We don't exchange Christmas gifts in our family because Mr. Troutbend's family can't be bothered to think of anybody but themselves - according to his mother. But some of them still do exchange gifts which irritates me because I used to enjoy making homemade things to give them. Now I know what you are thinking: they probably told only me that there will be no gift exchange because they didn't want any more of those hand-knitted dish cloths. Whatever. In my defense: my technique has improved considerably since that first year, but now it's too late. Sometimes I give them dish cloths whether they want them or not.

If I was giving them gifts this year it would be bean soup mix. This involves buying several different types of dried beans and mixing them together. At the health food store like Wild Oats you can get dehydrated vegetables for soups that can be added to the bean mix and I add some extra dried onion. Then you bag it up in sandwich bags or put them in empty pint canning jars. You can print out the recipe and put it in the head space in the top of the jar.

Recipe:
Dried bean mixture, soaked overnight or boiled 5 minutes let stand 2 hours
Water
Ham bone or smoked pork shanks or turkey carcass
Canned tomatoes
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning or oregano
Salt
Pepper
Other herbs and spices as desired
Beef or chicken broth if desired

Cook the beans in water with the bone(s) until they are tender. Adding salt or tomatoes too soon will slow the cooking time, and older beans will take longer to cook. A crock pot is ideal for the cooking. When the beans are cooked add the rest of the ingredients and cook maybe another hour or more. If you had some ham meat or sausage like Kielbasa you could dice it up and add it.

You can throw everything in the crock pot without soaking the beans and just cook it overnight. This used to work for me when my beans were that year's harvest and fresher. If they are a little older (and drier) it can take a couple of days for them to cook.

In the last hour of cooking I like to toss in a handful of those dried tortellinis you see in the pasta section at the supermarket. They are stuffed with something like cheese or spinach. Include a couple of those in each serving and people can chase them around the bowl. I think it adds a festive element. Or you can break up some uncooked spaghetti noodles into 1 inch pieces and throw them during the last 30 minutes. They also lend a nice touch.

I always make soup from chicken or turkey bones (although not fried chicken if people have picked it up and gnawed the meat off the bones). Cook the bones and skin in a covered pot or crock pot with some onion and celery for a good long time. Strain it and refrigerate the broth. The next day discard the fat that rose to the top and use the broth in recipes. I like to add some dried parsley flakes for appearance.

When I'm making this in Colorado I throw the bones out on the riverbank for the wild animals to pick through, but town people probably don't have this option.