I’ve been a fan of Minted for many years now. I’ve ordered holiday cards, gift tags and even my sister’s wedding invitations from there. I love their selection created by independent artists, their customer service and the paper quality is amazing. This year they’ve expanded their offering to include ornament cards that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago and then I discovered personalized gift wrap! Again, I posted about it the other week. Minted saw my posts and asked if I wanted to try out their wrapping paper and tags? Of course! Wrapping paper with photos of my kids sounded perfect to add a special touch to our gifts.
I’m still waiting for my paper to arrive – all of this happened rather quickly – but the personalization was really easy and allowed me to crop and adjust my photos to fit the paper design perfectly. I chose two types of paper and some gift tags. The tags arrived within days and the quality is great! I can’t wait to wrap my gifts in the paper once it arrives.
Win $50.- to spend anyway you want at Minted!
This give-away is now closed – congratulations Laura D on being the lucky winner!
Would you like to have some personalized wrapping paper or maybe some holiday cards? Or do you need some art or stickers? Just comment below by Monday,November 25th and you could win US$ 50.- towards anything you’d like at Minted.
Winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email. Open worldwide, except Quebec residents – see why here.
Good luck and now on to the recipes!
With much of my family living abroad and friends scattered across the country, my holiday planning starts early. This year I decided to create a little something from my kitchen and decided on sweet pepper jelly and a batch of cheesy shortbread to go with it. I love the sweet/sharp taste of the pepper jelly with shortbread and even a piece of sharp cheese – it’s perfect to put out when you have guests over. I’m sure they’ll vanish quickly.
Ingredients
- 4 Cups seeded and roughly chopped red peppers (about 4)
- 5 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
- 1 Cup white vinegar
- 1/3 Cups fresh lemon juice
- 1 pouch liquid pectin
Instructions
- Place red peppers in a food processor and purée.
- Combine puréed peppers, sugar and vinegar in a large stainless-steel pot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to avoid scorching.
- Remove pot from heat and cool for 15 minutes. This allows the peppers to cook slowly in the residual heat and prevents them from floating on the surface.
- Add lemon juice and pectin, and return pot to stove. Simmer over medium heat for at least 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Skim any foam from the surface.
Notes
I doubled the recipe and it took about 1 hour and 15 minutes for the jelly to thicken. I almost gave up.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
- 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- To the bowl of a food processor, add flour and cayenne pepper; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
- Add cheese to the food processor; pulse until combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
- Using a fork, stir in milk and Worcestershire sauce until well combined. Have ready several pieces of parchment paper.
- Form mixture into two 1-inch-diameter logs, and wrap in parchment. Transfer the logs to the refrigerator, and chill until very firm, at least 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove logs from refrigerator, and cut each one into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place the rounds on prepared baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
- Bake the shortbread until golden, about 12 minutes, rotating baking sheets between shelves halfway through baking.
- Transfer shortbread to wire racks to cool. Bake remaining dough.
Notes
Next time I would cut mine thicker and bake them a little longer. They are very delicate and probably would not survive a trip in the mail.
Minted generously supplied the wrapping paper and gift tags in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to write the post.
