Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, would you please put a penny in the old man's hat...

Ahhh Christmas...or possibly ARGHHHH CHRISTMAS!!! Whatever your choice, the holiday season is always full...full of the good, the bad and the very, very overindulged.

We over eat, over drink and over spend. And this year will really be no different, although we might not have as much to overspend with, we will certainly over drink. Pass me another drink so that I can forget about the fact that the house is being foreclosed upon and that the children have no presents. But, whatever our financial situation is, Christmas is always about giving...giving presents or giving of ourselves. According to the bible, God gave his only son so that we could be saved...talk about charitable giving, the ultimate act of charity and sacrifice.

In these hard times we have to look toward other ways to give to one another. My family, for as long as I can remember, has drawn names each Thanksgiving and have given one large present to that family member. We usually gave other small presents or mementos to each other, but even that has changed as we have gotten older. A few years ago it was suggested that instead of presents we gave a donation to a charity of our choice. Now that is real nice. Real, real nice. But gosh darnit, I want presents! I love presents! Presents make me want to celebrate my birthday every year even though I am getting way to old for the whole birthday thing. I was told by my family that it was OK if I asked for a present instead of the donation to a charity, but then I felt guilty. And guilt is no good. I want to be charitable, in fact giving of my time is something that I am always willing to do. But not getting a present, well that is down right silly.

This year, we have decided, as a family, to make our contributions to Christmas dinner our presents to each other. Sounds good to me. Could somebody please put a big bow around the ham so that I can un-wrap something??!! I really am all for it. I am jobless and can't really afford to buy presents, but cook I can do. I can cook like it's nobodies business!

In honor of our family decision to give food for Christmas, I decided to go through my recipes and pick a few of my favorite food gifts. Cookies, cakes and fudges are great, but a great sauce that can be made into an appetizer or some delicious chocolate sauce to pretty up any dessert...that's what I'm talking about.

The beauty of these sauces and dips is that they do not require any real cooking skill. Just the ability to heat, blend and chop.

Jezebel Sauce
18 oz Pineapple Preserves
10 oz Apple Jelly
1/4 cup Vinegar
2 Tablespoon Horseradish
1 Tablespoon Dry Mustard
1/8 teaspoon Salt

Mix all ingredients together and divide equally between glass jars. A hint for what size jar, it takes about 4 oz to cover a package of cream cheese deliciously. Make sure that the jars are clean when you put Jezebel Sauce into the jars. To make the jars festive, cut rounds of fabric that would fit around the top of the jar and tie with ribbon or raffia. Make a little recipe card that tells how you can use the Jezebel sauce...over cream cheese with crackers, as a sauce for roasted pork or chicken and over baked brie. These are just a few uses.

Chocolate Sauce
My second favorite thing to make is chocolate sauce--or ganache. You can flavor it with just about any kind of liquor. I like to use Kahlua, rum or some kind of nut liquor --Frangelica or praline. The basic recipe is 1 cup chocolate to 1 cup heavy cream with 2 tablespoons butter and 1/8 cup liquor. To make, bring cream to a boil, pour over chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon. Try not to add to much air when stirring. Once all the chocolate has melted, stir in the liquor and the butter. This also can be stored in glass jars. To re-heat, place jar uncovered in a microwave, heat in 1 minute increments until it reaches the consistency you are looking for. It can be used over ice cream, as fondue or over cake. If you have a favorite pound cake recipe you might want to add that with the heating instructions.

Kentucky Beer Cheese
1/2 cup Shredded Cheese
1 8oz package of Cream Cheese, softened
1 clove of garlic
2 Tablespoons chopped chives
1/2 t Dry Mustard
1 Tablespoons Worcestershire
salt to taste
hot sauce to taste
1 cup lager

In a food processor, blend together both cheese. Add garlic, chives, mustard and Worcestershire. Continue to blend. Slowly add lager so that it is absorbed into the cheese mixture. Adjust seasoning. To store, place in glass jar or ceramic pots. This can be held in a refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to two weeks. It is great with fresh bread or crackers.

I hope that you will try one or two of these. They make great gifts, but also pretty fabulous ideas for easy entertaining! Enjoy the charitable giving aspect of the holidays...to give is to receive.