Gift Giving Mixes : Chocolate Gravy

In the age of outlandish holidays with ever growing price tags, just about everyone appreciates a heartfelt gift personally made for them. Gift mixes are an excellent way of doing this.

Baked goods are always well liked, but mixes offer even more time saving convenience on the part of the giver and give the receiver an opportunity to have some special time in their kitchen. Even people who work full time can squeeze in time to prepare a special treat if they have a mix!

Now, before you start doubting the value of your gift of a mix, check the price tags of some ready made mixes in specialty gift shops and such. My grandmother once bought an apple crisp mix in a bag for $8.00! It was enough to make an 8×8 dish and tasted exactly like my apple crisp. I like to mentally place a monetary value on the gifts I give, in order to make sure I am giving gifts of equal value to my child’s teachers and such. I consider this to be at least a five dollar value, in case you needed a guide.

Chocolate gravy makes an ideal mix to give. Those familiar with it instantly respond with widened eyes and “ooh’s” and “aah’s”. Those unfamiliar with it are intrigued and anxious to taste this chocolatey concoction. Another plus? When was the last time you saw chocolate gravy mix for sale anywhere? You’ve got the added bonus of rarity on your side as well!

My original post on Chocolate Gravy, including step by step photos of how to make it, can be found here.

Each time I bring you a mix, I am going to show you several inexpensive wrapping options as well as providing you with printer ready gift tags(note that these are two sided)!

Now, on to chocolate gravy….

You’ll need: All purpose flour, white sugar, and cocoa powder.
In bowl, place 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons flour, and one cup sugar.
Mix that up well
Until it looks like this. There, your mix is done! Now lets prettify it a bit!
I went out gallavantin’ and bought some inexpensive supplies for packaging these mixes I’m going to bring you. All of the fabric you see came at $2.00 a yard from Wal Mart.  I got six spools of ribbon from Big Lots for $2.00, and a package of eight small gift bags for $3.00. The Raffia also came from Wallie World, it was two dollars as well.

Do you see these party bags? I get them in the party section at wal mart and try to ALWAYS have them on hand. Their uses are limitless. They make great packaging for small loaves of banana bread or a few cookies if you are sending them as gifts. You can use the enclosed twist ties or curling ribbon to seal them, your choice. They are also ideal for party favors or any other baked goods or small gift items. I buy them in a bag of twenty for a dollar and some change. I highly recommend you look for and purchase them now as they run low often.

Plain old zipper seal sandwich bags are a must have as well. I like to place my mix in them to seal it and then package.

First, we’re going to place our mix in a sandwich bag and get all of the air out before sealing.
Now fold over the top and tape it shut.
This was one of my favorite ways to wrap this.
I cut a small square of fabric and cut all around the edges with pinking shears.
Then simply rolled it up like a burrito.
Tie curling ribbon on each end and look how pretty!
Two more ideas are to place your sealed mix in a party bag or fill a 1/2 pint mason jar with the mix.
1/2 a pint will hold exactly one recipe of chocolate gravy.
For the jarred mix, get a cereal bowl (I am using a standard Corelle bowl) and place it upside down to trace on the wrong side of some Christmas fabric.
Cut out with pinking shears.
Until you have a nice circle of cloth.
Remove the screw band and center the fabric over the top of your jar, on top of the lid.
like this.
oooh another pretty one!

Or you can simply place your jar inside a small gift bag and attach some curling ribbon or raffia to it.

But the simplest of all is to simply put your sealed bag of mix inside a clear cellophane party bag and tie with curling ribbon. :)
Now, you can either type up and print out your own tags, or visit here to print mine! These tags include the front side as shown in addition to a back side which gives the entire recipe for Chocolate Gravy!
Chocolate Gravy Mix
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 T flour
  • 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Seal and package for gift giving, including a tag with the following instructions (or print out my free tags here):
Directions:
Pour contents into heavy saucepan. Add 1 1/4 Cups Milk Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Once boiling, turn heat down to lowest setting and stir for one minute more, until thickened.
Take off heat and stir in 1 Tablespoon butter or margarine.
Pour over hot biscuits.

Do you enjoy reading Southern Plate? Tell your friends! Link to me on your blog! Do the chicken dance!
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Gratefully,
Christy

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:
the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Help me fill my kettle for the Salvation Army!

Christmas is just around the corner and many cities still have hundreds of angels left on their trees this year. I started an online Salvation Army Red Kettle in hopes that the Southern Plate family can join together and help donate enough money to see to it that several kids have the Christmas they deserve. Join with me and donate if you can by clicking on the banner below. Even $5.00 can make a difference if enough of us donate it!

Thank you!!

Gratefully,

Christy :)

    Personal fundraising widget for 2009 Red Kettle campaign

Please support Southern Plate by sharing this:
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Technorati
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • email
Posted by Christy Jordan on Dec 12 2008. Filed under Breakfast, Chocolate, Gift Mixes, Holiday Favorites!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

72 Comments for “Gift Giving Mixes : Chocolate Gravy”

  1. Sue Chumley

    I am an original Southern girl (born in SC) but drifted off in
    various directions after I married and my husband was transferred a
    lot. I had completely forgotten about Chocolate Gravy (my grandmother use to make a big pot of this as a special treat on Christmas morning and served over her homemade biscuits.) YUM!
    After reading Angie’s blog this evening and going to your site and reading of your recipes, it brought back a lot of fond memories.
    Now I am going to make some of my own this Christmas morning.
    Thank you so much for bringing this memory back to me. And I hope to visit your site again real soon for more recipes. I also signed up for your newsletter.
    Thank you and Angie both.
    Sue Chumley
    Blairsville, Ga.

  2. linda

    I just love your site! I am so gald i found you.I can’t wait to try your chocolate gravy.

  3. tthe4taylorz

    I have received this mix before and it is so good!

  4. Valerie

    I just had to tell my sister about this when I ran across it. It is so very close to what my grandmother made and my mom and dad made for us also. I think I am going to to up a mix and surprise my brother with it for Christmas :-) He is so going to love it too! Thanks for sharing another super southern sensational recipe with as all.

  5. YOU GO GIRLY! you are surely rocking! I knew my readers would just LOVE YOU and OMG this is to DIE FOR! CHOCOLATE GRAVY, who would’ve thought! love your blog, love your book and stay tuned for my review on your ebook! Going to draw a winner for your cookbook TOMORROW!
    XOXOXO

  6. I have never heard of chocolate gravy, I love chocolate though, so this is a must try.

  7. Bonnie Zavadil

    We have never had Chocolate gravey so had to try it. Very good and from now on it will be a part of our potatoes and gravey,

  8. My girls love Chocolate Gravy. They always turn to their grandma to fix it cause I always mess it up.

  9. Gina

    I have to admit I was a bit thrown off by Chocolate Gravy… but I’m going to try it as well, then give it as gifts, since I’m positive it will be a big hit.

  10. Jen

    Chocolate gravy? How interesting!
    Love that you give us the cards to print out too.

  11. CB Boouch

    I had never heard of chocolate gravy before but anything chocolate has got to be good. Looking forward to making this for the family. Then will make up some got gift-giving. Great idea for the holidays.

  12. Pam Moore

    I have a large family that lives in Illinois, and going back home for the holidays, this was the perfect gift for everyone on my list. I am married to a southerner now and live in Alabama, so this was a way to give a touch of the south for Christmas. The gift tags were great, I printed them and put them on my Christmas bags which I put the mix in! Thanks for a great, simple, inexpensive gift idea!

  13. Kathleen

    OK – I have to admit I’ve *never* heard of Chocolate Gravy…. but since chocolate makes ~everything~ better, I know it’ll be wonderful. We’ll make this over the weekend and think of you.

  14. Tracy

    My aunt use to make this for us. I always wanted to go and spend the night so I could have homemade biscuits and chocolate gravy. I made some for my five year old and he loved it. Thanks for sharing this with us.

  15. Mary Ann

    Yes, another one I can’t wait to try!

  16. sheila ashland city, Tn

    Oh the memories this brings back. My grandma used to make this on the weekends. I’ve tried to get the receipe for YEARS. Thank you. My husbands family thinks I’m crazy but this one is up there with Tomato Gravy. Goodness makes me hungry just thinking about them. LOL

  17. Maryb Erwin

    This post brings to mind an old story about how I used to ask for ‘white gravy on white bread’. Seems my grandma, Nanny, used to serve me slices of angle food cake with cool whip on top! Sure wish that she had made some of the chocolate gravy mentioned in your article…
    When Nanny passed away, the family favorite recipe passed with her. We still long for her hot dinner rolls. They were tender pillows of yeasty goodness. Any good suggestions for these? I have searched high and low for something comparable and haven’t even really come close. She also made the best crabapple jelly you ever put on a biscuit!

  18. Deanie

    I love chocolate gravy and we used to beg momma to make it for us! Those were the good times! As kids we put chocolate gravy over our fried potatoes ( sounds icky now but we thought it was so good back then!) Thanks for sharing all of homemade goodie ideas and how to wrap them. I really appreciate that, since I didn’t get the gift wrapping gene that most ladies have! :)

  19. Warddean

    Christy, You don’t know how right you are about Happy Family’s. My husband is 65 yrs. old and I am 62 yrs. old. He has Asbetosis from working on concrete trucks for 30 years (breaks mainly), COPD, Congestive Heart Failure, Diabetis,along with other health problems. As for me, I have Diabetis, Congestive Heart Failure,COPD, enphysemia, I can’t stand over two minutes, I can’t walk to my bathroom and back and breathe.
    We can’t either one of us cook anymore, I have to be in an electric chair, I have fallen 4 times in the past 3 or 4 months. Blacked my eye twice, cut my left arm from my shoulder to my elbow and bleed on everything. David couldn’t get me up by himself and called the lady that helps us so very much to come down (at 2:30am) and help him to dress my arm. The sad part; we have 4 healthy, grown children, 2 of each, all grown and married, 3 live in our state, in driving distance for something for Christmas. We raised our oldest grand daughter from the time she was 3 days old. In June of this year, she decided she wanted to live with her mother and was tired of helping us. We asked each family for a family picture of each. I can tell you right now we won’t get it. There was not one called and told us Happy Thanksgiving. The grand daughter did call.
    We always looked forward to when we had grand kids and every one would all pile in here and have a wonderful time together. It will never happen. Christy I know this is not what your comments section, when I read the saying, I just had to write and let everyone know, it doesn’t matter how many pile in, 1 or 10, enjoy it. Thanks for letting me say this and I hope everyone that reads this has the most wonderful time of their lives.
    MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR !!
    Warddean

  20. Sheila M.

    This is a great idea and will help me check off a few more people from my gift list!

  21. [...] headline » Gift Giving Mixes : Chocolate Gravy Fri, 12/12/08 – 2:19 AM | 70 Comments [...]

  22. Lori

    Will u publish a recipe for red-eye gravy? My husband loves it but I don’t know how to make it. Thank u for all the recipes and wonderful ideas, they’re great.

Leave a Reply

Image Map

Photo Gallery

© Copyright 2008-2010 - Christy Jordan - Southern Plate - All Rights Reserved

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. CONTENT THEFT, EITHER PRINT OR ELECTRONIC, IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE.