Going Green for Christmas

Sure the Christmas colors ended up as green and red.  But I meant green in the ecological sense. 

It started as self defense, because I am a terrible wrapper.  And I hate the idea of all that paper and those boxes ending up in landfills.  It doesn't make sense from an economic or an environmental standpoint.  Because I am all for saving the Earth, and , you know, I'm cheap.

We would get gifts in beautiful gift bags for our kids and I started to save them.  You can't give gifts to others in used gift bags, so I reused them for the kids.  The name was already on there.   Then I bought some To/From stickers and just covered up any name I needed to change.

 

One year I bought a giant bag of gift bags from Costco and a giant package of white tissue paper.  I have also purchased bags for $1 each at a Dollar Tree.  Soon I had saved a bunch of bags of every size for everyone in the family.  I used a large gift bag for each person and every year after the gift opening, I put the collection back in the large bag and stored it in the closet.  Then I started to fold up and reuse the tissue paper.  Sure, some of them are wrinkled and torn.  Those get reluctantly tossed.

 

The best part of this plan is the ease of gift wrapping.  I get out all the bags full of bags and the bag of carefully folded tissue paper.  Then I put a small pile of gifts on the table set up for this purpose.  Grab a gift, find the bag for that recipient and choose a bag that will fit.  Place the gift in the bag.  Place three (Yes, it must be three unless it is a wide bag, and then four.  You are dealing with OCD, here, so go with it.) fluffed sheets of tissue paper and you are done.  A gift wrapping assembly line!   Set aside and grab the next gift.

 

This process is easier in a room with a door, so that you can keep out unwanted "helpers"

 

Do you see the beauty of this process?  Each gift only takes a minute or less.  Can you say the same?  And once purchased, each bag can be used for years, so it is cost effective.  The kids even get to know which bags are for them and look forward to seeing it under the tree. 

 

At first I kept the filled gift bags in our closet to keep little kids from peeking.  It has become our tradition to put them out after the kids have gone to bed.  That is harder to do now that they can stay up later than we can.

We rarely have to buy any gift paper or gift bags.  I also have a selection to use for birthdays and anniversaries. 

I LIKE going green when it means I save money and time.  What is your routine?

Pralines

We are having company for lunch tomorrow.  It always gets me worked up when we do.  I want things to be perfect.  How will we have a B&B????

I plan to make a Strawberry Puff for dessert.  I have never made this dessert, so I am worried.  Just in case I make a terrible Strawberry Puff, I made some pralines.  They are my fall back dessert for tomorrow.  But because they are sooo good, I may just serve BOTH.  Lucky guest.

I have a recipe I got from Emeril.  No, not personally from Emeril, but it is his, nonetheless.

Pralines

1/2 pound light brown sugar, (1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons) 

OK, I only had the dark kind and I used it.  It's a bit darker than yours will be.  Don't worry about it.  That's MY job.

pinch of salt
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons evaporated milk  I have no idea what to do with the left over.  Feed it to the cat?  In your coffee?  I tossed it.  But I made a double batch to lessen the waste.

1 1/2 teaspoons butter

1 cup chopped pecans.  I bought pecans in bulk from Costco when we had a card.  They are now a bazillion miles away, negating any savings, so now we buy them from Sam's Club.

                                  

Mix sugar, salt, milk and butter in a large, heavy sauce pan.  If you have a Le Crueset french oven, use that.  I used my Martha Stewart version, which is way cheaper and works great. Stir constantly (OK, that is the lawyer talking.  Stir most of the time and keep an eye on it.) with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves.  Then add the chopped pecans.

                                    

 Cook over medium heat until the temperature is 234-340, or soft ball stage.  Use a thermometer.   I try to guess soft ball stage and it is always wrong.  Just buy the stupid thermometer and go with that.  It will start to pull away from the pan.

                                       

Remove pan from heat and stir rapidly until it starts to thicken.  Drop the pralines by the teaspoon onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.  Or do what I do and use the Silpats right on a granite counter top.  Easy peasy.

                                     

Store in an airtight container.  Yeah, or throw them in a Ziploc bag.  Both work.

I made a double batch, so I hope she likes them.  Or I will be eating these for, well, maybe a day???  I could stretch it out to two days, but I doubt it.  Maybe I need to go to the library and give them some pralines.