Food Gift

[Stella]

Re: Food Gift

Wow, I was going to vote for a homemade dipping oil with artisan bread. You silly bakers are working up a storm!! Yum!

[planet]

Re: Food Gift

Wow, I was going to vote for a homemade dipping oil with artisan bread. You silly bakers are working up a storm!! Yum!

My foks did this one year and they were beautiful and well received. They made gorgeous botttles of garlic, peppered oils etc. I still have the vision of all of the bottles lined up in the kitchen and the sunlight streaking through them.

[Stella]

Re: Food Gift

Sounds fabulous to me!

Re: Food Gift

Ellie, great minds....I love those recipes. Actually, I've only made the chocolate because whenever I am planning out holiday baking DH always asks me to make that one. I really want to try the gingerbread sometime. He will just have to deal.

When you do oils or vinegars, do you have to do...anything...preservative wise? Like canning?

[ellie]

Re: Food Gift

Yes, great minds Nellie!

Those recipes are good, aren't they? DH isn't big on desserts, but he does like that chocolate stout one. You will have to try that gingerbread one soon...it's just as yummy. But I think the cranberry almond is my personal favorite.

Re: Food Gift

I think I've got a bag of TJ's dried cherries somewhere in the pantry. I might add those in to the mini-bundts.

[Stella]

Re: Food Gift

When you do oils or vinegars, do you have to do...anything...preservative wise? Like canning?

I think a bottle and a cork ought to do the trick for up to 2 months. (I know I've read that somewhere...) Refrigeration is always helpful.

Careful with garlic... Here's this...

STORING GARLIC IN OIL
Extreme care must be taken when preparing flavored
oils with garlic or when storing garlic in
oil. Peeled garlic cloves may be submerged in oil
and stored in the freezer for several months. Do
not store garlic in oil at room temperature.
Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature
provide perfect conditions for producing botulism
toxin (low acidity, no free oxygen in the oil,
and warm temperatures). The same hazard exists
for roasted garlic stored in oil. At least three outbreaks
of botulism associated with garlic-in-oil
mixtures have been reported in North America.
By law, commercially prepared garlic in oil
has been prepared using strict guidelines and
must contain citric or phosphoric acid to increase
the acidity. Unfortunately, there is no easy or
reliable method to acidify garlic in the home.
Acidifying garlic in vinegar is a lengthy and
highly variable process; a whole clove of garlic
covered with vinegar can take from 3 days to
more than 1 week to sufficiently acidify. As an
alternative, properly prepared dried garlic cloves
may be safely added to flavor oils.

STORING GARLIC IN WINE OR VINEGAR
Peeled cloves may be submerged in wine or vinegar
and stored in the refrigerator. A dry white or
red wine is suggested; white or wine vinegars
also work well. The garlic/liquid mixture should
keep for about 4 months in the refrigerator.
Discard both the cloves and the liquid if there are
signs of mold or yeast growth on the surface of
the wine or vinegar. The garlic-flavored liquid
and the garlic cloves may be used to flavor dishes.
Do not store the garlic/liquid mixture at room
temperature because it will rapidly develop mold
growth.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/u ... garlic.pdf