Got treasured family recipe? (cheap gift idea, with a gift for you!)

Make last-minute gifts! I even did most of the work for you. I came up with this idea the ump-teenth time someone asked me for my mom's banana bread recipe -- a make-your own kit!  Since people are bound to have the wet ingredients -- eggs, oil, and an old banana -- it makes this work pretty well. I just went by the recipe, split the dry ingredients into two steps and packaged them -- with instructions labels.

Then, I tucked the baking instructions into these cute little casserole pans, (available at Michael's for under 2 dollars each!) . . . 

tucked the recipe in back, . . . 

and wrapped with cellophane, cute ribbon, and matching gift tags.

And, since I made all these little templates, I'm willing to share! I haven't figured out how to attach a download (and since a PDF wouldn't let you put in your own recipes -- or name -- into the gift tags. I'd love the credit but it wouldn't help you all much), so leave your email in the comments and I'll send the files, if you so wish :) This could be done with breads, cakes (using mini-cake pans), cookies (using little cookie sheets? or just a cute basket), or even things like warm casseroles. And all it costs you is the container it's in, some ingredients, and whatever ribbons and bits you want to use to accessorize. It'll last longer than the actual baked good, be usable upon craving, and probably be cuter. I make delicious stuff sometimes, but it's rarely pretty. I'm working on that.

By the way, here's the most efficient method I've found for cutting out a million little circles:

Cut the bottom curves.

Loop around the end and cut the top curves. 

Then cut away the little remaining bits. 

Gold Star to anyone who may have found out what they're getting for Christmas from this post :)