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Everything is made by myself - I just can't wrap gifts
Photo: Sebastian Maas / DER SPIEGEL
During my studies, I didn't think Christmas was cool at all - and that was mainly due to the main topic of this column: money. Yes, on the one hand I was looking forward to getting rid of a little financial stress with one or two envelopes from my grandma or godfather. But what should I give away in return? In your mid-twenties, self-made mobiles or ashtrays made of clay have to be
really good
if you don't want to justify your choice of humanities studies for the rest of the evening.
Fortunately, love goes through the stomach and even cooked things are much easier to conjure up than handicrafts.
With this year's gift tips, even people without a lot of money can give away a few nice treasures for the celebration.
The spectrum ranges from "hard to screw up" to "experimental fermentation project" - so that there really is something for everyone.
For everyone who wants to be sure that it tastes good: simple fried apple liqueur
I would have liked to have introduced this recipe last year.
But since half my family is reading here, I didn't want to spoil their surprise - after all, the liqueur was under the Christmas tree at the end.
It's tasty and Christmassy, but it actually tastes great even in summer and can be kept for a year in the refrigerator (I've tried it).
Preserve sugar and alcohol, and juice and bottles are boiled before filling.
This is what you need for 1.5 liters of liqueur:
1.1 l naturally cloudy apple juice
500 ml dark rum
100 g white granulated sugar
100 g brown cane sugar
1 vanilla pod
1 cinnamon stick
Optional: 1 piece of star anise and 1 clove each
Helpful: 1 sieve, funnel and 3 already boiled 0.5 l glass bottles
How long does it take?
About 45 minutes
What does this cost?
With middle-class rum and regional apple juice, I paid just under three euros per gift bottle.
If you make larger quantities, it becomes cheaper.
How to make baked apple liqueur:
Bring the apple juice to the boil in a saucepan and stir in the sugar.
Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape it out with the back of a knife, add the pulp and the pod to the pot along with the remaining spices.
Simmer on a low heat for 25 minutes and reduce slightly, then turn off the heat.
After ten minutes of cooling, add the rum, stir vigorously again and let it steep for another five minutes.
The big spices such as cinnamon stick and anise should not be added to the bottles, otherwise they develop bitter flavors.
So either remove all spices with a ladle or pour the liqueur directly through a sieve into the sterile bottles.
Close this tightly and ideally let it steep for ten to 14 days before drinking.
The liqueur tastes good beforehand - but becomes even tastier over time.
Instead of apple juice, you can also use pear juice, but then it will be a bit more expensive.
For show-offs: inside: garlic fermented in honey
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Winter-themed items are often given away at Christmas, from homemade gingerbread pralines to liqueur from the top and tons of cookies.
The stupid thing about it: Since the industry has been putting Christmas sweets on the shelves from late summer onwards, some: r have already overdone them in October.
So after Christmas it can be something different.
Maybe this unusual condiment that goes perfectly with grilled vegetables, steaks or risotto.
The caramel-spicy garlic honey can also be used for marinades, dressings or dips.
Hard-boiled ecologists even use it as a home remedy for colds.
However, if you want to give away this culinary all-purpose tool, you should start early.
Or tell the recipient that it is an »action gift«.
Because the garlic in the honey is actively fermenting over the next few days and weeks, the jars have to be
shaken once a day
for at least two, or better yet, six weeks
after they have been set and make a bulwark.
Means: You have to open the glass briefly to release the gases that have formed.
The garlic can then be stored in the refrigerator to slow down the fermentation process.
In principle, however, you can also let it go until Christmas.
It then becomes darker and darker - and supposedly also tastier.
I'll know more next year.
This is what you need for five glasses of 200 grams each:
5 bulbs of garlic
600 ml liquid honey (Important: It must be raw honey that has not been heated above 40 degrees.)
Optional: 2 teaspoons of chilli flakes
5 sterilized jam jars
How long does it take?
20 minutes, plus 2 to 52 weeks of fermentation time
What does this cost?
Depending on the honey used, it should cost between one euro and three euros per jar.
How to make garlic fermented in honey:
Peel the garlic. With such large amounts, it can be worthwhile to use a trick: break open the tubers by pressing firmly on the table, remove the parchment-like outer skin by hand and cut off the hard ends of the toes. Put all the toes prepared in this way into a large container with a lid, such as a plastic can or a saucepan. Hold the lid firmly and shake the container vigorously for 30 to 60 seconds. Most of the toes should have lost their skin by now, but the rest of the toes will at least become loose and therefore easier to remove.
Put the "bare" toes in sterilized jars, such as boiled jam jars - in such a way that they fill them no more than halfway.
Then fill the jars up to four fifths with honey so that all toes are adequately covered and there is still some space in the jar.
If you like, you can add the chilli flakes.
Let ferment at room temperature and out of direct sun for two to 52 weeks, shaking once a day and opening the lid.
After a few days the honey becomes runny because it pulls the moisture out of the garlic cloves;
later it becomes dark and has an ever more intense taste.
For everyone who doesn't have a present on the 24th: Salted lemons, the gastro secret weapon
Anyone who likes to study the cookbooks of celebrity chef Yottam Ottolenghi will regularly find ingredients in them that are not exactly easy to get in this country.
Moroccan salt lemons are one of the most famous.
Their skin and salty pulp are used in dressings, salads or as a complement to dark sauces - and even in whole-braised chicken.
At retail and online, however, lemons often cost twelve to 15 euros per 200 gram jar.
Silly, because you can make salt lemons extremely easily yourself.
This is what you need for three glasses of salt lemons:
3 organic lemons with edible peel
6 tbsp table salt
Hot, no longer boiling water to fill up
Optional: spices and decorations, e.g. orange zest and pieces, bay leaves or pink pepper
How to make pickled salt lemons yourself:
During preparation, it is particularly important that you work very cleanly (clean hands, boiled glasses) and that you choose glasses that are as narrow as possible.
If the lemon (s) can barely move in it, you've done everything right.
For my gifts, I only ever put a lemon weighing around 150 grams in a glass with a maximum capacity of 300 milliliters.
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Cut just deep enough that the quarters are still connected
Photo: Sebastian Maas / DER SPIEGEL
Rinse the lemons under running hot water and brush them off if necessary so that they are really clean. Remove the two ends and cut the lemons crosswise deep enough that they just stick together. Put a tablespoon of salt in the lemon, then it goes into the glass. Add spices or decorations, add another tablespoon of salt to the glass for each lemon and fill it up with hot, not boiling water. If you want to intensify the citrus taste, you can add the juice of a squeezed lemon or orange to the glass before filling it with hot water.
Close the jar tightly and let it steep for at least two weeks, ideally in the refrigerator after cooling.
It is best to turn every two to three days so that the lemon is in contact with the brine everywhere.
If properly prepared, the lemons should keep in the refrigerator for at least two to three months.
Now all I have to do is learn how to wrap presents.
But maybe that's for another column.
Which self-made Christmas presents do you put under the tree (or on the table) this year? Which inexpensive recipes will keep you in the mood even on expensive holidays? Feel free to write me an email, I look forward to your feedback and tips. Merry Christmas!