This Christmas, give the gift that keeps on giving. Make a recipe box for your friends and family and fill it with mouth-watering recipes that they’ll be able to enjoy throughout the year. Here are 12 unforgettable recipes to get you started.
Years ago for Christmas, I made my sister-in-law a recipe box full of my favorite recipes on recipe cards that were decorated with scrapbook stickers, pictures, and decorative embellishments. To make things even more special, I had my dad make the actual recipe box out of wood scraps that he had laying around his workshop. I’m not gonna lie, that recipe box was one pretty special fancy-dancy homemade gift from the heart. One that my sister-in-law still uses and comments on to this day. Of course, the original intent was that every holiday or birthday, I would make another card to add to her collection, but as you can guess, throughout the years, that tradition kind of fell by the wayside because this blog took the place of those recipe cards that were once so special.
This year, for Christmas, I’m suggesting you share a homemade recipe box with someone special to you. Someone who loves to cook, someone who is always up for experimenting in the kitchen, or someone who you think would truly appreciate a unique homemade gift. Below are twelve recipes to get you started. Now, you don’t have to break out the scrapbook supplies and spend hours on end crafting unique recipe cards as I did. You can simply write them out on store-bought recipe cards, or even print them out with a picture of the recipe and place them in a three-ring binder if you find that easier. It’s all up to you how fancy you want to get. No judgment here. Makes sure to add a few recipes of your own as well; ones that you use often or are dearly loved by your family. Recipes are the gifts that truly do keep on giving.
1
Candied Lemon Zest Jalapeño Deviled Eggs
Candied lemon zest and finely chopped jalapeños turn ordinary deviled eggs into something quite extraordinary, with the addition of a touch of mayonnaise, honey, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Add a little bit of salt and pepper and your taste buds will simply go crazy due to absolute flavor overload.
2
Whether you’re looking to celebrate Mardi Gras or just in need of a comforting bowl of spicy seafood soup, this one-pot shrimp chowder is sure to satisfy your Cajun cravings.
3
Baked BBQ Potato Chip Crusted Pork Chops
Flavorful baked pork chops are only a few simple ingredients away. Crushed BBQ potato chips, salt, pepper, paprika, and a little bit of olive oil are all you need to turn ordinary bland boneless pork chops into something unforgettable.
4
Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Chile Shortbread
A ground guajillo chile and a touch of Kentucky bourbon help to make these crumbly buttery shortbread cookies a tea-time treat you won’t soon forget. And as if that weren’t enough, a drizzle of vanilla bourbon glaze, a sprinkle of finely chopped pecans, and the littlest pinch of Fleur de Sel help to transform these flavorful shortbread cookies into something even more magical.
5
Olive & Feta Cheese Ham Biscuits
These southern ham biscuits are given a unique Mediterranean twist with the addition of olives and feta cheese. Whether you eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you’re sure to enjoy these flavorful crumbly and buttery biscuit sandwiches.
6
This vibrant creamy soup recipe made using Herbs de Provence, carrots, milk, and cream is super flavorful without using a ton of ingredients. It’s also a great way to turn carrots into a main dish without a lot of work involved.
7
No-Bake Peanut Butter Rice Cereal Cookies
With this no-bake recipe, you can now have cookies in your house in under five minutes. A whole two to three minutes spent in front of a stove stirring sugar, corn syrup, and coconut oil or butter together is all that’s required. Two to three minutes isn’t even enough time in front of a stove to break a sweat and you’ll be shocked at just how amazing these peanut butter and rice cereal cookies taste.
8
Honey Baked Ham Crockpot Collard Greens
Don’t let that leftover honey baked ham bone go to waste. Instead, use it to make ham stock, which you can then use to make these comforting sweet and spicy collard greens in a crockpot or slow cooker. You’ll discover that this flavorful side dish is truly a great accompaniment to almost any meal.
9
Oven-Roasted Cauliflower & Tomato Salad
Oven-roasted cauliflower and cherry tomatoes are transformed into a Mediterranean summer side salad, by adding homemade basil pesto sauce and kalamata olives. The basil pesto sauce is easy to make by just tossing fresh basil, pumpkin seeds or pepitas, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper into a food processor. This is a simple recipe that really bumps up the flavor of fresh summer produce.
10
Sour Cream & Chive Jumbo Biscuits
These jumbo biscuits are light, fluffy, and perfectly crunchy on the outside. And thanks to the sour cream and freshly chopped chives added to the biscuit dough, they taste just as good as they look.
11
Kid-Friendly Buttered Rice with Pasta Stars
It can always be a little difficult to find something that your child will eat. Why not give this kid-friendly rice and pasta side dish combination a try? Not only is this buttered rice loaded with carrots and onion for an extra veggie flavor punch, it’s also overflowing with pasta stars, which will most assuredly grab your child’s attention and instantly win their taste buds over.
12
Milk Chocolate Sour Cream Cake Brownies
This no-fuss sour cream brownie recipe takes less than five minutes to whisk together and only twenty-five minutes to bake. That means that you can have warm chocolatey cake brownies in your kitchen in less than half an hour. I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing.
PIN THESE RECIPES
Don’t let this recipe slip away. How often do you find a recipe intriguing, yet forget where to find it when you finally get the hankering to make it? Instead of digging through old posts or wandering aimlessly around on the internet, why not Pin this recipe to Pinterest where you can find it when you eventually need it? Simply Pin the image above and you’ll have it when that time comes. You can follow us HERE on Pinterest or simply click HERE to find all of our pin-worthy recipes.
