Five Days of Homemade Christmas Gifts: Cookies and Cocoa

What is more fun than receiving a container filled with home baked goodies?  I have a good friend who always makes the BEST fudge for Christmas.  That has to be one of my favorite friendship gifts!

For my children, their specialty is sugar cookies, cut out and decorated with sprinkles, icing, and colored sugar.  It has been a tradition as far back as I can remember.  The children package the cookies in a Christmas container, or gift bag, and pass them out to neighbors and friends, along with a Christmas card.  Inside the card, they add a hand-written verse, Luke 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.", and a message from our family.

Another tasty friendship gift is a jar of homemade hot cocoa mix.  I mix up a big batch for our family and then another to be given away.   I fill a pint jar with the mix, tie a ribbon around it and include a tag with instructions for a nice hot cup of cocoa.

I found this recipe off the internet a couple of years ago, but I cannot give credit where credit is due, since I haven't been able to find the site again.

Ingredients:

3 cups cocoa

4 1/2 cups sugar

6 1/2 cups powdered milk

1/3 tsp. salt

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.

To serve:  At 2 Tablespoons of cocoa mix to a cup of hot water.

Who doesn't love hot cocoa?