A nice gift to give your friends and family is scented sugar. Pick a few sprigs of whatever herb you will be using and snip the leaves off with scissors. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of sugar into an airtight container. Bruise a few of the leaves in the palm of your hand and place a single layer of these on top of the sugar. Add another 1/4 cup of sugar (figure A). Continue layering the sugar and leaves until you fill the container. Seal it tight and then store in a cool place for approximately a week. This is wonderful used in iced tea or as a substitute for sugar. Another fun thing you can do is to make candied ginger dipped in chocolate. You can purchase the candied ginger slices at the supermarket. You also need some chocolate for dipping. When the chocolate is ready, just take the ginger slice and dip halfway in the chocolate and lay on wax paper. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set up. When ready, place in a small jar or ramekin and cover with netting and tie with a bow (figure B) for a great little gift. For another great idea, you can make a herb bouquet garni (bundle of herbs used in stews, soups or stocks to add intense flavor to the dish). Just cut some herbs and lay on the counter on top of a piece of string and then wrap the string around the herbs and tie it. We used the traditional mix of fresh parsley, fresh celery leaves and tops, springs of thyme and fresh bay leaves. Cover these with some cheesecloth. Leave the cheesecloth off one and place several in a small basket (figure C) for a terrific gift for your favorite cook. Herbs de Provence is a very regional seasoning that was developed in France. There are many versions around, most of them use lavender and thyme. For our version we used: 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon dried savory, 1 tablespoon dried marjoram, 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, 5 teaspoons orange zest, grated and dried and 1 tablespoon lavender buds. Take these herbs and mix together and place in small crock for gift giving (figure D). Mixed with a little cream cheese this makes a wonderful spread for crackers, etc. For a final idea, just take a unique basket and stuff it with excelsior and add a jar of the scented sugar, a container of chocolate dipped candied ginger slices and a jar of the Herbs de Provence. Top it off by placing some bouquets of the herb garni around to make a wonderful herb basket for giving (figure E). We at DIY believe all of the recipes from All in Good Taste are accurate and reliable, but since we have not tested them personally, we can claim no responsibility if the desired results are not achieved.
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