"Lindy" > wrote in message
...
>
>
>
> If it's not too much trouble I would very much appreciate some suggestions
for
> easy first recipes to try. Most especially I would like some things I
could
> try for small Christmas gifts.
>

The Alltrista website -- www.homecanning.com gives some nice recipes. I
plan on making the cherry almond jam for Christmas presents this year.

I find that homemade jams make wonderful presents, especially if you do jams
that aren't typically available at the grocery. I've already made
peach-raspberry, raspberry-blueberry, and peach-mango jams. With the cherry
almond jam and the dutch apple pie jam I have yet to make I'll have enough
to give 2 jars to most of my Christmas list.

I would think that for your first time out, one jar of jam per recipient is
plenty. You can dress up your jam by cutting circles of Christmas-themed
cloth and tying them over the jar lids with ribbon, or putting the fabric
over the lid and then putting the ring over that (after the jars have been
through the BWB canner and beed dried off, of course). Make a nice label on
your computer ("From Lindy's Kitchen With Love").

<preach mode>

For the past several years I've made homemade goodies to give at Christmas.
(This is in addition to the gifts I buy.) Last year it was salsas, the year
before mini-loaves of sweet bread and jars of Christmas Conserve. Some
years it's homemade candy or biscotti or muffins.

How come more people don't do this? I love getting homemade gifts. To me,
making presents with love is one of my joys in the holidays. Planning what
to make (I already have next year's gifts planned) and making them and
presenting them with pride -- it's all so much fun!

Once upon a time, nearly all Christmas presents were of necessity homemade.
Haven't we lost something when the holiday has become a greedfest of
store-bought gifts?

</preach mode>

Anny