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Years ago, I had a newspaper delivery route. I had two young children and spent the wee hours of the morning delivering our local newspaper. It was a rough couple of years while I held this job.
One of the bright spots of that job was Christmas time. It was neat to see all of the decorations that folks put up. It was also nice to find a small surprise waiting for me from my customers. Remembering that time, we make homemade gifts for our service providers now. We give these gifts to our mail lady and trash collector. Since we live in a very small town, we also drop a gift off to the other mail person at our local post office as well as the folks in our town mayor’s office and local library.
To keep our gifts as economical as possible, we make homemade cookies and fudge for our gifts. We used to place the treats on plastic plates and wrap with plastic wrap or foil. The problem with this method is that the covering would always come loose. Or the goodies would jostle around and be broken before the recipient would get it home.
I wanted to do something different with our gifts that would protect the goodies. When we were doing our weekly shopping at WalMart, we found Rubbermaid TakeAlongs containers. We are using these containers for our gifts this year! I am so pleased with how well our gifts turned out this year! {Use Ibotta to save $1 on 2 packs of Rubbermaid TakeAlongs!}
We made a variety of our favorite Christmas cookies to give away. The easiest way to do this is to make the doughs and freeze them in individual “scoops” one weekend and bake them the next. This spreads the work out a bit.
We created a new fudge recipe this year that I’m super excited to share with you! You’ll find the recipe for Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge below. I hope that you’ll make this one and enjoy it as much as we have!
No gift is complete without a card. Rather than purchasing generic cards, we make our own. This process is quite simple.
Homemade Gift Cards:
Supplies:
Card stock
Washi tape
Markers
Bone folder
How to:
Fold the card stock in half, using the bone folder to make a clean edge.
Cut strips of washi tape in graduating lengths, place on card to form a Christmas tree.
Add a star on top of the tree using the markers.
Add washi tape to the edges of the card.
To assemble the gift:
To protect the cookies, place them in individual treat bags and tie shut. Or carefully stack the cookies in such a way to keep them level. Place a layer of tissue paper in between cookies. This will prevent the cookies from moving around. I found that the large rectangle Rubbermaid TakeAlongs are perfect for a decent amount of cookies. I added a few mini ornaments that we bought at WalMart {have you visited the Christmas center at your local WalMart? There are some super cute items there!} You can wrap the box, or do as we’ve done and tie a big bow on top. For the fudge, layer the pieces in the bottom of the square container, add a piece of plastic wrap in between layers.
Use heavy tape to tape the fudge container onto the cookie container. Then tie with a big bow, and add the card. Now you have a beautiful homemade gift to bless your service providers!
Now for that recipe!
Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge:
- [b][u]For the fudge[/u][/b][br]
- 2-1/4 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 2 cups chocolate chips (your choice, I used dark chocolate)
- 1- 7 oz container marshmallow fluff
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- [b][u]For the salted caramel[/u][/b][br]
- 30 caramels, unwrapped
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk
- 1 TB kosher salt
- [b][u]For the toppings:[/u][/b][br]
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup caramel nibs
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips (your choice of variety, I used white chocolate)
- 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
- 1 ts Kosher salt
- Line an 8X8 cake pan with foil, extending the foil over the sides of the pan. Coat pan with butter.
- [b][u]To make the salted caramel:[/u][/b][br]
- Place caramels into a heavy saucepan, add in the evaporated milk, stir to combine as the caramels melt. Once thoroughly combined, sprinkle Kosher salt over caramel. Let sit over very low heat until fudge is ready.
- [b][u]To make the fudge:[/u][/b][br]
- In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and 3/4 cup evaporated milk. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. Bring to a full boil, stirring constantly. Once at full boil, boil 5 minutes or so over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 234*F. Remove saucepan from heat.
- [url href=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-1.jpg”][img src=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-1.jpg” width=”600″ height=”523″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers” alt=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers”][/url]Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallow fluff. Work quickly and stir briskly to fully combine, melting the chocolate and fluff. Stir in chopped pecans.
- [url href=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-3.jpg”][img src=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-3.jpg” width=”600″ height=”682″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers” alt=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers”][/url]
- Stir in half of the salted caramel.
- Immediately pour fudge mixture into prepared pan.
- [url href=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-4.jpg”][img src=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-4.jpg” width=”600″ height=”630″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers” alt=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers”][/url]
- Cover with remaining salted caramel.
- [url href=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-6.jpg”][img src=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-6.jpg” width=”600″ height=”600″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers” alt=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers”][/url]
- While still warm, top with toppings.
- [url href=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-8.jpg”][img src=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-8.jpg” width=”600″ height=”654″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers” alt=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers”][/url]
- [url href=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-7.jpg”][img src=”https://successfulhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Salted-Caramel-Turtle-Fudge-7.jpg” width=”600″ height=”546″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers” alt=”Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge ~ Successful Homemakers”][/url]
- Spray plastic wrap with nonstick spray, the use it to press the toppings into the fudge.
- Let sit to harden, usually overnight.
- Slice into small squares, serve, and enjoy!
Don’t forget the Ibotta savings! You can learn more about the Rubbermaid TakeAlongs on the Share The Holiday Site, as well as other Christmas inspiration! Connect with WalMart on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for great Christmas ideas!
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We don’t have a lot of service providers at our home but we are always sure to treat the delivery people- I don’t think they get many gifts from customers, so they’re always very appreciative! #client