Vegan Food Gifts: More Than 100 Inspired Recipes for Homemade Baked Goods, Preserves, and Other Edible Gifts Everyone Will Love [Paperback]

Joni Marie Newman (Author), Kurt Halsey (Illustrator), Celine Steen (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2012

Impress your family, friends, neighbors, guests—anyone!—with homemade gifts that you can feel good about and others will love. From mouthwatering vegan baking mixes you can create, package, and label yourself, to DIY gift baskets, preserves, liquors, and more, you’ll find that perfect something for everyone, no matter what their views or inclinations. (No one can say no to a chocolate chip cookie after all—vegan or otherwise!)

Vegan Food Gifts shows you how easy it is to create great homemade gifts that are not only kind and eco-conscious, but delicious too. So whether you are an expert chef or a beginner cook, a crafty genius or someone without an artistic bone in your body, you’ll find projects that not only suit your skills, but your budget too.

Be the hit of the bake sale, the darling of the holidays, the hostess with the most-est, and more with Vegan Food Gifts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Vegan Food Gifts is the most beautiful and heartfelt book I've seen in forever. It will give you warm fuzzies... that you can pass on to your loved ones!"—Isa Chandra Moskowitz, co-author of Veganomicon, Vegan Pie in the Sky, and many more

"Move over Martha! Joni's clever book is chock-full of yummy recipes and crafty ideas. It's a gift that literally keeps on giving, ethically and deliciously."—Dynise Balcavage, author of The Urban Vegan and Celebrate Vegan

"The way to a person's heart is through their stomach and Vegan Food Gifts has hit the happy belly jackpot. With this beautiful book, your holiday gifts are sorted and birthday baked goods are locked and loaded. This book is a must have!"—Melissa Elliott, author of The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life

About the Author

Joni Marie Newman is the author of The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet as well as the co-author of 500 Vegan Recipes, The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions, and Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites. A Southern California native, she lives in Orange County with her husband, three dogs, and cat. Visit her online at http://www.justthefood.com.

Celine Steen is the founder of the award-winning blog Have Cake, Will Travel (http://www.havecakewilltravel.com). After over a decade of vegetarian eating, she decided to switch to a vegan lifestyle. Fearing it might mean the end of all good desserts, she decided to start making her own, for lack of ready-made and affordable options offered in her hometown. She lives in Bakersfield, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Fair Winds Press (October 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592335292
• ISBN-13: 978-1592335299
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joni is just a regular gal who loves to cook and bake...ESPECIALLY for friends and family. Self taught, and still learning, she spends most of her spare time in the kitchen.

When she is not in the kitchen, she really enjoys knitting, painting, wasting endless hours on the internet, hiking with her husband and the girls, traveling, reading, and most of the other stuff regular gals enjoy.

A California native, she is currently residing in Trabuco Canyon, in a small cottage, with her three rescue mutts, her very handsome cat and her extremely delicious husband, in one of the last rural towns in Southern California.

It is in this cottage that she creates delicious and cruelty free delicacies for the world to enjoy. Through her food, she hopes to help people to understand that it is not necessary to murder or torture another living creature in order to have a tasty supper.

Visit her website for tasty recipes and other helpful information at www.justthefood.com and follow her on Twitter @JoniMarieNewman

Joni can be contacted at [e-mail].

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love This Book! October 19, 2012

By D. Wenz

Format:Paperback

I really dislike malls and impersonal gifts, so during the holidays I often bake and make gifts for those on my Christmas, list but I've always wanted to amp my gift giving craftiness up a little with fancy wraps, homemade jams and those mason jars full just-add-water cookie mix that are so prevalent on Pinterest. This just might be the year that I do just that, as I'm now armed with Joni Marie Newman's Vegan Food Gifts.

This is a gorgeous book with an easy to read layout and beautiful full-page photos. It's full of everything you need to get yourself going in the area of food gift giving, from gift box templates and copiable gift tags to recipes and canning instructions. Each recipe includes ideas on how to gift the finished product, and all of the just-add-water recipes are accompanied by a cute illustrated card that can be photocopied and attached to the finished product. All of the recipes use easy-to-find ingredients that omnivores won't think are "too weird" to try, and every project has a key rating level of difficulty, cost and speed of completion. There's also a list of sources to find jars and other crafting supplies, which makes the gift giving process even easier.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my very favourite books October 30, 2012

By K. Cavalier

Format:Paperback

I will say I was a tester for this book and made a lot of what is in it. I was in my crafty element making not only the recipes but also the creative packaging ideas. The book is full of tasty treats that you will end up having to make another batch for yourself because you won't want to give them away like the three different popcorn seasonings and the Twigs and Berries. I also loved the Lavender Lemon Curd and Orange Basil Marmalade. If you haven't canned before there are lots of instructions to make you feel confident and you can always make smaller batches and just eat them up right away. It won't be hard to trust me! The Cowgirl Blackening Rub is the best, it is tasty on tofu and tempeh but also works great mixed into mayo for a spicy sandwich spread. I also loved the Coconut Curry Simmer Sauce. It tasted great cooked with cubed tofu and served with rice. Other highlights are the Lemon Coolers, Flavoured Oils, Salted Caramel Sauce, Italian Spiced Parm and Hearty Pasta Soup with Chick'n. Everyone I have fed that soup to has loved it! The Mashed Potato candies were the surprise hit. Who knew you could make candy with mashed potatoes?!

From the crafty projects, I loved making the accordian folded cookbook and the little recipe box as well. They take a bit of time and patience but are worth it. The truffle boxes are easy to make and once you get the hang of them you can pump them out. People will love the personal touch you add to gifts for this Christmas for sure!

The illustrations and copy-able recipe cards are adorable. The photography by Celine Steen is perfection. It has the perfect feel and tone to it and you get to see what the finished products can look like. I can't think of any one who wouldn't love to get these as gifts or even a copy of the book itself!...

Another great book by Joni! Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Would Be Easier To List What I'm NOT Making! Wonderful! November 8, 2012

By Sara J. Lutz

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I got my copy this afternoon, and it's already developed a well-worn look. The whole book is a bristling mass of post-it flags, stickynotes, and hastily jotted notes cross referencing back to a note-book I started ~just~ to plan out which recipe will be made first, how many, and suggestions to who they will work for as gifts. I already know that, by the end of the next week, I'll have ordered myself a 2nd copy to keep safe for the years - and that's pretty amazing for a book I've only owned for 8 hours!

While the main thrust of the book is built on the idea of making tasty vegan edible gifts for the people in your life, frankly this is a wonderful book to have simply for your own day to day use! Every facet of creating gift bags, boxes, even kits are laid out in lovely and exact details. How to package, wrapping ideas, where to find unique jars and pretty ribbons, and the basics of canning & preserving are covered so no detail has been left unexplained.

I ~WILL~ be making quite a few of these for gifts for the upcoming holidays (as well as making several of the kits for future birthdays, anniversaries, and welcome wagon opportunities - this really is an equal opportunity gift collection) but, as I'm sure loads of folks will be raving about that aspect of the book, I want to cover something that perhaps might be not as obvious but makes this book all the more spectacular.

Personally, between a few health issues, a hopefully soon to start potential pregnancy, and a life becoming more and more packed by the day, I find myself trying to find more healthy, tasty, and homemade convenience items to start tucking on my shelves and in my pantry. The "Just Add Water" section is, simply put, brilliant for just that need.... In addition to planning to spend the weekend making 2 or 3 each of several of the oh-so-tasty looking baked goodie mixes to keep on hand, the author - Joni Marie Newman - has included several MEAL mixes that are going into my pantry as quickly as possible! The Masala Soup mix (the only fresh items called for - beyond water - are a couple Tbsp of oil and a fresh chopped onion. And I suspect even in that, dried diced onions could be substituted if needed) sounds amazing. As does the TVP Taco Meat Mix &TVP Pepperoni Mix! I'm also incredibly excited at the prospect of making a huge batch of the Instant Macaroni & Cheese Mix! Say Goodbye forever to the Blue Box Blues! Beyond the obvious of gift giving, and ~especially~ when one considers the brutal beating the east coast of the US took last week when Sandy came to town - healthy, tasty, quick, SHELF STABLE just add water recipes should be on everyone's weekend to-make list. The recipes in this book are 'fancy' and special enough to feel like little bits of luxury based home made gifts - while at the same time, are brilliant basics to always have on the shelves in case of: bad weather, sudden emergencies, or even that occasional week where an unplanned repair bill makes knowing you have something that will taste amazing & fill everyone up while letting you skip the grocery for a week can be a comfort.

What's even better? You don't ~have~ to be a vegan to enjoy these recipes - the giving OR the receiving. Vegan, Veggies or Omnivore - these recipes are just plain GOOD. They are even flexible so, in addition to being vegan, from everything I have read through, I can already see that 95% of all the recipes will be a snap for me to adjust to fit my gluten free life. Simple swaps of rice pasta for wheat based, GF all-purpose flour in place of the 'normal'. (As just a 'it's been helpful for me to learn, so maybe it will help someone else' I've found that, in small batch recipes, it's often VERY simply to sub out GF flours for the 'normal' wheat version. Much beyond 1.5 to 2.0 cups of flour, and things get tricky, but in these designed to fit in a quart jar, it will be simplicity itself to swap.) So truly, no matter your food life, be you vegan or omnivore, someone blessed to be able to eat anything to someone allergic to nearly everything, this book is a homerun.

Please oh please oh please, Joni Marie Newman, let this be just the first in a very VERY long series of books in this style? My cupboards are waiting to fill with your goodies! Read more ›

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of gift ideas! October 15, 2012

By Macy Frank

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book hoping to get lots of ideas for homemade Christmas presents - and this is exactly what I got! I like the variety of gift ideas, as well. This book is well worth the price!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DIY-ers, GET THIS NOW! October 28, 2012

By JL4321

Format:Paperback

Wow, this book exceeded my expectations!

It comes full of creative ideas for ready-to-eat, add water mixes, spice mixes, and many other food items. The gifts range from quick last minute ideas that you can just throw together w/ what you already have in your kitchen, to more fully involved baking and canning ideas (she even offers full instructions on canning). She even includes a recipe for dog treats..something I was fully hoping she would do.

Another great thing, the author has also added a section for step-by-step DIY boxes, cartons, bags, and labels, along with fully made recipe labels for each item that you can just color copy and tie to your gift! Even if you decide to use other food gift recipes, the book is worth getting just for this beautifully designed section alone! Which brings me to another point, this book also inspires you of the plethora of other vegan food gift items you can begin making as well..once you've made all the author's, of course.

This book is definite MUST-HAVE for any vegan bakesaler, gift-giver, party-favor gifter, DIY-er, office treat-baker, secret admirer-giver, made-with-love giver...you get my point. Just GET this book-you won't be disappointed:)

And not only is it full of creative ideas, but is also beautifully designed with many artful photos and nice, easy to read layout. I also appreciate the physical book itself, nice, thick, good quality pages and cover, and a good size. In other words-it made to last. This baby is able to withstand countless messy crafting sessions.