Food Gifts in Mason Jars are an Easy and Cost Effective DIY Project. Now You Can Give Presents to Everyone without Going Broke (2019)!

Energy in a Jar

What you need

• Peanuts, White Chocolate Hot Drink Mix, Mocha Latte Mix, White Chocolate Energy Bar and Milk Chocolate Truffles

Pampering in a Jar

What you need
• Cozy socks, Body Lotion, Moisturizing Hand Cream, Soothing Massage Bar Soap, Facial Scrub & Lip Balm.

Refreshments in a Jar

What you need
• Facial wet wipes, aloe vera or rose water mist, disposable mini toothbrush, peppermint gum, peppermint Altoids, a mini brush & mini comb.

Method:
• Assemble all the items in their respective jars with a long pencil to shuffle items and to help fit them inside the jars. Print the labels out for the jars in different colours and cut them into different shapes if you’d like and then stick them with an adhesive glue on the jars. You can finish up by attaching tiny colourful bows on the lids.

Italian Barley Soup Mix

What you need
• A cup of pearl barley, ½ a cup of sundried tomatoes, 1tbsp dried chopped onions, 1tbsp dried minced garlic, 2 tbsp dried basil, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes and 1 veg seasoning cube.

Chicken Noodle Soup Mix

What you need
• 1 tbsp dried chopped onions, 1 tbsp dried minced garlic, 1 bay leaf, ½ tsp dried rosemary, ½ tsp dried sage, ½ tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp celery seeds, 1 chicken seasoning cube, 2 cups wide egg noodles.

Split Pea Soup Mix

What you need
• 2 cups split green peas, ½ tsp celery seed, 1 tbsp dried chopped onions, 1 tbsp dried minced garlic, 1 bay leaf and 1 chicken seasoning cube.

Method:
• For all the Jar Gifts, layer all the relevant ingredients in clean glass jars in the listed order of ingredients, close the lids and add the tags before gifting..
• To make the soups, remove the wrapper from the seasoning cubes, add them and all the respective soup ingredients in addition to 6 cups of water into a saucepan. Bring everything to a boil over a high flame, and then lower the flame to let the soup simmer till the blend turns thick and beans turn tender. The entire process should take about 90minutes. Before serving you can discard the bay leaf and season to taste.

What you need
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar, 1 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tbsp rock salt, 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1 clove of garlic sliced thinly, 5 cilantro sprigs and 2 under-riped avocados, peeled and sliced thinly.

Method:
• In a small saucepan combine the vinegar, water, sugar and salt on medium heat and bring it all to a boil, stirring frequently. Set the blend aside to cool when the sugar and salt have dissolved.
• In a mason jar, put the chilli flakes, garlic, cilantro and avocado slices and pour the cooled pickle mix into the jar, and seal it tightly with the lid. Refrigerate the pickle for at least 3 hours before serving it.

What you need
• 1½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp sea salt, ½ cup rolled oats, ½ cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 cup chocolate chips.

Method:
• Whisk the flour, baking soda and sea salt in a large bowl and using a funnel or paper cone pour the flour mix into the bottom of the glass jar and spread it evenly with a spatula or spoon to create a flat layer. Then add a layer of oats, spread it evenly to form another layer. Next, add brown sugar and spread evenly. Add a granulated sugar layer and finally, add the choco chips and seal the jar tightly with a lid. Attach the tag/label to the jar.

For the Brine Jar

What you need
• 1 cup kosher salt, ¼ cup sugar, 12 bay leaves, 1 garlic head, 2 tbsps black peppercorns, 1 large bunch of thyme, 1 lemon.

For the Coating Jar

What you need
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 tbsps garlic powder, 2 tbsps onion powder, 2 tsps paprika, 2 tsps cayenne, 2 tsps kosher salt, ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper.

Method:
• Combine all the ingredients for the Brine and the Coating in their respective jars. For an evenly layered effect in the brine jar, start with the sugar and salt layer, to begin with. For the coating jar, start with the flour and then carefully sprinkle each ingredient one by one along the jar’s perimeter. Then attach the instructions for frying chicken to the Jar.


• To Fry the Chicken – take a gallon of water, 2 ½ pound chicken, with each cut into 8 pieces, the brine jar ingredients, coating jar ingredients, quart buttermilk, 10 cups of peanut oil, and kosher salt.


• For the brine – combine all the ingredients from the brine jar in a large pot. Before adding water, take the lemon & garlic out of the jar, cut them into half and put them back in the mix, add a gallon of water, cover and bring it all to a boil. Continue boiling for a minute, stirring till the salt dissolves, and then remove it from the heat and let it cool down completely.


• Place the chicken in the cool brine and refrigerate overnight or for 12 hours. Without a minute longer, take the chicken out of the brine mix and pat it dry, removing any spice or herbs stuck to the chicken.


• Bring the peanut oil to heat up enough for deep frying in a sauté pan. Dump the coating jar ingredients in a bowl, mix it all together and put quart buttermilk in a second container. Before frying, dip each piece of chicken into the coating mix, tap off any excess and then dip it into the buttermilk and then dip back in the Coating mix. Then place the chicken in a parchment lined sheet tray.


• Begin frying by first the thighs and the legs, and when the oil reaches the right temperature, carefully lower the chicken pieces into the oil and fry it for about 13 minutes till it turns golden brown, cooked throughout and crispy. Remove the chicken to a tray lined with the paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Next, add the breasts and the wings to the oil and fry for about 6-7 minutes till they are cooked. Repeat the steps as before.

What you need
• 1 cup rosemary (packed fresh leaves), 1 cup coarse salt, 3 cups kosher or sea salt.

Method:
• Put the rosemary leaves and coarse salt in a food processor, pulse on & off about 8-10 times or until the salt blends with the rosemary and turns into a table salt texture (should look like damp/wet sand). Add the kosher salt into a bowl and stir in the rosemary salt mix, combining it all thoroughly.
• Spread the whole mix on a baking sheet to dry for a few hours and then transfer it to the jar with a tight-fitting lid. Finish up with a decorative twine or bow around the lid.

What you need
• 6 (3”) cinnamon sticks, 6 whole star anise, 2 tbsp whole allspice berries, 2 tbsps whole cloves, 1 tbsp green cardamom pods, 1 tsp black peppercorns.
• For Gift Assembly – an orange, a bottle of red wine, 6 (4”x4”) squares of cheesecloth, 6 (6”) twine, printed or handwritten mulling directions.

Preparation:
• Put the Cinnamon Sticks and Star Anise in a plastic bag and with a rolling pin, crush them into small pieces and then mix them with other spices in a bowl. Then transfer it all into a small jar. Gift it all with the cheesecloth squares tied with the twine to the jar, orange and the bottle of wine with attached instructions to mull the wine.
• Directions to mull the wine – Put 1 tbsp of the mulling spice mix in the jar in the center of cheesecloth, gather its corners and tie it with twine. In a large saucepan, combine the cheesecloth spices with honey or sugar, the zest and juice of the orange and the bottled wine, heating the mix until it steams but not boil. Keep stirring to dissolve the sugar.

What you need
• 3 lemons washed in hot water, ½ cup kosher salt and ½ cup granulated sugar.

Method:
• Cut the lemons into 1/8” thick slices and pick out any seeds present in the slices. Mix the salt and the sugar together and cover the bottom of the glass container with the layer of salt & sugar. Then top it up with a layer of sliced lemons & cover again with the salt & sugar layer. Repeat the steps till all the lemon slices are covered. Then seal the jar and keep it aside at room temperature for 3 days. After 3 days, you can transfer the contents to a mason jar and gift it, to be refrigerated until required.

What you need
• 1¼ cups of rolled oats, ¼ cup walnuts, ¼ cup almonds, ¼ cup pumpkin seeds and ½ cup raisins or cranberries.
• A measuring cup, a mason jar, paper cupcake holders, cling film, scissors, ribbon for décor and a gift tag.

Method:
• To begin with, use the ratio of 1:1 of rolled oats to the sum of all the other ingredients, measure the jar’s volume and then with the pre-determined proportion as a mark, measure out equal portions of nuts, seeds & dried fruit.
• Fill the jar by alternating layers of oats with the mix of other ingredients, which lends a contrast effect between layers to give the Jar a visual appeal. To ensure distinctive layers and avoid mixing, use paper cupcake holders to separate each layer, flattening & trimming the holders to size each layer. Once each layer’s covered by the cup holder, gently press the layer down before moving ahead with the next layer.
• Cover the jar with a cling film & tie it with a ribbon and include a gift tag with instructions on how to transform the jar contents into a delicious granola.
• Instructions – Preheat the oven to 180C and line a small sized baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Remove the dried fruit from the jar and set it aside and pour the other contents from the jar onto the tray. Add 1¼ tbsp. honey & 1 tbsp corn oil, stirring them together and bake until the ingredients are crisp and toasty which should be approx. 15-20minutes. Once the ingredients have cooled down, add the raisin/cranberries, stirring it together and putting it back in the jar.

• Ice Cream – When you have a jar filled with ice-cream cones, hot fudge, caramel sauce, sprinkles and other ice-cream toppings, you’d have an exciting bunch of ice-cream fanatics vying for your Ice-Cream in a Jar gift. Don’t forget to attach ‘Just add ice-cream!’ to the gift tag.
• Cookies Galore – Pack up a jar with an assortment of store-bought cookies, homemade cookies if you’re up to it and some tubes of coloured frosting, small candies and other cookie decoration supplies.
• Salon in a Jar Give the gift of soft and pretty hands and toes with contents for a mani & pedicure in a jar, filling with nail enamel, toe spacers, moisturizers, hand & foot scrubs, nail file, buffer, and other associated things for a salon session at home!