My sister-in-law in New Hampshire often sends us tin boxes filled with homemade granola. She claims she doesn't use a recipe, so I have developed my own, based on the basic formula set forth in Marion Cunningham's "Fannie Farmer Cookbook." I replace butter with oil and I use real maple syrup, slivered almonds and raisins. 8 cups quick-cooking oats 1 cup honey 1 cup maple syrup 1 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup water 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon salt 1 cup slivered almonds 1 cup raisins 1. Place the oats in a large mixing bowl. 2. In a very large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine honey, maple syrup, oil, water, vanilla extract and salt. As the mixture begins to boil, it will rise up and increase in volume considerably. To prevent it from boiling over, stir and watch closely. Pour the boiling syrup over the oats in the mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. 3. Distribute the granola on two large cookie sheets and bake in an oven preheated to 325 degrees for 10 minutes. With a metal spatula, turn the granola over without too much stirring and bake 10 minutes more. 4. Add almonds and turn the granola again, but try not to break up the clusters that are forming. Return the granola to the oven and toast 5 or 6 minutes more, or just until the almonds are golden brown; gently stir in the raisins. 5. Cool the granola completely then transfer the cooled granola to a airtight containers. Print friendly version.

More than once, my wife and I have pulled all-nighters baking batches of our favorite Christmas cookies. We lined flat cardboard boxes with gold wrapping paper and laid the cookies in neat rows before wrapping them in cellophane and bright ribbons to give them away to friends the next day. And while I know we did it as much for ourselves as for our friends, I do think they appreciated it.

During the summer, I try to spend a few hours every other week or so putting up jars of jam. Most of this is just to enjoy at home, but I know even as I'm making them that some of these jars will make good Christmas presents later on. Then when Christmas is almost upon us and I find I have fewer jars than friends on my gift list, I have to scramble. Citrus fruit is at its peak this time of year, so I have devised a fairly quick and easy formula for marmalade. I can cook up a batch of mandarin orange marmalade and have it sealed in canning jars in just about an hour. The next day, it's ready to give. This has become one of my standard last-minute gifts.

Another last-minute standby is homemade granola. It sounds terribly old-fashioned, and it is, but so is the whole gift-giving thing, and granola fits right in. I picked up the habit from a sister-in-law who makes the world's greatest, consistently crunchy and perfect year after year. She uses two or three different grains and packs her cereal with several kinds of dried fruits and nuts. I make a simpler version using only oats for the grain and almonds and raisins for the nuts and fruits. The secret to success is a generous cup of pure maple syrup. For gift-giving, pack the cooled granola into holiday tins or fancy cellophane bags tied with ribbons.

If the people you want to please are not fans of marmalade or granola, you will want to fall back on that workhorse of the kitchen-gift brigade, homemade cookies. The secret to cookies that make an impression is to either bake the ones you know are the person's favorites, or make a cookie they have never had before. Every year, I bake some of each - old favorites and at least one or two varieties we've never tried before. This year, I've been particularly taken with gingerbread biscotti. They seem so - I don't know - Seattle.

If the gift is a token, one of those little somethings that you want to give so that you don't come empty handed to a holiday party, a jar of homemade jam or a little bag of homemade cookies might be enough. But if it's an actual "I care about you" kind of Christmas present, something more substantial might be called for. A basket with three or four different preserves would be nice if you happened to have a pantry brimming over with them. Or you could give a box or a tin with three or four different kinds of cookies. Better still might be a jar of preserves or a bag of cookies or granola tucked into a basket or a gift bag with a pound of coffee or a box of tea. In fact, one homemade item in a basket of anything can elevate the whole package.

Very often, packaging is what distinguishes a gift in the first place. Recently I learned that in some cultures, the way a gift is presented is at least as important as the gift. In Japanese culture for instance, a single chestnut, or a perfect mandarin orange, even a particularly beautiful sprig of pine, can be a substantial gift if it's wrapped in a meaningful way.

This time of year, grocery stores and variety stores are well-stocked with decorated tins and boxes ready to be filled with treasures from your kitchen. If you don't have access to anything else, take advantage of these, or if you have time, visit a store that stocks a wide selection of packaging options. The best one I know of, Packaging Specialties, is in South Seattle. The tins and boxes and printed papers are gifts in and of themselves, and they make even the most humble kitchen offerings seem like a prize.