These delicious gourmet pumpkin caramels hit a home run for the holidays.

Available only through December from Scotchwood Candy Company, they are an irresistable confection and a fabulous foodie gift.

The handmade caramels have real pumpkin flavor (not just pumpkin pie spices) and are topped with crushed pecans. They melt in your mouth. Even people with braces can enjoy them.

Needless to say, the bodacious bonbons did not last long. The box was emptied in a day, but the happy memories remain.

Each caramel is individually wrapped and packaged in a handsome gift box. The caramels are well-priced: An eight once box is $7.50, one pound is $15.00.

For stocking stuffers, party favors, teacher and service provider gifts, they’re different and delightful.

What a treat: Scotchwood Candy Co.’s gourmet pumpkin caramels with a cup of hot cider. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

The pretty gift box needs no wrapping. Photo
by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Get yours at ScotchwoodToffee.com.

Find more of our favorite candies in our Gourmet Candy Section.

Feel like having some pumpkin fudge? Here’s a recipe.

For Thanksgiving, infuse the water pitcher with seasonal spices and herbs. Try one or more of the following (we use all of them):

Refreshing and thirst quenching, the spices and herbs also add a boost of antioxidants to the water. Ginger also helps to stimulate digestion, which makes it a good-to-include ingredient for Thanksgiving dinner spice water.

You may like spice water so much, that you’ll drink it year-round.

Add cinnamon sticks and other seasonal
spices to the water pitcher. Photo courtesy
Factory Direct Craft.

You can also buy bottled spice water: Ayala’s Herbal Water, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week. Seasonal flavors include Clove Cardamom Cinnamon, Cinnamon Orange Peel and Ginger Lemon Peel.

The perfect cake for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween. Photo courtesy The Sugar Mommas.

The Sugar Mommas, Kimberly and Jennifer, live in California, an entire country away from us. So if we want a piece of their Thanksgiving Pumpkin Spice Cake, we’ll have to make it ourselves. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to make a cake batter, and the pumpkin cream cheese icing is worth the extra step.

Switch out chocolate pumpkin and turkey decorations for chocolate pine cones and a reindeer, and you’ve got Christmas Pumpkin Spice Cake.

PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE RECIPE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and set aside.

2. WHISK the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and spices together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. MIX the sugars and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Use medium speed until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending on low speed until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and the pumpkin purée. Mix until combined and no lumps are present.

4. ADD half of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until fully incorporated. Add the second half of the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Use a spatula to fold in the 1/2 cup of nuts; mix until just combined.

5. POUR the batter into the prepared pans and spread it evenly. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

6. ICE the first cooled cake layer on a serving platter, rounded side down (upside down). Use a knife or angled spatula to spread icing over the top and sides, being generous on top as it will be the filling layer. (A rotating cake stand is a godsend for icing cakes: well worth the modest cost and storage space.) Place the next layer right side up on top of the first and complete the frosting of the top and sides.

7. GARNISH as minimally or lavishly as you like. Minimalist: nothing. Typical: crushed amaretti cookies or ginger snaps. Lavish: chocolate medallions (the Sugar Mommas made chocolate pine cones in a mold) with a chocolate turkey, pumpkin, Christmas tree or reindeer at the center.

PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE ICING & FILLING RECIPE

Ingredients

 
 
Preparation

We prefer organic pumpkin purée: It tastes better. Photo courtesy Farmer’s Market.

1. COMBINE the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Blend on medium speed until smooth.

2. TURN the mixer to low speed and add the confectioners’ sugar a little bit at a time, until fully incorporated. Beat until light and fluffy.

3. STIR in the vanilla. This recipe may be doubled if, like us, you indulge in eating the frosting while decorating the cake.

4. DECORATE the cake by sprinkling on top of the cake. If you enjoy the crunch, go crazy and add in 1 tablespoon of raw sugar for a pretty visual that tastes unique and delicious.

Watch this video on how to ice a cake.

FOOD 101: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ICING AND FROSTING

It’s a sugar technicality! Icing is made with confectioners’ sugar, frosting with granulated sugar. The consistencies are different, hence different words to identify them. Most people use the terms interchangeably; but now that you know, you can correct them!

What’s for breakfast during pumpkin season?

Bagels with pumpkin cream cheese spread!

We recently devoured a whole wheat bagel with pumpkin cream cheese at Dunkin Donuts, and are now hooked on this holiday spread.

It’s easy to make, with your choice of cream cheese (regular or fat free) or fresh goat cheese. Or, substitute sour cream or yogurt for the cream cheese.

The pumpkin purée “stretches” the cream cheese so you don’t need to use as much. The result: more vitamins,* more flavor, less fat, fewer calories.

We personally don’t sweeten the recipe: The pumpkin pie spices are more than flavorful, and who needs added calories and carbs?

But if you’re of the sweeter inclination, add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, maple syrup or agave, plus 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Pumpkin cream cheese on a bagel (we chose whole wheat). Photo courtesy Dunkin Donuts.

PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BEAT softened cream cheese until creamy.

2. ADD pumpkin purée and spices; beat to incorporate.

3. CHILL for at least an hour. Can be made up to a week in advance.

4. SPREAD on bagels and toast. Yum, yum!
 
*Pumpkin is a very good source of copper, dietary fiber, manganese, potassium and vitamins A, B2 (riboflavin) and C and a good source of vitamins B1 (thiamin), B3 (niacin), B6, B9 (folate) and E plus iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

Make your daily chocolate nibble fairly-
traded. Photo of Equal Exchange Minis by
Elvira Kalviste.

This year, we went Fair Trade for Halloween. That means that the chocolate we handed out was ethically produced.

While you won’t see many articles about it, cacao is an agricultural product that uses child slave labor in the fields. Just search for “chocolate slave labor” and you’ll read all about it.

Start with this article from CNN. The journalists document that “child labor, trafficking and slavery are rife in an industry that produces some of the world’s best-known brands.”

So, with a small effort to help make the world a better place, we buy Fair Trade/fairly traded products whenever we can. Especially for Halloween, we don’t want to give kids chocolate that enslaves other kids.

Equal Exchange chocolate is a producer/packager of chocolate, cocoa, coffee and tea, supporting small-scale farmers and their families in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama and Peru.

All of the products are organic as well as fairly-traded. The company motto: “Small Farmers, Big Change.”

Fair Trade ensures that farmers are paid fair value for their beans. In more than a few situations, brokers buy up crops for less than it costs to produce them, keeping small farmers in an endless loop of poverty.

Fair value affords money for adult labor (enabling the farmers’ children to go to school instead of working in the fields), a minimum standard of living and sound agricultural practices that protect both workers and the environment.

This issue impacts mass-marketed chocolate brands. In the case of the expensive gourmet chocolate, the chocolate makers are already paying top dollar to the best farmers (those fortunate to have the land in the areas that produce the best beans) to secure the limited supply of the world’s finest cacao (so you can feel good about paying $6.00 or more for that chocolate bar).

“Fair Trade” is a trademarked term authorized by TransFair USA, a nonprofit organization that audits transactions between U.S. companies offering Fair Trade Certified™ products and the international suppliers from whom they source. TransFair is one of 20 members of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). Read more on the issues of Fair Trade.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAIR TRADE & “FAIRLY TRADED”

Only products certified by TransFair USA can use the trademarked term, “Fair Trade.” Products certified by other organizations must call themselves “fairly traded.”

EQUAL EXCHANGE HOLIDAY GIFTS

If you want to buy products that are ethically sourced, Equal Exchange and other producers are more than happy to provide them.

Equal Exchange has candy bars for stocking stuffers, boxes of minis (single bites of chocolate) for those who like to nibble and tins of cocoa, along with tea, coffee and gift baskets.

Shop online at Shop.Equal.Exchange.com.

And spread the word about Fair Trade.

Equal Exchange’s fairly traded, organic candy bars. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Bright red candy apples are an iconic Halloween treat—except for people who can’t have sugar.

To the rescue is White House pastry chef Bill Yosses. Here’s his recipe for sugar-free candy apples, made with Splenda.

Perhaps they’re what Sasha and Malia will be enjoying today.

Find more of our favorite sugar-free treats.

Many people in the areas struck by Hurricane Sandy will not be enjoying Halloween today. Our thoughts go out to everyone who has lost loved ones, homes and businesses to this devastation.

Sugar free candy apples. Photo courtesy Splenda.

Make a pumpkin spice latte at home. Photo
courtesy Krups.

Want to develop latte art skills? All you need is a steady hand, some perfectly foamed milk, and of course, practice!

For Halloween and the Thanksgiving season, try this Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe, courtesy of Krups.

Here’s the simple recipe; the technique for making latte art is below.

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE RECIPE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. In a coffee mug, combine espresso coffee with flavored syrup.

2. Pour in steamed milk and frothed milk and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla powder.

MAKE LATTE ART

Now it’s time to try your hand at latte art. You’ll need a steaming pitcher—the kind that comes with espresso/cappuccino machines—or a milk frother shown in the photo, from Krups, which creates smooth, velvety milk foam at the touch of a button.

Step 1: Pour enough cold milk for one cup into the steaming pitcher. Steam milk with the wand deep in the pitcher, then directing the milk in a counterclockwise fashion until the liquid heats to 150°F. Or, simply push the button on a milk frother.

Step 2: Allow the milk to sit while you add one or two shots of freshly brewed espresso to a coffee mug. Use a conventional mug with curved sides; the art doesn’t work well with squares and other shapes.

Step 3: Swirl the milk vigorously. If you see any bubbles, tap the pitcher on the counter several times and go back to swirling the milk for 20 to 30 seconds.

Step 4: Slowly start pouring the milk into the espresso, first in a circular pattern around the edge of the cup. Slowly move toward the center as the foam rises.

A milk frother makes perfect steamed milk in seconds. Photo courtesy Krups.

To create a leaf pattern: When your cup reaches half full, the foam will start to rise. Move the pitcher backwards as you pour, while moving the mug from side to side. The motion of your hand creates a leaf pattern in the top of your latte. When you reach the end of the cup, pour a small stream of milk right through the middle of the leaf pattern. Beware of using a large amount of milk; it will scatter the design.
 
To create a heart pattern: Shake your hand as you would in making leaf. However, instead of moving backwards, keep your hand in the same general area, focusing on making a ringed circle.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Here’s a video demonstration of how it’s done.

Find more of our favorite coffee recipes and pounds of coffee information in our Gourmet Coffee Section.

Drink a Pumpkin Passion for dessert. Recipe
and photo courtesy Frangelico Hazelnut
Liqueur.

For Halloween, Thanksgiving or any time in-between, try this rum-and-vodka-based cocktail, enhanced with hazelnut liqueur and homemade pumpkin simple syrup. You can also use the syrup for pumpkin lattes, pancakes, and mixed with carbonated water for a seasonal pumpkin soda.

PUMPKIN PASSION COCKTAIL

Ingredients For One Drink

 
Preparation

1. Place all ingredients except garnish in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass rimmed with brown sugar.

2. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

PUMPKIN SIMPLE SYRUP RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.

2. Remove from heat and allow to completely cool.
 
FRANGELICO WHIPPED CREAM RECIPE

Enjoy this flavored whipped cream with chocolate, coffee, nut, pumpkin and vanilla desserts. See more flavored whipped cream recipes.

 
Preparation

1. Chill the bowl, beaters and cream thoroughly before beginning. Using an electric mixer, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium-low speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form.

2. Add Frangelico and continue to beat until stiff but still creamy. Makes about 2 cups.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES (GRADES) OF RUM

Rum is distilled in the Caribbean from sugar cane juice or molasses. The better rums are made with high-quality molasses, which contains a higher percentage of fermentable sugars and a lower percentage of chemicals.*

There are different styles of rum, based on factors such as distillation technique, blending technique, alcoholic content and country style preferences. One of the easiest differentiators to understand is aging.

Flor de Caña 7-year-aged rum is delicious for sipping or mixing. As you can imagine, the 12-year-old is even better! Photo courtesy Flor de Caña.

 
Rum production is much more complex, with many choices made by the distiller to produce a specific flavor profile. Here’s a good overview of exactly what goes in to making the different types of rum.
 
 
*The chemicals, which are used to extract sugar crystals from the sugar cane, can interfere with the actions of the yeast that fermentat the molasses into rum.

†Black rum is so-named for its color; brown rum and red rum are dark rums described by their colors.

Mexican cuisine chef Rick Bayless of Chicago’s Frontera Grill knows about pumpkin. It’s a popular ingredient in Mexico, and pumpkin seeds, called pepitas in Spanish, are used extensively in moles and other recipes.

For Halloween, Chef Bayless has given us his pumpkin seed dip, which he serves with crudités and Frontera tortilla chips. Note that this is a savory dip, nothing like the sweet pumpkin purée dip popularly served with ginger snaps (of course, we like that version, too).

This dip should be enjoyed with a good beer or a glass of wine.

SAVORY PUMPKIN SEED DIP

The recipe can be made up to two days in advance. Makes 2½ cups of dip.

Ingredients

This could just be the “perfect poison” you’re seeking for Halloween entertaining.

The ingredients are simple, except for finding that perfect candy spider:

SPIDER BITE HALLOWEEN DRINK RECIPE

Ingredients For One Drink

 
Preparation

1. SHAKE. Shake Frangelico and lime juice with ice.

Bite me! Photo and recipe courtesy Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur.

2. STRAIN. Strain into a rocks glass, fill with ice and garnish with a spooky Halloween treat.

3. GARNISH. To drip grenadine “blood” on the glass, reduce some grenadine in a sauce pan until it becomes thick and syrupy. Use a small squeeze bottle or a medicine dropper to dribble the “blood” from the rim of the glass.
 
Find more Halloween cocktail recipes.

Find more delicious Frangelico recipes at FrangelicoUSA.com.