sports on TV and that’s saying something. So besides baking bread https://ritasartfulife.com/moms-basic-bread-recipe/every other day, he tries a lot of other foods. Many times when he’s fixing dinner for us, he will box up a a portion and take it to one of our single friends. It’s really little effort and it makes the other person very happy.
Anyway, today he’s making a strawberry pie. We are both supposed to be watching our weight and strawberry pie doesn’t freeze well or keep well, so, I’m sure we’ll be delivering slices to several of our friends and neighbors.
Actually, we did end up sharing the pie with some friends, after pizza. Perfect!
Specialties that make great gifts
My friend, Elaine, makes cookies for all occasions. She spends lots of time baking and decorating them and then gives them out to celebrate holidays, birthdays and other special days for her friends. It’s so nice to open your door and find a little package of cookies on your doorstep. We all appreciate the time, thought and effort she puts into these little gifts. I’m including her “almost” famous cookie recipe and the frosting that goes with in this post.
We also have an “granddaughter”, Claudia, who also is a cookie baker, extraordinaire. She has taken the art of decorating to a whole other level. Claudia shares and sells her special occasion cookies with friends and coworkers, as a part time venture (she’s in graduate school, becoming a Nurse Practitioner). Included in this post is her recipe for Royal Icing.
Other Food Gifts to consider
Ron likes to share his “Ronchiladas”, his version of enchiladas, which a lot of our friends enjoy, https://ritasartfulife.com/ronchilada-recipe/ He also bakes very often so his cinnamon rolls & breadhttps://ritasartfulife.com/moms-basic-bread-recipe/ also get shared. Today it’s Strawberry Pie, included below.
In reality, anything you bake or cook can be shared with friends and neighbors. The thoughtfulness will undoubtedly be greatly appreciated
The recipes
Elaine's Cookie & Icing Recipes
2 Sticks Butter
1 Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 t. Vanilla Extract
1/4 t. Almond Extract
1 t. Baking Soda
12 t. Salt
2 t/ Cream of Tartar
3 3/4 C. Flour
Cream Butter & Sugar. Add Eggs one at a time & beat after each.
Add Vanilla & Almond Extracts
Mix all dry ingredients together, add to creamed mix and beat.
Roll out on floured board to 3/16″ thick. Cut into shapes.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Place in preheated oven (425)
Bake for 4-5 minutes. Do not allow to brown.
The Icing
1 bag 10X (powdered or confectioners) Sugar
1/2 C. Crisco (to maintain the white color)
1 t. Clear Vanilla (again see above)
1/2 C. reg Milk
Beat with mixer. Separate and add liquid food coloring
Tip: Use left over frosting + a some cocoa powder to frost brownies
Claudia's Royal Icing
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
3 Tbs. Meringue Powder
5 Tbs. water
Beat for 5 min. on medium-high, thin as needed with water. Decorate away!!
Strawberry Pie like Big Boy's
4 Cups Strawberries, cut up
1 1/2 C. Water
3/4 C. Sugar
2 T/ Cornstarch
3 oz. pkg. strawberry gelatin
Graham cracker pie shell or baked regular pie shell
Mix water, sugar & cornstarch. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add strawberry gelatin. Stir until dissolved. Pour over cut strawberries in pie shell. Refrigerate until set. Serve with whipped cream.
Final Thoughts
So Cheer up some friends, neighbors or shut-ins with a fun little gift of food! It will make you feel good and they will certainly be appreciative.!
Rita