Homemade Seasonings and Butters as Gifts for the Family Cook

If you already have a cook supreme, the alpha cook, then something homemade might be a little tricky. Why not try some additions to her gourmet kitchen? Herbed seasons can be just the trick.

Start With Herbed Seasoning:

Make seasoning salt that will be a wonderful gift the whole year through. Mix a large batch and keep some for yourself. Mix 2 cups of salt, 4 tsp each of dry mustard and granulated sugar, 3 tsp each of oregano and garlic powder, 2 tsp each of curry powder and onion powder, 1 tsp of celery seed, ½ tsp of ground thyme and paprika, and ¼ tsp of turmeric. Put these in a large jar, close the lid, and shake it like crazy to mix. Put it into smaller containers and label it. Dating the mix is an added bonus for the recipient.

Many of the ingredients can be purchased at discount stores or over stock stores for a very reasonable price. This blend will be so tasty; you may give it to everyone.

Give some seasoning pepper. You will need the blender for this one or a spice grinder (coffee bean grinder that is clean works great.) Put 2/3 cups of black peppercorns, 4 tbsp of white peppercorns, 6 tbsp of flaked sweet pepper, 2 tsp each of dried minced onion and crushed red pepper flakes, and 1 tsp of minced dried garlic. Grind it up until it is a course powder. Put in smaller containers decorated and labeled.

Lemon Pepper is another nice spice to gift, and so very simple. You will need to make some lemon zest. Lemon zest is nothing more than a fancy term for the outside peel, the yellow part, of a lemon. If you are baking and need fresh lemon juice, grate the freshly washed skin first, and lay it between two paper towels to dry. You will need about 8 medium sized lemons to get ½ cup that is needed for the lemon pepper. When you are grating, don't get any white part, it's very bitter and will spoil the zest. There is a tool called a zester that can be used, or a vegetable peeler is another option.

Grind or crush 1/3-cup peppercorns to a coarse consistency. Cut the zest, if you have large pieces, into the pepper and mix it together thoroughly. You want the lemon oil to permeate the pepper. Mash it down with the backside of a large spoon. Put it on a cookie tray and set it in an oven to dry. You need to set an electric oven at the lowest possible temperature, and the pilot on the gas oven is sufficient to dry the mixture. Put it in the grinder again once it is dry. It should remain a relatively coarse consistency.

Herbed Butter For the Queen of the Kitchen:

Test your skills by making some Garlic Butter as a gift. When you are shopping for the butter, remember, you are going to repackage this. The more inexpensive no name butter that is in a giant 1 pound block, is an excellent dollar saver. Simply grind a few cloves of garlic in a blender with a pound of slightly soft butter. Repackage it in small containers.

Experiment a little. You can add almost any ingredient. Chive Butter is made by adding about ¼ cup of chopped chives to the butter. Rosemary Butter and Sage Butter is also very popular and made the same way. If you want to experiment a little in smaller batches try mixing a little lemon zest, a small amount of lemon juice, cracked pepper, and a little salt to the chive butter. These are flexible recipes because everyone's taste will vary.