Thanksgiving Day is better every year as our girls get more mature. I have found that their interest in holiday hostess gifts has increased. We started with teacher gifts in years past. It was primarily my effort that planned and executed them. This year, I sent an email to the girls with a few examples. I ordered jars, clementines and honey from my suppliers. Within one hour on Thanksgiving Day, with all three of our girls in the room, holiday gift production started and finished.

The jars are easy to find at a kitchen store or even a hardware store. They are 6-ounce canning jars. All shapes and sizes work. You should begin your process by cleaning the jars. Then, boil a two-quart pot of water. After cleaning the jars, drop each one into the boiling water to ensure proper sterilization. Do not discard of the water. Once the jars are clean, you will want to sterilize the fruit to remove any possible wax or germs. To do that, drop two clementines at a time in the water and remove after 15 seconds. In another pot, bring a few cups of honey to a simmer. We use a local clear honey (five pounds made sixteen jars).

You can now slice the poached clementines into five slices each. Layer them into a jar, then spear the cinnamon sticks in the center and fill with hot honey. Once the jars are all full, set them aside in a cool spot. Let them rest until they reach room temperature. Then, you can seal them and refrigerate for up to a few weeks.

These make great holiday party gifts. We present them in small fabric holiday bags that Jessica picked up at the Container Store. On the jars, we attach a small handwritten note suggesting the following:

Clementines Hot Wings: “Once you finish the honey, toss the clementines and cinnamon stick in a blender with 4 tablespoons of melted butter and two-ounces of Tabasco sauce. Blend until smooth.”