Wotcha Peeps, here I am again with a veritable cornucopia of seasonal inspiration! Not just recipes but also all the ingredients for delighted family and friends at this time of year.

It's always a bind at Christmas time, when you want to stay as green as possible, yet not appear to be a complete miser. Well, I found the easiest way out of this is simply to put a mixture of goodies together, and present your giftees with a lovely hamper made by your good self.

AH, I hear you say, but I don't have time to make things just before Christmas! Nope not many of us do, but how much preserving have you managed to do throughout the year eh? Oh yes, you can use the goodies you already have laid down.

My hampers consist of:
Home-made chutney
Home-made jam or marmalade, and trust me, I have PLENTY to choose from. A favourite to put in is Strawberry, all those lovely summery memories packed in a jar...mmmmm.
Shortbread
Ginger biccies (click here for recipe)
Christmas Star and Christmas Tree biccies (there is a recipe for cinnamon biscuits in this article but you can use any plain biscuit recipe. Search charity shops for interesting shaped cutters)
Crystallised ginger
Spiced rum
Sloe gin
Truffles

Of course the biccies can't be made too far in advance, but they really don't take long and an afternoon in the kitchen a week before Christmas is all you need.

CHUTNEY (Adapted from Mrs Beeton's English Chutney recipe. It can easily be further adapted using up any seasonal excesses, such as this year's glut of green tomatoes and windfall apples.)

3 dozen apples (windfall are free!)
3 lb (1350g) coarse brown sugar
½ lb (225g) salt
2 lb (900g) sultanas
½ lb (225g) ginger
6 oz (175g) chillis
2 oz (50g) mustard seeds
5 onions
6 shallots
6 pints (3.420lt) malt vinegar

Heat the vinegar and dissolve the salt and sugar in it. Thinly slice the apples, onions, shallots, chillis and ginger. Then add to the vinegar mixture along with the rest of the ingredients. Cook very slowly for about 2 hours, until the apples and onions are soft. Pour into jars (at last a use for all those jam jars you have been keeping over the year), cover when cold and store in a cool, dry place.

SHORTBREAD

5 oz (150g) butter
4 oz (110g) caster sugar
10 oz (275g) plain flour

Cream the butter and sugar together, then push the flour into the mixture using the back of a wooden spoon, or your hands, until you get a dough. Now press the dough into a mould, or just a plain sandwich tin if you don't have a mould. Bake at Gas Mark 4/150C for 35-45 minutes. It should be slightly risen and golden brown. Leave it to cool in the tin, and cut into either wedges or fingers.

CHRISTMAS CINNAMON STAR BISCUITS (adapted from a Mrs Beeton recipe)

8oz (225g) caster sugar
4 egg whites
Juice of ½ lemon
8oz (225g) chopped almonds
2 tsp cinnamon

Whisk the egg whites until very stiff and then stir in the sugar and lemon juice. Add the cinnamon and almonds to the mixture and stir. Roll out on a floured surface and cut using a star cutter (or any other festive shaped cutter you can find!). Put on a greased and floured baking tray and cook at Gas Mark 4/150C for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. These can be decorated with icing - and made individual by ‘little helpers', an ideal gift for doting grandparents!

CRYTALLISED GINGER

Buy a batch of ginger, peel, chop and weigh. Add an equal amount of sugar and simmer until the ginger is coated and the sugar is attached to the ginger. Allow to cool before handling.

For an extra treat, half dip the ginger into melted organic dark chocolate.

SPICED RUM

1 bottle of rum (cheap rum works fine!)
1 tsp coriander seeds
3 bruised cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
a couple of small dried red chillis
half a cinnamon stick
2 or 3 smaller bottles (re-use 25cl wine bottles. They are ideal and have a screw top.)

Pour the rum in the bottles and divide up the spices, leave it somewhere cool and dark for a week or two to develop the flavours.

SLOE GIN

Pick and freeze sloes. Once frozen fill a bottle with 1/6th sloes and 1/6th sugar. Then fill with gin (or vodka). Leave for as long as possible! If you use the last of the sloes now, the gin will be perfect for Christmas.

GINGERED TRUFFLES (recipe from my friend Patty Pan)

These chocolates can be made in advance and frozen. They are flecked with ginger, coated in dark chocolate and piped with white chocolate and would make a lovely gift if packed into a pretty box. If ginger isn't your thing, you can replace it with chopped cherries, or raisins.

1/4 pint (150ml) double cream
5 oz (150g) organic plain chocolate
1 oz (50g) butter
2 tbsp brandy
1 tbsp glace ginger or chopped stem ginger

To Finish:

1 tbsp cocoa powder
8 oz (225g) organic plain chocolate
glace ginger, chopped
2 oz (50g) white chocolate

Makes about 30 truffles

Put the cream in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil. Take the pan off the heat. Break the plain chocolate into small pieces and add them to the hot cream with the butter cut into pieces. Leave to stand for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally until the chocolate and butter have completely melted. You may need to return the pan to the heat for a few seconds if the chocolate and the butter fail to melt completely.

Gradually stir in the brandy and then using an electric whisk beat for 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture is thick. Finely chop the ginger and stir it in. Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours until firm.

Put the cocoa powder on a plate. Lightly dip a teaspoonful of the mixture in cocoa and then roll it into a ball with your hands. Put aside. Continue until all the mixture is used up.

Freeze the truffles for 30 minutes or chill for several hours until hard before continuing. Break the remaining dark chocolate into pieces and melt it in a bowl set above a saucepan of very gently simmering water. Do not let the water touch the bowl. Lightly stir the chocolate and then hold a truffle on a fork and spoon chocolate over it to coat it completely. Carefully transfer to a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking parchment or waxed paper.

To finish roughly chop the ginger, sprinkle it over the truffles and then leave to cool and harden. Melt the white chocolate in the same way. Spoon the chocolate into a greaseproof paper piping bag. Snip off the tip and pipe squiggly lines over the truffles. Leave in the fridge to harden.

Pack into petit fours cases and arrange in boxes. Cover with a lid and tie with a ribbon if you like.

They look absolutely delicious, and taste divine!

So there you have it, a few simple ideas to make some stunning pressies for your loved ones at Christmas. I hope you enjoy making them and putting them together, as much as they will be enjoyed by the recipient.

Have a super Christmas!

(c) Karen Dobbin 2008
With additional contributions from Karen Hurley

Ginger photo (c) Sabrina Willekens 2008

Rum photo (c) Karen Dobbin 2008

Hamper photo (c) Karen Hurley 2008