Ok, updated so now you have part treats and giftie treats. Definitely the nuts and meringues can be multi-tasked as both. Cheers and have fun!

Taking to a party:

• I love bringing a cutting board and putting cheeses, nuts, charcuterie, sliced apple and pear on it for people to nibble on. Easy to do and looks really nice. Add or subtract whatever you want - figs, olives, pickles, etc.
• Now these, these are wonderful. Meringue cookies with the bottom dipped in chocolate. This recipe is solid, I've made many a time, and you will not be steered wrong. I did a batch with a bit of rose that were crazy good. Not everyone likes that flavour profile so be careful if you want to try, it's pretty interesting. I don't use a pastry tip, I like my ghetto version of a ziploc bag with the tip cut off.
• Terrines and pates are easy to make and impressive to look at. You can do a meat version or a vegetable version. I found two Julia Child videos on YouTube so you can watch how to make them/recipes and well.. be entertained. Best line "magic meat mixture." Part 1 and Part 2.
• Make rillettes! Salmon, duck..
• Crudites with a couple of different dippy things - chutney's, mustards, pestos, tapenade.

For gifts:

• Jams, jellies, preserves that are made with coconut sugar or if sweet enough just reduced down enough so the natural flavour is in full force
• Fruit or herb vinegar. This is a good reference site - you can also buy oil and infuse with herbs, takes a few weeks, but is beyond easy and looks pretty. Give either of these with a few recipes.. like for a vinaigrette or to drizzle on a soup - parsley oil on a pumpkin bisque is really tasty.
• Jars of spiced nuts - a nice one is raw almonds, coconut, avocado, or mac nut oil, some large flake sea salt, smoked paprika, orange zest. You can really play with spicing nuts, fennel is fantastic, some fresh thyme and savory (just the leaves). Roast in the oven in 300-ish heat on parchment paper stirring so they don't burn. Takes about 15-20 minutes.-
• Your own tea blends. Play in the loose tea, put together a combo you like, jar it up. Gift with tea papers or a tea strainer. Green tea with dried ginger and lemon is a good one.
• On that same note I love to make spice blends, made one a few weeks ago and gave as gift.
• And probably the easiest, most well received, killer gift of all: compound butter. Make a few varieties: maple and sage, orange, cranberry, curry, herb, umm.. pumpkin with spices.

Everyone loves Ball/Kerr jars because they can reuse them, and the quilted ones they have now are a little fancier than the regulars. They come in small 4oz, perfect for the compound butter and spice blends, on up which are great for the tea and nuts.

Here is a great compound butter recipe that I make quite a bit, it's so good... a schmear on a baked, or added to smashed, sweet potatoes and it's instant dessert:

1/3c chopped at least 70% chopped dark chocolate - up to 85%, 1c butter at room temperature but not quite - if you use unsalted add a bit when creaming, 2tb unsweetened cocoa powder, 2tb coconut sugar ground in a coffee grinder - that's the only way I could make as a sub for powdered sugar and it works great, just make sure you have 2tb at the end.

Melt the chocolate and let cool. Cream the butter until it's nice and fluffy, add in all of the ingredients and beat until its all incorporated.

Pack into the jars! As it needs to be stored in the fridge, you can do a nice top so when they unscrew the lid it looks kind of pretty - like, a sprig of mint, shave some chocolate, etc.

Pumpkin Custard

• 1 good-sized pie pumpkin, split and roasted
• 1/2 cup coconut nectar or 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 6 egg yolks (I like duck egg yolks)
• 1 cup heavy cream OR 1 cup coconut cream
• 2 cans coconut milk (full fat)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp clove
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Roast the pumpkin at 350 degrees for about 1.5 hrs. You can seed it when it's fresh (good if you want to save some seeds for later planting), or you can roast, and then cool and seed.

Cool pumpkin, then scrape from skin, and mash or puree.

In a separate, large bowl, beat together remaining ingredients. When well blended, add pumpkin puree. Pour into a buttered glass casserole. Place casserole in a large pan with sides that are higher than the casserole. Place in the oven, and add water to the outer pan until it is 1/2 way to 3/4 of the way up the side of the inner casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (about 2 hrs).

This can be served warm or cool -- you can melt some chocolate over the top, sprinkle it with cinnamon, or, if you eat dairy, top it with some homemade heavy whipped cream. YUUMM

Elderberry syrup for coughs, colds, flu. Tastes good and it's supposedly highly effective stuff.

-Dark chocolate pistachio bark (or dark chocolate pistachio bacon bark) just roughly chop pistachios (and chop bacon into bits if you want to go that route) Melt the 85% chocolate and mix in pistachios and bacon bits, then pour onto waxed paper to cool. Break apart into pieces and serve or wrap in plastic to give as goodies. You can also sprinkle it with shredded unsweetened coconut as well. Looks posh and tastes good.

-Chocolate covered bacon- Cook uncured bacon until its crisp. Melt 85% chocolate and either dip the bacon in the chocolate and place on wax paper to harden or drizzle melted chocolate over the bacon.

Paleo Berry Scones-the absolute best goodie this side of Paleo:

2 1/2 cups Almond Meal 1/2 cup Coconut flour 1/4 cup Flax meal 2 TBSP Arrowroot powder 1 tsp Cinnamon 1 tsp Baking soda 1 tsp Corn free baking powder 1/2 tsp Sea salt 4 Eggs 1/4 cup Organic honey 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla 1/4 tsp Coconut extract 1/3 cup Coconut oil 1/3 cup Coconut milk (pulp) 2 cups Frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix all ingredients in large bowl
3. Scoop large spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Check after 15 minutes. Ready when light brown color starts to show.

I like bringing stuffed dates to parties. When I lived in South Carolina, we had access to the most delicious dates stuffed with local pecans. That's my go-to treat to bring to parties now. You can stuff them with blue or goat cheese (if you do dairy), or any number of other things.

I also like making truffles made with 85% chocolate and coconut milk.

A lot of my family now eats paleo/primal/perfect health diet so I'm giving many folks homemade mayonnaise, homemade ketchup, homemade mustard and maybe some other condiments from nourishing traditions.

Maybe also some homemade cream cheese for some folks.

ETA: Lactofermented ketchup from Nourished Kitchen - based on a recipe from Nourishing Traditions. At the time, I didn't have any whey (ie liquid whey from homemade yogurt or clabbered milk) so I used veggie starter instead based on another recipe. Caldwell and Body Ecology are two options for veggie culture.

Mayo

Adapted from

1)the Paleo Recipe Book

2)Pickl-it's recipe for lipase rich mayonnaise

I use the Julia Child recommended ratios of 1 yolk per 1/2-3/4c. If you're just starting, it's easier to stay with 1/2c per yolk.

Favorite recipe:

1 cup high oleic safflower or high oleic sunflower oil

1 cup expeller pressed flavorless coconut oil (warmed just enough to liquify) like Jarrow Expeller Pressed or Wilderness Family Naturals Expeller Pressed (warning: Whole Foods makes and expeller pressed oil that is very coconuty - avoid for this recipe)

4 pastured egg yolks

1 teaspoon ground mustard seed powder or 1 tsp prepared mustard (regular or dijon)

2 TBSP lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Couple pinches of sugar, xylitol or a bit of honey or maple syrup. Maybe a tsp or so.

Place yolks in bowl. Add salt, mustard and 2 tsp lemon juice. Wisk for a minute or so until yolks are lighter in color, thicker and sticky.

Start adding oil drop by drop. Add very slowly - slower than you think is required. Make sure drop is incorporated before adding more oil.

Once a thick emulsion is forming, you can add oil in a steady, thin stream. Since I have the oil in a squirt bottle, I do the Julia Child "about a tbsp at a time" thing....squirting a blob of oil, then letting it whisk for a few seconds, repeating until oil is about half done.

At that point, add the rest of the lemon juice.

Then continue with the oil until it's all added. Taste and adjust sweetener and salt.

Allow mayo to sit out for 4-6 hours before storing, covered, in the fridge.

I make mayo regularly and have experimented with different oils, different tools etc. So far, I find I get the best results the quickest using my kitchenaid stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachement. Second best is the stick mixer with the balloon whisk attachment and a glass jar: the carafe from a french press pot works great.

The high oleic oils mentioned below are high in monounsaturated fat (oleic acid) and are very low in PUFA. Per TBSP, they have about 9g MFA/MUFA and 1.5-2g PUFA. Labels will specifically say "high oleic"

Other helpful mayo tips:

The Secret to Homemade Mayo is Patience (tips and troubleshooting from Melissa at The Clothes Make the Girl)

Alton Brown instructional video (very helpful for technique; recipe is too acidic)

i am getting a cast iron dutch oven...same one i got my mama for her birthday. i so wanted to be an indian giver lol. but she ordered me one for xmas...now the wait is on.

Here are several Paleo holiday recipes including eggnog, cranberry sauce and cut-out cookies http://northwestcavegirls.com/2011/12/a-few-paleo-christmas-recipes/

Cavegirl Kate has a great Christmas pudding recipe http://northwestcavegirls.com/2011/12/ho-ho-hopaleo-christmas-puds/

And every holiday I make my paleo pumpkin pie and pecan pie http://northwestcavegirls.com/2011/12/pumpkin-and-pecan-pie/