Stocking Stuffers: Spice Rub for Any Meat

I found this spiced meat rub recipe at Allrecipes.com as part of a pork spare ribs recipe. We made the ribs and I still had some extra rub left over and we tried it on some steak and loved it. That's when I thought this would be a great gift. It's good on pork, steak or even chicken. It's a little spicy and a little sweet and unlike any other I've had. Everyone who received some said they used it all and loved it! So today I'm sharing the recipe so you can make a big batch and give some to everyone on the nice list.

I found baby food jars, which are plentiful here, were the perfect size for this. Especially the medium to large ones. Remove the label, and wash inside and out, removing all the sticky goo. Then spray paint the lids, however you would like. I chose silver and then got some stickers that were on clear plastic . It looked really nice and clean on the lids. If you don't have baby food jars, any small container will work. One-third to one-half a cup is plenty, so try to keep the containers really small. 

Ok now for the recipe:

Spice Rub (adapted from the linked recipe above)

• • 2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup chili powder
  • 1/4 cup paprika
  • 1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Do lots of mixing as you don't want pockets of any particular spice. Once you feel you have an even mixture, divide the rub between jars. This recipe should make about eight medium baby food jars, or six of the larger ones. I just saved what was left over for my own spice cupboard.  : )

Attach tags with recipe instructions:

Rub dry seasoning generously on raw meat to coat and refrigerate for four hours or overnight, then grill or bake. Especially good on pork or steak.

There you have it. A tasty treat for anyone. I really like that this doesn't come out too girly looking. It's hard to come up with manly stocking stuffers, but I think meat is pretty manly so steak rub should definitely qualify.

Stick around for more handmade stocking stuffers this week!