How to Wow Your Neighbors with a Mix-in-a-jar

I recently discovered that you can wow people by giving them a mix in a mason jar.  It's one of the simplest gifts you can give to someone, and if you put the ingredients in a layer at a time, it ends up looking pretty cool, like so.

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Pretty cool, right?  All you have to do is attach instructions for turning the mix into a final product and you have yourself a pretty, inexpensive, homemade, delicious gift.  I gave my grandma a brownie mix for Mother's Day.  My grandpa got a cornbread mix for Father's Day.  They make great new neighbor gifts, Christmas presents for teachers...you get the idea.

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So how, pray tell, do you make one of these marvelous mixes?  Easy peasy.  Just take a recipe for something that you already love--for instance, the sweet cornbread recipe that I posted a while back.  Combine all of the dry ingredients, one at a time, making each layer flat before adding the next layer.  If you have way more of one ingredient than the rest (often flour or sugar), just split it up into two layers with another ingredient or two between to make it look prettier.  For the cornbread recipe, I added the dry ingredients in the following layers:

1/2 the flour

1/2 the cornmeal

White sugar

Salt

Baking powder

The other 1/2 of the flour

The other 1/2 of the cornmeal

Brown Sugar

As long as your ingredients are relatively the same texture, you can really put them in whatever order you like because they're just going to get mixed together eventually anyway.  The thing to keep in mind with layering is that you want to put the heavier ingredients toward the bottom and any ingredients that will have space between pieces (like chocolate chips or beans, for example) are on the top.  That way flour or whatever doesn't filter down in between them and make your layer look funny.  Making the layers vary from light to dark colors makes it look really nice too.  Just look how good these muffins in a jar look!

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When all of your layers are in place, put the lid on the jar, tie a ribbon on it, and include instructions for adding the rest of the ingredients and cooking it.  Bam!  That was easy.

You want to try it now, don't you?  Well, my culinary friend, here is a website that has tons of ideas for mixes in a jar to get you going.  Happy mixing!

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Chili in a jar, anyone?

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

Another make-it-yourself mix from the fabulous Melissa.  Enjoy!

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Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

1/4 cup powdered buttermilk
3 Tbsp dried minced onions
3 Tbsp parsley
1 Tbsp dried minced chives
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container until ready to use.

To make into ranch dressing:
1. Combine 1-1/2 Tbsp ranch dressing mix with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup mayo.  Less milk makes it creamier, more milk makes it thinner.  
2. Ranch your salad, your carrots, your celery, your french fries...

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Homemade Taco Seasoning

This recipe was sent to me by my lovely friend, Melissa.  Making your own taco seasoning is apparently super easy and delicious.  Give it a shot next time you want to make tacos!

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Homemade Taco Seasoning

1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt (or regular, if that's all you've got)
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional, if you want an added kick)

1. Mix all ingredients together in a ziploc bag and shake until well blended.
2. Store in a dry place until you're ready to use it.
3. Brown meat, add 1/4 cup water, and as much seasoning as you want to make it flavorful.  Stir and let sit for about a minute.
4. Enjoy your tacos!

Thanks Melissa for sharing your recipe!