Holiday Gift Guide — The Kitchen-as-Gift List I Have Been Building for Two Years

Junior year ended Friday. I am a rising senior. The grades came in Friday afternoon: A-minus in algebra II, A in AP Biology, A-plus in AP English (Mr. Briggs’s class), A in advanced home ec (Mrs. Rivera’s class), B-plus in US History. The cumulative grade-point average is now 3.7. The girl who got a D in English in spring 2017 has spent two years climbing back, and the climb has held.

Mr. Briggs handed me a sealed envelope at the end of school Friday after sixth period. Inside was a printed list, single-spaced, of nine college and creative-writing programs Linda Briggs (the retired librarian wife who had asked me about my notebook at the Easter dinner in 2017 and who has, by Mr. Briggs’s account, been thinking about my college path for two years) had spent her entire spring researching for me. Three of the programs are in-state. OU. OSU. The University of Tulsa. Each one has a scholarship program that, the printed sheet noted in Linda’s small careful handwriting at the margin, has historically supported first-generation low-income students with strong writing portfolios.

Mr. Briggs said, when he handed me the envelope, Kaylee, the senior year is a college-application year. Linda and I want to help you with it. I almost cried in his classroom. I did not. I have decided I am going to keep count of the times I have almost cried in his classroom and have not, the way I keep count of other things in this notebook. The number is up to nine.

And the post Sunday is a meta post — a holiday gift guide of sorts. The magazine recipe column had run a holiday-gift-guide piece I wanted to push back on. The magazine version of a holiday gift guide is the kind of list that ends up on Pinterest with curated images of $80 cast iron skillets and $40 olive oil bottles in branded color palettes. The kitchen-as-gift list is the other kind of list. The kitchen-as-gift list is the list I have been building for two years in the back of my notebook, the list of dishes the kitchen has given to the people around me on the small budget the kitchen has had.

I want to write the list down today. The list of gifts the kitchen has given. Coconut macaroon tins to Mrs. Tilford, Mrs. Rivera, Mr. Garcia, Aunt Tammy, Mrs. Henderson, and Mrs. Patel for two Decembers running. A cherry chocolate cobbler for Mama’s thirty-ninth birthday. A fox cake for Mrs. Henderson’s grandson Eli at the First Baptist children’s harvest party in October 2017. A turkey breast for the First Baptist Easter and July potlucks. A breakfast casserole for the Sunday school class. Eight birthday cakes for kids in our neighborhood. A pumpkin cake for the Pinterest mom in Stillwater. Lemon drop sugar cookie bars for Mrs. Rivera. Banana cookies for the Sonic back kitchen. Pesto-cream lasagna for the table that hosted Mr. Briggs and Linda for Easter 2017. Carnitas for a brother on a Saturday celebration that turned out to be a step. Cinnamon rolls for a Sunday morning when nobody had asked. A Christmas-cake stack for kids whose parents could not afford to bake.

The kitchen has been the room that runs the household and also the room that gives the household’s gifts. The math at the back of the notebook says the gifts have cost about $400 in ingredients across two years. The math also says the gifts have come back, in different ways, to the table at Easter and Thanksgiving and Christmas, and to the savings envelope through the catering jobs that grew out of the gift-giving. The gifts have not been a cost; the gifts have been an investment in the small economy of the neighborhood that has carried this household through the worst two years of my life.

The list of gifts is, I have decided, the only kind of gift guide worth writing. Make something from your kitchen for somebody who has been with you. The recipe does not matter as much as the making. The recipe does not matter as much as the writing-down on a small index card with the cost-per-batch in the corner and the name of the recipient at the top. The recipe matters because the recipe is the structure the love hangs on. But the love is the thing.

I have decided I am going to start a notebook in the fall called The Kitchen-as-Gift Notebook for the recipes I make for other people specifically. The book is going to have a section per recipient, with the dates I made them something, the cost-per-batch, and a small line on what they said when they ate it. I am going to keep that book for the rest of my life.

The recipe roundup below is what magazines run for the holidays. The trick I want you to keep is the kitchen-as-gift list of your own — what your kitchen has produced this year that has gone to the people around you. Write that list down. Keep it.

The recipe roundup below is the magazine’s holiday gift guide as written. Pick the ones that fit your kitchen and your budget. Make them for the people who have been with you. The list of gifts is, in my opinion, the only kind of gift guide worth following. Write your own version. Keep it.

Holiday Gift Guide: Three Compound Butters

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 20 min + 1 hr chilling | Servings: 3 logs (about 8 tablespoons each)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• For Honey Cinnamon Butter:
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of fine sea salt
• For Garlic Herb Butter:
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• For Brown Sugar Pecan Butter:
• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped toasted pecans
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Soften the butter. Divide the 3 sticks of softened butter evenly among three small bowls, one stick per flavor. Butter must be fully softened so it blends smoothly — leave it out at room temperature for at least an hour ahead of time.
2. Mix each butter. Using a fork or hand mixer on low, beat the add-ins into each portion of butter until fully combined. For the garlic herb butter, taste and adjust salt. For the sweet butters, taste and adjust honey or brown sugar to preference. Mix until everything is evenly distributed with no streaks.
3. Roll into logs. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper (about 12 inches long) on a flat surface. Spoon one butter mixture onto the center in a rough log shape. Roll the paper around it and twist the ends tightly to form a compact cylinder about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Repeat with remaining butters.
4. Chill until firm. Refrigerate the logs for at least 1 hour, or until solid enough to slice cleanly. For gifting, logs can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.
5. Label and gift. Once firm, wrap each log in fresh wax paper, tie the ends with twine, and add a handwritten label with the flavor name and a note to refrigerate. Tuck into a small gift box with crackers, a bread knife, or a small cutting board for a complete gift under five dollars.

Nutrition (per serving, approx. 1 tablespoon)

Calories: 105 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 2g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 75mg