Tasty Holiday Gifts
Still looking for the perfect something for your favorite someone? Here are a few delicious options worth considering, each of which I recently had a chance to sample.
A Gift of Sweet, Syrupy Clementines
I don’t know about you, but a gift at this time of year of something precious and sweet, all tied up with a bow in a glass jar is as wonderful as something in a familiar little blue box.
OK, almost as wonderful.
“Honey-Preserved Clementines” could not be easier, either, especially for a can-o-phobe like myself, who admittedly gets a little nervous around water-bath equipment.
But since these jars get stored in the refrigerator, you can skip that sort of, kind of scary step.
This recipe, published in the Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010 issue of Fine Cooking magazine, comes from my friends and prolific cookbook authors, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.
Hankering for Juicy Steaks? A Food Gal Giveaway
Then, you’ve come to the right place.
Wouldn’t you love to sink your teeth into a meltingly tender Wagyu sirloin from Snake River Farms? Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about — deeply marbled American beef that’s like buttah.
You can. Here’s how:
Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a free “Steak and Espresso Brava Salt” holiday package, courtesy of Snake River Farms. Valued at $100, this gourmet gift comes complete with six hand-trimmed, 4-ounce Wagyu petit sirloin steaks, a 4-ounce container of Espresso Brava salt (a mix of sea salt and espresso), and cooking directions.
Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Dec. 17. Winner will be announced Dec. 19. How’s that for a holiday present?
How to win?
Cabernet Wine — In Flour
You can find flour milled from most any grain these days.
Now, you also can find flour with red wine in it. Cabernet Sauvignon, to be exact.
Earlier this year, when I was strolling through the Tyler Florence Shop in Napa, I spied bags of Cabernet Wine Flour and Cabernet Cocoa Powder, both of which I just had to buy. After all, it’s pretty hard to resist their striking reddish-brown hues.
They’re made by Marche Noir Foods of Irvine, CA. The wine flour is made from the pomace (skins) of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes after they are crushed. The skins are dried, then milled into a powder, which apparently is high in iron, fiber and Resveratrol (a natural anti-oxidant). The Cabernet Cocoa Powder is just dark cocoa powder mixed with the Cabernet Wine Flour.
A 10-ounce bag of the Cabernet Wine Flour was $14.95 at the store; a 10-ounce bag of the Cabernet Cocoa Powder was $9.95.
I couldn’t wait to try baking with them. The Marche Noir Web site is a good place to start for recipes. I zeroed in on the one for “Cabernet Velvet Cupcakes with Ganache Glaze,” which incorporates both the wine flour and cocoa powder. The recipe also calls for red food coloring, but I left that out.
Cookies to Cha-Cha About
When my husband and I first met, he wooed me with dancing — even though both of us have two left feet and moves that win more points for sympathy than grace.
We had been friends for a short span, when he asked me to be his swing-dance partner, as he wanted to take lessons.
I had always wanted to learn, so I eagerly said, “Yes!”
We’d meet after work once a week at a local club for lessons. Each week, we’d master a new step or turn — much to our own amazement.
After more than a month, we’d not only become semi-decent on the dance floor, hand in hand, but we’d also started dating.
Flash-forward to after our engagement: With our relationship more serious now, my soon-to-be husband feels the need to tell me that when he asked me to be his dance partner way back when, it wasn’t a scam, nor any kind of scheming on his part to find an excuse to ask me out. Oh no, he merely needed a dance partner. That was it, plain and square.
Flash-forward again to shortly after our wedding: I’m sitting on an airplane, flying home from Chicago with a gabby male seatmate next to me. He tells me a funny story about how he met his wife, then asks me how I met my husband. I tell him about the dancing lessons, and how my husband had asked me to be his partner on pure innocent whim.
My seatmate recoils in laughter, then looks me square in the eyes: “Your husband told you THAT? Listen to me — there is no way any man is going to take dancing lessons without an ulterior motive. Trust me on that!”