Paper Palate

As my mother always says, food is love. To continue with  holiday postings, I want to give you a heads up on two really great books about giving food as gifts. The reason I bring this up now is that some of these gifts need to steep or sit for a month or more, so time to get cracking.

The first is Homemade: Delicious Foods to Make and Give by Judith Choate. This beautifully photographed book is separated into types of foods, including breads, relishes and pickles and drinks. This recipe for limoncello is one I’d like to try:

5 pounds organic lemons
8 cups vodka
6 cups sugar
6 cups water

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the lemon peel. Pour vodka into a one-gallon container, add the lemon peel and cover. Place in a cool, dark place for one week.

Combine sugar and water over medium heat and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Then add to the vodka mixture and stir to blend. Strain the mixture through a sieve into clean containers and refrigerate for one month before serving or giving.

The other book I picked up from my local library is “Gifts of Food: 160 Delectable Recipes and How to Wrap Them” by Susan Costner. This book doesn’t have any photos, but has many drawings to explain things such as how to braid challah or wrap cookies. This book is arranged by gifts appropriate for various seasons and has a separate section on how to wrap food products. I liked the section on how to seal bottles with wax; it would be a great accompaniment to the limoncello above. I really like her recipe for individual Irish soda breads, which would be good for both the holidays and St. Patrick’s Day.