AA Gifts & Baskets Idea Blog

Posts Tagged ‘anniversary gifts’

If you’ve ever bitten into a decadent, molten, sweet and gooey truffle, you know how rich this favorite gourmet chocolate treat is. You may have thought you could only get them in specialty shops or at a fancy restaurant. But the truth is that you can make truffles at home very easily. In fact, it’s even simpler than some cookie recipes. You’ll start making them all the time and experimenting with flavors. You’ll give them as gifts and start dreaming about different toppings and versions.

Consider packing your truffles into Chinese takeout-type boxes that you can get in a craft store. They stand up straight and the sides will be stiff enough to ensure that they don’t get smashed on the way to the recipient. Anyone would love to receive these delicious dessert gifts!

Here are some recipes to try. You will laugh at how easy it is to make a treat that looks and tastes over-the-top gourmet.

Ghirardelli® Dark Chocolate Truffles (from allrecipes.com)

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Ready In: 2 Hours 45 Minutes

Servings: 30

"These impressive candies are so easy to make, and are a stunning addition to a dessert tray."

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup heavy cream

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 cups Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

1/3 cup Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the chocolate chips. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow bowl.

2. Cool, cover, and refrigerate the mixture until firm, at least 2 hours.

3. Using a melon baller or small spoon, roll the mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in the cocoa or nuts. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Chocolate Truffle Recipe (from famousfrenchdesserts.com)

Truffes au Chocolat… Divine Pleasure Source!!! This is the basic recipe; you will find all variations at the end of the recipe.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients (for about 1.5 pounds):

1 cup Crème Fraîche (or heavy cream)

14 oz. Dark Chocolate (use very high quality, 70% cocoa, chocolate - or very high quality unsweetened baking chocolate)

8 oz. Additional Dark Chocolate

1 1/2 cups Cocoa Powder (the highest quality you can find)

3 tbsp. Butter (optional)

How to Make It:

Batter (Ganache):

1. Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl.

2. Bring cream slowly to a light boil.

3. Pour boiling cream over chocolate and keep stirring until all the chocolate has melted and the batter is homogenous.

4. If you want to add butter, do so now, before the batter cools, and thickens.

This batter is called ganache and is the base for all French truffle recipes!

When the ganache is warm, it is very creamy. You can thicken it

1. by whisking it (the oxygen causes it to thicken) or

2. by putting it in the refrigerator.

You want the ganache to be just thick enough to easily form the truffle balls…

Forming Truffles:

1. Using two spoons (or a baking sac) form even and round balls. Place them on parchment or wax paper.

2. Melt the rest of the chocolate in a bain-marie (double-boiler).

3. Dip each ball in the melted chocolate and then roll it in the cocoa powder.

Voilà!

Many people have never heard of the candy bar card idea, but it’s a cute one you might want to try for your next occasion. Say you have a friend with a special birthday coming up. You can create a giant sized card that includes real wrapped candy bars. People really enjoy receiving these unique candy gifts! The big idea is to write a message that includes the names of the candy bar. It’s a challenge. Are you up for it?

Start off with some poster board. The kind that has the foam on the back will work best as candy tends to get heavy once you glue it on. It will be easier and sturdier to transport this way. Use a festive color that will match with your theme.

Next, pick out a bunch of candies with fun names. You might choose Mounds, Nerds, Mars, etc. Get a whole bunch so you have lots to choose from. The idea is to create a message that will include the candy bar name in it. So, for instance, you might write, “I discovered I loved you Mounds more than the other boys on the playground when we first met.” It’s corny, but the whole idea comes out looking really festive and fun. The wackier the better. Try using Baby Ruth or Almond Joy in a sentence!

Once you have your candies in mind, begin composing a message. It can be a poem, a limerick, or just a paragraph. You can either type it out in large font on a computer or hand-write it onto your poster board. It’s easier to use a computer if you want to enlarge the words. But if you like your handwriting, that works well, too.

Start spacing out the words on the board. Make sure you leave a big space for where you’ll glue on the candy bar. So, for instance, in the example above, you’d write or type out, “I discovered I loved you (and then leave a big space to glue in the Mounds bar) more than the other boys on the playground.” Insert the candy in the space by gluing it. You might try glue dots, which you can find in a craft store. The beauty of these dots is that they don’t rip the paper off the back of the candy and they won’t seep through to ruin the chocolate.

When you’ve got your whole poem written or typed out and stuck on the board, make sure all your candy is secure in place. See if you like the design. It’s always a good idea to do a test placement first to see if it all will fit. You might write the message in pencil on the board or cut out strips of printed paper from your computer.

Decorate or embellish as you like. Use glitter around the edges or photos or just doodle to liven it up. You can present your card at the party and it will be the highlight of the night. People will love coming over and reading the funny message and seeing what the card is all about. Many will marvel that they’ve never seen a candy bar card before. You may start a new trend among family and friends! No one would expect to get one of these cards for their birthday gift!

So much goes into the planning of your wedding and then the day goes by in a flash. To preserve your memories forever, why not create a wedding time capsule? It will be fun to take a walk down Memory Lane after several years have passed.

First off, don’t plan on hiding your wedding capsule in the ground. Chances are if you do, you’ll not only forget where you put it, but the contents will fade or corrode due to the conditions underground. Instead, plan to place your time capsule in a closet or dresser drawer to be opened in years to come.

How do you make a wedding time capsule? You can now purchase kits online with complete instructions and everything you will need. But it’s also just as much fun to make one yourself. First, find a tube or box that is watertight and sturdy. Metal is a good choice. A tube, such as expensive gourmet cookies often come in, is a nice idea. Decorate the outside with wrapping paper or contact paper. Write a date on the lid when you and your spouse decide you will open it together.

Next, fill the tube or box with several mementos of your wedding day. You’ll of course want photos of your dress and you and your husband at the altar. Include photos of the cake, the guests, the wedding gifts, the band, and the flowers. Toss in printed cocktail napkins or a table favor. Anything you include should be mildew resistant to avoid decomposure.

Write a note to your new husband and he can write a note to you. Add wishes from others like mom and dad if you like. Ask people to predict how many children you will have, what kind of home or car you will have, what new inventions will be around, what kind of jobs you’ll have, etc. The more you include, the better. You might include a newspaper from the day you were married or other snippets of the day. Print a page from Facebook or Twitter with the well-wishes you receive.

Add in any other items you think will be significant. A DVD of your entire wedding, a copy of your marriage vows or license, and pictures or souvenirs from your honeymoon are also nice additions.

Seal your tube or box with stickers so that no one can take a peek before the intended date. Store your capsule where it won’t be disturbed but where you can easily find it. The last thing you want is to leave it behind if you move. That’s why dresser drawers or closets make good storage places. Agree that no one is allowed to move or open the capsule before the date on the lid.

Now, forget about your capsule. After a while, it will be a surprise when you come upon it. Every so often you will see it. Check the date to see how far off you are from opening time. When the big day arrives, whether it be ten years, twenty years or more, have a little ceremony before you open it. You could create an anniversary basket and include the time capsule in it. Invite the kids (or grandkids) to be involved. You will marvel at how much you have changed and how different things were when you placed all your items inside.

Memories can invoke very strong emotions. At a young age our memories take hold and later in life these can be sparked by sights, sounds, touch, tastes, and smells. Special occasions tend to hold the deepest memories, ones birthdays’, Christmas, first date, graduation, and matrimony, to a couple’s first born and then the cycle begins again in another’s memories.

The memory of ones wedding celebration marks a special passage of time. Ones own memories that were once exclusive to only you are now shared with another and the two become one in thought, emotion and in this way all future memories change and are never remembered again as exclusively your own. No longer is it "my" memories but "our" memories.

The yearly anniversary which now marks that sharing of time has such special meaning, over the years much thought has gone into the giving of gifts for a couple’s wedding anniversary.

Historically, Emily Post is considered to be the first person to publish an etiquette guide which contained tips on wedding anniversary special meanings towards the passage of time and gift giving to honor that passage.

Emily Post (nee Price) met her husband-to-be, Edwin Post, at a formal ball in New York City. Engagement, wedding, and honeymoon were followed by the birth and raising of her two sons but when old enough to attend boarding school, she turned her attention to writing. Emily Post’s romantic stories were quite successful, and she became a "traveling correspondent" crossing the continents.

In 1922, her book, "Etiquette", topped the nonfiction bestseller list, and the phrase "according to Emily Post" soon entered our language as the final and only word on social subjects of conduct. Mrs. Emily Post penned in this publication traditional gift guide for wedding anniversaries that were fact based on heritage, but also included more modern gifts to suite the times, and creative ideas for thoughtful and memorable gift giving.

Mrs. Emily Post’s initial anniversary gift giving guide included the first, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, twentieth, twenty-fifth and fiftieth years of marriage.

Gifts in the early years of marriage were small remembrances, or tokens, such as 1st (paper), 5th (wood), and 10th (tin). In later years of matrimony, gifts gained value (which tends to correspond with society status and professional security), including 15th (crystal), 20th (china), 25th (silver), and 50th (gold).

By the time her publication was reprinted in 1957, the growing importance of wedding anniversary celebrations in America required more guidance and the traditional gift list had been expanded to include all of the first 15 years, and multiples of five thereafter. Additionally, as 35 years had passed since the original publication modern alternatives were again added and revised to include more socially acceptable gift options.

The traditional and modern anniversary gift guides have changed very little during the past half-century where traditional gifts are deeply rooted in heritage yet modern gifts greatly assist to offset cultural differences. The giving of a gift to your partner on the memorable occasion of shared thought is so symbolic that this guide has been developed to assist making the occasion truly one worth marking the passage of time from here. This guide offers suggestions for gift giving for both men and women and insight into traditional and modern gifts and offers purchasing opportunities from trusted merchants that assisted in producing this guide.