Calling All Elves

The Universal Martini Kit

If you know a martini lover, give the gift of olives. These stuffed olives combine all three classic martini garnishes. And they make a good hostess gift at holiday cocktail parties.

Pick any decorative glass jar you like. Just make sure you have a cork that will fit it. If you can’t find a small jar of pickled onions, buy a larger one. You can use up the extra onions making Gibsons.

You will need:

1 (8 1/2-ounce) jar pickled onions

1 (8 1/2-ounce) jar large pitted green olives

Thinly sliced peel of 6 lemons

1 decorative glass jar

1 cork

About 2 feet (24-gauge) copper wire

* Slice onions in half or quarters as needed to fit into olives.

* Put olives into a bowl, reserving the pickling liquid. Stuff each olive with 1 onion piece, taking care not to split the olive.

* Put stuffed olives in decorative jar. Add lemon peels throughout jar and fill jar with reserved olive pickling liquid. Seal with cork.

* Wrap copper wire around a pencil or wooden spoon. Slide off and stick ends of wire into the cork. Repeat several times until desired decorative effect is achieved.

Rings Around the Napkins

Napkin rings are an easy way to decorate a table, and they make a nice gift for people who like to entertain. Plastic-coated wire, available at ordinary hardware stores in very cool colors, gives these rings a quick twist.

For a set of 8 you will need:

8 (18-inch) pieces of 18-gauge plastic-coated steel wire

1 (1-inch width) dowel or rolling pin

Tacky glue

16 beads

8 cloth napkins

Wrap wire around dowel. Slide off and pull windings apart to desired length. Glue beads on the ends of wire.

Place napkins in wire wrings and wrap as gifts.