By Jennifer Howard

Are you looking for gift ideas? Maybe you’re looking for last minute easy-on-the-budget ideas for gift giving. Giving gifts from the kitchen can be just the thing.

If you enjoy baking, consider baking loaves of bread for those on your list. Each loaf will cost a minimal amount of money and will be meaningful to those who receive it. You can repurpose old tins, filling them with slices of bread, cookies, muffins or other holiday goodies. A gift like this is great for anyone!

Try making homemade mixes in a jar. Mixes for soups and cookies are popular gift items that are fairly inexpensive to make.

Here’s a recipe for one of our most popular food gifts in a jar.

Hot Chocolate Mix

— 3 cups powdered milk

— 3/4 cup sugar

— 1/2 cup cocoa

— Dash of salt

Sift the ingredients into a large bowl. Pack the mix into an airtight container, perfect for gift giving. Add the following to a package tag and attach to the container:

Directions per serving: add 1 to 2 tablespoons hot chocolate mix to 8 ounces boiling water. Marshmallows or whipped cream are optional.

For more recipes on Gifts from the Kitchen contact the Clark County Extension Office at 744-4682 or visit us on the web at http://ces.ca.uky.edu/clark/

Jennifer Howard is the Clark County Extension Agent for family and consumer sciences.