Tag: recipe

Every year, I tend to choose one unique gift to make and give the same thing to everyone. Last year, I finally got around to trying something I’d seen on Pinterest (this post) a few years ago — Nutella Powder. It was a big hit with my family and friends, so I thought I’d share it with you.

So what is it? Nutella (the creamy spread made with hazelnuts and cocoa powder) is combined with tapioca maltodextrin powder (a tapioca-derived starch that is used as a thickener, filler, or stabilizer in foods) to transform it into a treat that can be sprinkled rather than smeared. Without getting too technical, the tapioca maltodextrin absorbs the fat in the Nutella and transforms it into a powder. (more…)

It’s hard to believe that the year is half over and that Christmas is only 6 months from now. Holy cow! If you know me from my guest appearances on Knitting Pipeline podcast or follow the KP group on Ravelry, then you probably know that I love to give unique handmade gifts. I typically find one or two items that I can produce en masse and give to everyone at Christmastime. Pinterest has made searching for ideas both easier and overwhelming. Pinterest also makes it easy to save ideas throughout the year, sort of like a knitting pattern queue.

Finding something that will appeal to everyone can be challenging, but once I choose the project, I can usually save money and time by making a lot of them at once. For instance, I might want to package my gifts in Mason jars, typically sold by the dozen. Buying a whole dozen jars only to use seven of them means I’d have five jars sitting around until next year. It’s not such a big deal if it’s just a few jars, but it’s a different story for ingredients with a shelf life. The ever-popular handmade bath and body products use oils and butters that can turn rancid after a while; being able to use up more of the bulk ingredients reduces leftovers, and therefore, waste. Simply planning the number of people to give the items to and/or tweaking the recipes can reduce waste as well as cost per gift. That’s something to keep in mind. (more…)