I can't tell you how many recipes I've come across that are described as easy -- like, the word "easy" is in the title and repeated several times throughout the directions ("So easy!"). But they include at least 24 steps (often including mysterious-to-me cooking techniques like "scald," "julienne," or "broast") and feature ingredients like truffle powder or Tuscan kale.

Call me crazy, but I think if a recipe takes more than one hour to complete and also requires that you secure a second mortgage on your home in order to purchase the ingredients, it's officially NOT easy.

I'm particularly interested in going the cheap and easy route this time of year, because the last thing I want to do in December is drive myself insane and broke trying to master some crazy gourmet concoction like candied turducken or whatever. If you're also in the anti-Martha holiday camp -- fist-bump! -- I've got a list of super simple, inexpensive, perfectly awesome holiday treats for you to try:

Giving food as a holiday gift is as old as the holidays themselves. What better way to celebrate the season than by chowing down? But you'd better hurry, because your window for holiday gifts is rapidly closing.

Luckily, I've found 10 of the most mouth-watering food gifts for the holidays that you can still get in time for Hanukkah, Christmas, or just for a lovely day of eating yourself silly.

Oh joy, it's that time of year when we exchange delectable holiday food gifts! Bring on the candy cakes, the eggnog, the stollen, the latkes, and the chocolate gelt! But hold on there, little elves. Sometimes people get a little too creative with those holiday delicacies. 

1. How about we start with this chocolate Nativity? Nothing says "Holy Family" like swirls of milk and white chocolate. Forgive me, Lord, for Thou art delicious. Such sweet, sweet, transubstantiation. What else you got there in your gift bag for me?

In my opinion, homemade holiday gifts are the best kind. Particularly if they're edible, and especially if they're chocolate. Nothing would make me happier than to get a gift-wrapped box of homemade fudge as a Christmas present. (Actually, who am I kidding? You don't have to gift-wrap it. Put the fudge in a zip-lock bag for all I care. It's fudge!!)

Anyway, another great thing about giving fudge as a gift is that it stays fresh longer than cookies or most other treats (with the exception of fruitcake, but who wants that??). If properly wrapped, fudge will keep for up to two weeks.

This fudge recipe from Martha Stewart is much easier than most because it doesn't require a candy thermometer. So even the kids can help out!

I can't wait to receive give this fudge as a gift ...

Congratulations to our winner, angiewith2!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and you know what that means. 'Tis the season to be spending loads of time in the kitchen! That's why we're teaming up with Sharp to give one lucky Stir reader a Sharp SteamWave Oven.

The 3-in-1 cooking machine will make holiday cooking a whole lot easier, allowing users to steam, grill, AND microwave. Featuring 11 different cooking power levels, there's a setting for everything from potatoes to beef. Say helloooo to holiday cheer in the form of a kitchen appliance!

To enter to win a Sharp SteamWave Oven, simply tell me:

Apparently, the must-have Mother's Day gift this year is an Edible Arrangement. Yes, I'm talking about those made-to-order baskets of fruit filled with melon slices and berries cut to look like flowers (or, more accurately, a 3-year-old's crayon drawing of "flowers"). You know, the ones everybody is supposed to love, but I don't? (By the way, I can't possibly be the only one who feels this way -- anti-Edible Arrangement sentiments are even making headlines in the world of "fake" news.) Maybe I missed my mandatory dose of Edible Arrangement Kool-Aid, but please don't get me an Edible Arrangement for Mother's Day!

Congratulations to our winners: GaBrIeLlEsMaMa and ILovemyPaulie!

It's that time of year again! Easter is just around the corner and your kiddos are looking forward to a hefty basket on April 24.

Whether you're celebrating the holiday or looking for a reason to splurge on something yummy, this Hoppy Easter Basket from Lindt will be sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Two lucky Stir readers will win one! To enter, simply tell me:

If economists are to be believed -- and really when have they ever been wrong? -- getting a gift this week that's not quite your personal style could bring out your latent shopaholism.

A pair of professors in the Journal of Marketing Research say that buying or receiving just one thing from outside your comfort zone can lead to frustration -- then motivation. You immediately start buying stuff to match the new thing, then more stuff to match that, and suddenly you're in a spending spiral, then a shame spiral. (Which is best buried with food and booze spirals.) 

"You might end up buying things to match this for God knows how long," Professor Henrik Hagvedt told Discovery News. "It could lead to a virtually never-ending process of just buying more."

Liz Colville at the Hairpin says this behavior was explained in much, much simpler terms by Laura Joffe Numeroff in her book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and its many sequels: