Cooking & Entertaining > Christmas Recipes

Food Gift Ideas for Holidays

(ARA) – For as long as people have exchanged holiday gifts, food has been considered among the most personal – and welcome – of all offerings. No one really knows when the tradition of giving food gifts at the holidays began. Some culinary historians point to pagan winter solstice celebrations that pre-date Christianity. Others link the practice to 18th Century England, when poor street carolers were rewarded with slices of cake. Whatever the origin, the food gift is now an integral part of American holiday celebrations.

However, if you’re tired of giving the same old fruitcake, gingerbread cookies or pecan pie, the good news is many popular holiday food items are getting exciting updates.

“Fruitcake always seems to be the butt of holiday jokes, and no one wants to admit they eat it, let alone give it as a gift,” says Ken Bain, owner of Mary of Puddin Hill, a Texas-based company that specializes in updating some time-tried (and, some would argue, tired) holiday favorites. “Yet we sell about 15,000 every holiday season. And we are by no means the country’s largest purveyor of fruitcake. Someone is eating a lot of fruitcake during the holidays!”

Bain has a few suggestions for ardent food gifters who don’t want to give the same-old-same-old this holiday season:

Fruitcake
Yes, fruitcake. Is any other food icon more maligned than the humble fruitcake? It’s hard to say. The qualities that make some people love it – candied fruit, heavy cake and rich spices – are exactly the qualities that make others loathe it.

An updated version, available at www.puddinhill.com, forgoes the candied citrus peels, citron and raisins that most fruitcake foes dislike, and replaces them with a generous helping of Texas pecans, fruits and dates, embraced by just enough sweet batter to hold the mixture together. Other twists include the addition of gourmet chocolate, walnut or apricot fruitcakes, and shrinking the fruitcake into bite-size morsels dubbed “Little Puds.”

Peanut brittle
Not necessarily at the top of everyone’s list of favorite holiday foods, peanut brittle gets a holiday slant when served up in red and green. Bain’s team of food devotees has further spiced this classic sweet by adding a dash of jalapeno flavoring. The brittle is a conversation starter at holiday parties, where guests try to decide which is hotter, the red or the green. (The secret, Bain says, is that they are exactly the same except for color.)

Pecan pie
If the fruitcake is the quintessential holiday cake, then pecan pie is in the running for top holiday pie, alongside pumpkin and apple. The addition of Texas pralines and a top coat of thick dark chocolate take the traditional pecan pie to the next level. Bain’s team further updates the holiday favorite by rolling the pralines and pecan filling into a ball and coating it with dark chocolate to create “Texas Snow Balls.”

Peppermint
Candy canes are probably the peppermint treat most commonly associated with the holidays. And now, candy canes are available in a bounty of flavors. Mary of Puddin Hill updates holiday peppermint by presenting it as a bark. A layer of rich dark chocolate is paired with a layer of white chocolate, enriched with natural oil of peppermint. Hand made peppermint candy cane pieces are showered over the chocolate to form delectable peppermint bark.

Dog biscuits
Yes, that’s right – dog biscuits. Surveys show that the majority of American pet owners will purchase gifts for their pets this holiday season. Those basic biscuits get an upscale and healthful twist when dipped in yogurt and packaged in a special bone-shaped tin for the holidays.

For more ideas on giving updated holiday food favorites this season, visit www.puddinhill.com or call (800) 545-8889.

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Courtesy of ARA Content