Do you have a candy lover or two on your gift list? (I’m raising my hand; hint, hint.) It’s easy to make some tasty gifts to satisfy your friends and family members with a sweet tooth.

By making them yourself, you are not only saving money but also showing your love with a handmade gift. It’s great for teachers, postal carriers, and wonderful neighbors. Such a gift is ALWAYS appreciated, even when it disappears in a few days minutes.

Here are some of my favorites (if you’re wondering what I’d like).

Candy Flowers

This is perfect if you aren’t one to cook or make candy per se, but want a homemade touch.  It looks impressive but isn’t too difficult to pull together quickly.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 large flower vase
• Floral foam
• 1 package bamboo skewers
• Hot glue gun
• Wrapped candy (candy bars, wrapped hard candies, taffy – pretty much any size and shape of wrapped candy will work)

Here’s what you need to do:

Glue the wrapped candy to the blunt end of each skewer. You’ll be gluing the candy to the side of the skewer toward the end. Glue several small wrapped candies in a row. Then stick the pointed ends of the skewers into the floral foam to make a tasty arrangement. You can even be crafty and shape it as a Christmas tree.

Cherry Cordials

You had me at cherry!  (Well, that is my last name.)  This cherry cordial recipe has a lovely liquid center! You prefer a creamy center, leave out the invertase in the recipe below.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 20-ounce jar of maraschino cherries (no stem)
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons liquid from the jar of cherries
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon liquid invertase (this is an enzyme that helps sugar to dissolve into a liquid – find it in the baking or candy-making section of your grocery or on Amazon)
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Here’s what you need to do:

Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid. Pat cherries dry with paper towels and allow cherries to sit on paper towels on a wire rack while you make the fondant.

In an electric mixer, cream the butter, corn syrup, 2 tablespoons cherry liquid, almond and vanilla extracts, and invertase. Turn off the mixer and add the powdered sugar and mix on the lowest setting until the mixture forms a fondant ball. It should be about the consistency of soft play-dough, but not as stiff as modeling clay and not too soft and sticky to handle. Add a bit more powdered sugar if necessary.

Mold a quarter-size amount of fondant around each cherry and place it on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet. When all the cherries are covered, place them in the refrigerator for about half an hour while you melt about the chocolate in a double boiler. If possible, don’t let the chocolate get above 115 degrees F. This makes for a much smoother coating.

Using a fork, dip each fondant-covered cherry in the chocolate and coat it thoroughly. Place on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet and seal any holes in the chocolate coating by dabbing on more. Allow the cherries to harden and store at room temperature while the fondant liquefies. It should take about a week.

Hint: this needs some taste testing throughout the week.  (Oh darn!)

Classic Chocolate-Covered Toffee

This recipe is simple and just completely amazing.  (My husband would eat it all if he could.)

Here’s what you need:

• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)
• Optional: chopped nuts or coarse sea salt

Here’s what you need to do:

In a heavy saucepan, combine butter and sugar. Stir over medium heat until the butter is melted, and then bring the mixture to a boil. Stirring occasionally, simmer until it reaches 285 degrees F. It will be a rich, amber color.

Then pour the mixture onto a parchment paper-covered jelly roll pan and sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips. After a few minutes, spread the softened chocolate with a rubber spatula.

If you choose, you can add some chopped nuts or even some coarse sea salt on top of the chocolate.

Refrigerate for an hour or so, then break into pieces and place in an airtight gift container.

Since the pandemic has kept us trapped at home, it can be difficult to keep work life and home life separate. It’s something I have dealt with as a consultant for more than a decade, but at least before I was able to hit up a coffee shop or venture somewhere else.

Sure, it’s great to be able to throw a load of laundry (or two or three) in during the day, but the boundaries have been blurred. There are days I look up to see I should have been making dinner by now.  And the lure of my office always seems to be pulling me back to it whenever I have some downtime in the evenings or weekends.

I tried a lot of ways to maintain the boundary but often, it wasn’t working consistently.

As the holiday season approached, I was eager to try some new cocktails to brighten my dull, pandemic-numbed spirit.  And as a result, a new tradition started with my husband: a cocktail (or two) in the ‘formal’ living/piano room, ala mid-century.  You know what I mean: the old Mad Men cliche where the wife and husband sip cocktails in a sputnik-era room while the kids are nowhere to be found. (Trust me, ours are in our den around the corner often watching something on Disney+.)

It’s been fun doing this and has really worked for us.  Although we see each other often during the day as our home offices are next to each other, this really sets the tone to shift. Turns out this is exactly what experts say to do. Well, they don’t say to drink cocktails, per se, but they do say suggest having a ritual that allows you to make the shift from work to home is important.

For us, for now, it’s enjoying a holiday cocktail. Here’s our current favorite, which I call Peppermint Brownie Sundae Martini.

It just has four lovely ingredients: Whipped Vodka, Brownie Liquor, Peppermint Irish Cream, and Heavy Cream. (Although you could substitute half-n-half for the cream. But hey, it’s the holidays, right?) And it’s as simple as combining in a cocktail shaker with some ice, add some shaking, and pour. Of course, you could rim the glasses with sprinkles or even candy canes and I am sure we could swirl chocolate sauce into the glass before pouring.  But we just like it without the added ‘stuff’ as it’s wonderful without it.

What you get when you sip is the deep chocolate warmth of a brownie first, then slowly the peppermint cream flavor.  It’s simply a winner in our book.

Here’s the basic recipe for one:

• 1.5 ounce peppermint Irish creme
• 1.5 ounce brownie liquor
• 1 ounce whipped cream flavored vodka
• 1 ounce cream

Mix with ice and strain into glass.

CHEERS!