Gingerbread may be the best known Christmas “bread” in the U.S. Hopefully you’ll enjoy a few bites before the season ends (and send someone an adorable Gingerista gingerbread family that mirrors his or her household).

But don’t let the holidays pass you by without trying pandoro, panettone, panforte and/or stollen.

All are delicious with spiced tea like Constant Comment, which is also available in decaf and green tea versions. You can substitute an unflavored black tea.

If you want to put some spirit into your snack, dessert or tea time, serve the Christmas bread with mulled wine (warm spiced wine) or with a sweet dessert wine, such as Spumante or Moscato.

Gather the goods and invite friends to a special Christmas tea party.

Stollen, the traditional German christmas
cake or “bread.” Photo courtesy The London
Hotel, New York City.

 
If you’re in New York City for the holidays, you can stop by The London Bar by Gordon Ramsay at The London Hotel, 151 West 54th Street, not far from Carnegie Hall, Tiffany’s, the Time Warner Center/Columbus Circle and Times Square. Through the holidays, you can enjoy a slice of fresh-made stollen with spiced wine and a side of rum. It’s served daily from 3 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. If you prefer tea, they’ll gladly oblige.

Holiday season is high-calorie season. But you can help your calorie-stressed guests.

In addition to serving crudités as an option to the seductive Brie Torte, provide fresh fruit for guests who are watching calories or carbs, don’t eat refined sugar or are doing their best to avoid plunging into your brownies and butter cookies.

Fresh fruit pickings are slim in December, but a big bowl of strawberries is seasonal in color, festive in appearance and usually abundant, thanks to California’s strawberry growers. (It’s warm enough in the southern part of the state to harvest strawberries in December.)

Packed with antioxidants that are heart-healthy, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory. Strawberries are just about perfect as a fruit. Just compare:

A bowl or basket of strawberries is a healthy
and low calorie holiday option. Photo courtesy WellPict.com.

The numbers to note are carbs and sugar: Strawberries have half as much sugar than most other fruit, including canteloupe.

Serve strawberries with a low-calorie, fat-free cinnamon-yogurt dip. Sweeten with a non-caloric sweetener or low calorie, low-glycemic agave nectar.

Nutrition information from CalorieCount.About.com.

 
A nice presentation is to place the strawberries in a napkin-lined basket with a bowl of dip in the center. If the caps on the berries are bright green and perky, leave them on—they add to the beauty. Just provide a small bowl for the discarded stems.

Kettle corn: a bit salty, a bit sweet. Photo
by River Soma | THE NIBBLE.

Some people like their popcorn extra-crunchy. Others like a softer chew.

If you’re in the latter camp and like sweet popcorn, Angie’s Kettle Corn may be the treat you’re looking for. Made in Minnesota, it’s the official kettle corn of the Minnesota Lynx, Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Twin and the Minnesota Vikings.

Popped in small batches in real kettles, Angie’s has classic kettle corn flavor—a bit of salt, a bit of sugar.

Popcorn contains no cholesterol or trans-fats: just popcorn, corn oil, cane sugar and sea salt. It’s gluten free (Angie’s is produced in an allergen-free environment and is all-natural—no preservatives). And it’s kosher-certified by Blue Ribbon Kosher (BRK) of Minneapolis.

Angie’s also makes Lite Kettle Corn (50% reduced fat but full flavor) and Caramel Kettle Corn for those who want to sweeten their day a bit more.

Everyone can enjoy tasty, gluten-free
pasta dishes. Photo courtesy Caesar’s.

People with gluten intolerance can’t have regular (wheat) pasta. They need to find alternatives made from rice, potatoes and other starches.

What about people who want an Italian dinner?

Caesar’s Gluten Free & Wheat Free product line offers favorite pasta dishes in single serving entrées that taste just like wheat pasta. And they microwave in seven minutes.

We tried the manicotti, stuffed shells and vegetable lasagna.

All three entrées tasted pretty much the same—noodles, ricotta and marinara sauce; we’d be glad to eat any of them. The one thing we could wish for is more seasoning, but we added our own, alternating basil, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, oregano, and were happy.

The products are available at grocery stores nationwide and at Amazon.com.

Perky, triangle-shaped chips are a hit. Photo
by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

Is it a new way to enjoy popcorn or a new way to enjoy chips?

Either way, PopCorners, “the new shape of popcorn,” is sure to please, in Butter Sea Salt and White Cheddar flavors.

Air popped, the chips have the crunch of a chip with the flavor of popcorn. They’re packed in 1.1-ounce, single-portion bags.

The all-natural chips are gluten-free and certified kosher by OU.

We’re happy to crunch on a bagful anytime.

What if you’re a person with a love of brownies and a gluten allergy?

A whopping 30% to 40% of Americans are sensitive to gluten. One in 133 of us have the most serious form of gluten intolerance, celiac disease.

Deb’s Farmhouse Kitchen knows the joy a good brownie provides. Her gluten-free chocolate walnut brownie is so well crafted, you wouldn’t guess it’s gluten-free.

For those with a sweet tooth to satisfy, Deb’s also makes a snack-like cherry almond granola and oatmeal granola.

Make someone with a gluten-sensitivity happy; send a box of brownies today.

Rich, chocolaty and gluten-free. Photo
by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

Dessert yogurt with zero fat? Sure, we’ll try that!

Oikos, one of our favorite brands of yogurt (made by Stonyfield), has another winner. Its Pure Pleasure yogurts in Caramel and Chocolate will change your perception of yogurt.

Both are absolutely delicious, 0% fat, certified organic, gluten free, and even OU kosher! The chocolate and caramel flavors ring true. It one could ask for anything more, it would be that others browsing the refrigerator would stop eating it and leave more for us.

The four-ounce cups provide just enough satisfaction for a quick snack or for dessert. Each cup has 10g protein, 17g total carbs, 110 calories and live and active cultures.

Unlike most Greek yogurt, the consistency isn’t super-thick. This enables the caramel and chocolate yogurts to be used as a dessert sauce—on pound cake or angel food cake, for example. It’s also a great dipper for fruit.

You can print out a 50¢ coupon at Stonyfield.com (registration required).

Caramel yogurt and chocolate yogurt are
delicious dessert and snack options. Photo
by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

Ten percent of Stonyfield’s profits go to environmental causes. Feel good yet? You’ll feel even better with your first taste of Pure Pleasure yogurt.

Cheese lovers: this Gourmet Giveaway prize is for you, even if you’re not counting carbs or steering clear of gluten.

Van Harden offers frozen pizzas in three varieties with no bread crust whatsoever. The crust is made from cheese that’s thin and soft with a delightfully slightly burnt-cheesy taste. Choose any five pies from among:

Although the great benefit of Van Harden’s Pizza is a crust made of cheese instead of wheat, just about anyone will enjoy these gluten-free treats. Read our review.

Van Harden’s pizza comes in three varieties:
pepperoni, sausage and cheese. Photo by Erika Meller | THE NIBBLE.

America’s famous sandwich cookie is re-
formulated in a gluten-free version. Photo
by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

The news coverage of Chelsea Clinton’s gluten-free wedding cake is a reminder that gluten-avoidance has a wide reach. The sensitivity can develop at any stage of life.

Gluten refers to certain proteins found in wheat, rye, barley, spelt, oats and some other grains. The allergy can range from mild inflammation of the small intestine that causes stomach ache, to severe celiac disease. The cause of the sensitivity is unknown; the solution is to avoid all products that contain gluten.

With the growth of gluten sensitivity in our population, as well as the choice among others to avoid gluten for general health reasons (improved digestion, weight loss and other benefits that have not yet been proven scientifically), specialty manufacturers have been busy formulating everything from pizza crusts to iconic cookies into gluten-free versions.

For example, gluten avoiders can have an Oreos experience thanks to sandwich cookies from Kinnikinnick Foods and Mi-Del.

We liked the entire Mi-Del line, which includes arrowroot cookies, ginger snaps and other choices. The varieties of Kinnikinnick’s children’s cookies (animal crackers, graham-style crackers) that we tried didn’t have the same palate-pleasing qualities as the sandwich cookies.

Find more of our favorite gluten-free gourmet foods.

Gluten-free flour for baking uses a mixture of other ingredients to approximate the quality of wheat flour. Corn flour, potato flour, potato starch, corn starch, rice flour, tapioca starch and soya flour are gluten-free options that can be mixed in different blends for different types of baked goods.

Porta Mangiare meatball mixes are intended to recapture the flavors of Calabrese cooking as it was a century ago. They also make it easy to turn out tasty meatballs.

There are currently four varieties of meatball mix: Spicy Calabrese, Traditional Calabrese, Turkey Calabrese and Gluten-Free Traditional Calabrese, which uses potato flakes instead of breadcrumbs.

The directions call for baking, but you can also pan-fry the meatballs, which is how we prepared them (who wants to turn the oven on in this heat?).

The results were crisp and light. The boxes are not inexpensive ($5.99, $6.99 for gluten-free), given that you have to add a pound of ground meat, six ounces of grated cheese and two eggs to get 15 medium-size meatballs. But even if you won’t spring for it every day, the attractive canister packages make welcome gifts and stocking stuffers. Read the full review.

The Traditional meatball mix resulted in crisp
and light meatballs. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.