Food for Friends : Homemade Gifts for Every Season [Paperback]

Sally Pasley Vargas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

This is a book for everyone who would like to share their culinary creations as gifts, but just need a bit of a nudge and a helping hand to do so. Sally Pasley Vargas's straightforward recipes and detailed wrapping instructions are the perfect guide for a beginning giver of edible gifts. Want to know how to make a jam and then wrap it exquisitely? Looking for the perfect cookie recipe and how to present it to your friends and family? Packed full of simple yet elegant food gift ideas, all lavishly illustrated, FOOD FOR FRIENDS brings together the complementary arts of cooking and crafts in a beautiful package.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Because making a handmade gift takes time--one of our most precious commodities--Sally Pasley Vargas points out in Food for Friends that giving one expresses "something very personal: that we care, that our friends matter, that it is important to sustain our relationships." The recipient of a handmade gift of food gets a bonus: a gift that nurtures, comforts, and offers nourishment. In this beautifully presented work, Vargas offers something for every level of cook, with guidance for everything from wrapping and presenting edible gifts to choosing ingredients and preparing them. Gorgeous color photographs will encourage and motivate even those of us who think that we are less than creative.

Recipes for breakfast foods, such as Out-of-This-World Five-Grain Pancake and Waffle Mix, Maple-Cranberry Granola, and Mexican-Style Hot-Chocolate Mix, are quick and easy to assemble and make the perfect gifts for a busy household or a student away from home. Packaged in decorated bags and presented in cheerful bow-tied wicker baskets, gifts such as these are sure to please. Come summer, Vargas recommends stocking up on perfectly ripe fruit and making jams and preserves. Her instructions are clear and easy to follow, and if you do as she says, you'll have your holiday shopping done before the weather changes. Just make batches when you can, and fill four-ounce jars with a variety of flavors. Then tie such delicacies as Blackberry-Peach Jam, Strawberry Rubies, and Clementine-Cranberry Marmalade together with ribbons or raffia, make pretty labels, and give a sweet memory of summer to your family and friends. Preserved fruits such as Peaches in Raspberry Champagne, Cherry and Apricot Compote, and Blueberry-Lemon Sauce are elegant, unique treats that are so beautiful in their jars they hardly need any wrapping at all.

With a pantry full of homemade "bottled luxury" liqueurs such as Framboise, Sweet Blackberry Wine, and Orange Ratafia, and condiments like Homemade Grainy Mustard, Cranberry Chutney, and Cascabel Chile Salsa, you'll never need to run out at the last minute for a hostess gift. If you do have the time last-minute, Vargas's Lavender-Lemon Tea Cakes make fragrant, old-fashioned tea loaves, and her Chocolate-Apricot Rugelach are simply addictive. Creamy, rich dark-chocolate-and-whiskey Mystery Truffles and assorted Mendiants--coin-shaped chocolate candies studded with nuts and dried fruits--make a stunning gift. By following Vargas's step-by-step instructions and planning ahead, you'll perfect the art of giving in no time. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Library Journal

This attractive book offers an interesting selection of recipes for gifts from the kitchen, along with suggestions for wrapping, gift baskets, and other ideas. In addition to chapters on jams, condiments, and other typical food gifts, there are also breakfast foods, such as a Mexican hot chocolate mix; liqueurs and cordials; and, in a section called "Uncommon Courtesy," gifts intended to make life easier for the busy host. Martha Stewart has already covered most of this ground, it's true, but Vargas's small book has a certain appeal; for larger collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580080561
• ISBN-13: 978-1580080569
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to keep, December 11, 2001

By 

Felicity Botwinik (Westwood MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food for Friends : Homemade Gifts for Every Season (Paperback)

I thought to give this book to a friend, but then I read it and decided that the creative ideas were so good and unusual, and the practical tips were so helpful that I would keep it myself, and give away the finished products she describes rather than the book itself. I have just made the hazelnut shortbread, and altho' I knew the tip about rubbing toasted hazelnuts in a cloth to remove the brown skin, she suggested a damp terry towel, and the dampness is the key! It was so much easier than with the dry towel I used before.
If you can bear to give it away, it would make a lovely present.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for Friends (and for You), November 4, 2001

By 

G. Shapiro (North Truro, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food for Friends : Homemade Gifts for Every Season (Paperback)

I confess. Though I consider myself a fairly competent cook, I have always been afraid to make jam, or preserves, or anything that had the potential to maim or kill if not done correctly. So I was delighted to receive a copy of "Food for Friends" as a gift. Ms. Vargas' easy-to-follow instructions gave me the confidence I needed to make my first-ever batch of jam: blueberry-raspberry, which she recommends for beginners. It was easy and delicious and no one died from eating it!! I have tried a few more of the recipies, and found them also easy to follow and lovely to give as presents. "Food for Friends" - in addition to providing wonderful gift ideas from your kitchen - also makes a terrific holiday gift itself, for that special cook in your life. Beautifully illustrated and CLEARLY written, it's a winner!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Presentation on Gift Presentation, February 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Food for Friends : Homemade Gifts for Every Season (Paperback)

I was genuinely pleased with this book. So often, we go through the time and trouble of preparing tastey treats as gifts, and hten we put them in old dishes or brown paper bags. As great chefs know, the presentation is almost as important as the product. Vargas does an excellent job of explaining how to present these gifts of food. I used her ideas at Christmas time. With her ideas as a starting point, I was inspired to add my own personal touches. I even used some of her recipes, which were easy to follow with excellent results. The feedback that I received from people to whom I gave the gifts was oustanding. What a difference hte presentation makes, KUDOS to the author. I should not review this book without also mentioning the work of the photographer, Caroline Kopp. Beautiful, just beautiful.