Three of the five flavors of GH Cretors
elegant popcorn. Photo courtesy
GH Cretors.

Flash back to Super Bowl Sunday: We consumed five bags of GH Cretors popcorn, one of each flavor. The empty bags were flattened and brought to the office, where they were added to the “to be written up” box.

Alas, due to an avalanche of other flattened bags and boxes that week, we’ve just uncovered the Cretors bags, but the happy memory lingers. As does our desire to order more.

GH Cretors helped to launch popcorn as a favorite snack of the modern age. In 1885,* Charles Cretors invented the steam-powered popcorn machine (see the photo below).

Previously, popcorn was popped in kitchens, over stove flames in large copper kettles. Cretors developed a raised steam popper that popped the kernels at the top of a large glass bin and spilled the fresh popcorn into the bin, where it could be scooped into bags (the system is still used in today’s movie theaters and elsewhere).

*It was an eventful year: Among other noteworthy happenings, the modern gasoline-fueled internal combustion automobile engine was invented, the the Statue of Liberty was delivered to New York Harbor and the Washington Monument was dedicated.

From Fresh-Popped To Store-Bought

Cretors brought the aroma and visuals of popping corn right in front of the consumer, which helped to catapult popcorn into one of the best-selling snacks of all time.

The GH Cretors brand of packaged popcorn is a relatively new one, launched by the fourth and fifth generations of Cretors descendants. While the family had continued to make popcorn at home through the generations, we’re glad that they’ve put their product on the shelf.

We’re big popcorn fans. Popcorn is a whole-grain snack; for this reason, it’s a better snack option, whether you crave sweet or salty (or a combination of the two). Whole grains are important in your diet (details).

The popcorn is crisp and deftly seasoned with just the right touch of caramel or cheese. And there are added benefits with GH Cretors Popcorn:

Cretors Today

Charles Cretors’ modern popcorn machine appeared at the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893 and moved to entertainment venues, stadiums and boardwalks everywhere. Five generations of Cretors have been following in his corn-popping footsteps, taste-testing recipes around the kitchen table.

Recently, great-great-great-granddaughter Claire and her mom Phyllis launched a retail brand called GH Cretors in favorite flavors: caramel, caramel nut, cheddar, kettle corn and the charming Chicago Mix, a combination of caramel corn and cheddar corn that really works.

The company pops their corn the old fashioned way, by hand in copper kettles.

Where To Find GH Cretors Popcorn

GH Cretors is available at fine markets nationwide (here’s a store locator) and online in 12-bag packs at Amazon.com. (Too much for you? Split an order with friends.)

An early popcorn cart. With the spread of the automobile, popcorn rolled. Photo courtesy Deusterco.com.

 
Have a popping good time!

Find more of our favorite snacks in our Gourmet Snacks Section.

Just when you thought that America had all the granola bars it needed (see our review of the best granola bars), Kraft Foods has launched Kraft MilkBite milk and granola bars, a welcome addition.

One bar provides 30% daily value of calcium. If you can get the kids to drink a glass of milk along with a MilkBite, it’s a win-win.

The only challenge is portability: These are not grab-and-go bars, but grab-from-the-fridge bars. The milk content requires refrigeration, because their innovation is that they contain enough real milk and calcium equivalent to an eight-ounce glass of milk.

Despite the fact that our fridge is always space-challenged (when you review food for a living, you get used to cramming items into every square inch), we’ve made room for these tasty snacks.

The 140-calorie bars (33g) have 3g fiber, 5g protein, 5g fat and 10g sugar.

So how do they taste?

Yes, please, we’d like some more. Photo courtesy Kraft Foods.

Don’t like chocolate? There are Strawberry
Milk Bite Bars for you. Photo courtesy Kraft
Fods.

 
Three additional flavors—Mixed Berry, Oatmeal Raisin and Peanut Butter—are also available nationally, but we haven’t tried them.

Where To Find MilkBites

Look for MilkBites in the dairy aisle or refrigerated case at your market. The bars contain no high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors/colors or preservatives.

If you pack your lunch with an ice pack, MilkBite bars can be a regular snack. Otherwise, you may have to confine the enjoyment to home.

If you have a fridge at work, beware: MilkBites won’t last 10 minutes unless you store them in a repurposed sauerkraut can. Open the can from the bottom and stick it at the back of the shelf; no one will go near it.

Succulent dried peaches are just as
satisfying as processed sweet snacks (candy,
cookies and the like). Photo by Katharine
Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

We enjoy a snack of dried fruit, but our eyes opened wide when we tasted the succulent, moist fruits from Goldenvale Snacks.

Luscious fruits are grown without pesticides in sunny California. The majority of the bounty is shipped to appreciative audiences in Asia. Asian markets in California also carry the resealable packages of dried apples, apricots, blueberries, kiwi fruit, nectarines, peaches (the last two in both white and yellow), plums, persimmons, pears, plums and raisins in a handsome, tri-color medley.

The biggest challenge for those who want the best dried fruit is finding the individual grab-and-go bags elsewhere in the U.S.

A couple of varieties are sold on Amazon (a bulk-size four pounds of white peaches, for example), along with a full line of Goldenvale’s gift selections in baskets. The company will fill consumer orders directly as it works to expand its retail distribution.

Take a look at what’s available online (search for Goldenvale Snacks).

Then, ask your grocer to contact ArchFoods.com and bring in the luscious line—so good, we grew to prefer it to candy and the often-bland fresh fruits in our local markets.

Check out our full review of Goldenvale dried fruit.

Find more of our favorite fruits in our Gourmet Fruits section.

Almonds: delicious and good for you. Photo
courtesy National Almond Board.

February 16th is National Almond Day.

Almonds have long been known to have heart healthy benefits* (more about them below). Healthcare professionals recommend them for snacks, as substitutes for other foods, and even for breakfast.

Fans of The Devil Wears Prada may recall one of the model-like magazine staffers counting out seven almonds for breakfast. You can actually have 25-30 shelled whole almonds each day.

And you can enjoy almond nutrition in different forms, such as almond butter, almond meal (almond flour), almond milk and almond paste.

*From the FDA: “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.”

20 WAYS TO ENJOY MORE ALMONDS

Our 20 tips don’t include recipes, but you can find plenty of almond recipes at AlmondBoard.com.

ALMONDS AT BREAKFAST

 
ALMONDS AT LUNCH

ALMONDS AS SNACKS

Raw or roasted, plain, glazed or flavored, almonds are great snacking. The USDA has declared them heart-healthy, and the daily allotment per the FDA is 1.5 ounces, about 25 almonds depending on size.

One ounce will fill a 1/4 cup measure, and you can actually purchase an attractive tin that holds exactly that many ($1.87—or recycle a mint tin to hold almonds). The tin fits easily in your pocket for grab-and-go. Give them, filled with almonds, as a nutritious gift.

Enjoy almonds as:

Broiled fish with almond-cilantro salsa. Recipe. Photo courtesy National Almond Board.

ALMONDS AT DINNER

 
ALMONDS IN DESSERTS

 
ALMOND HEALTH BENEFITS

Almonds are an excellent source of vitamin E, magnesium and manganese and a good source of fiber, copper, phosphorous and riboflavin. When compared ounce for ounce, almonds are the tree nut highest in protein, fiber, calcium, vitamin E, riboflavin and niacin: a petite package with a powerful punch.

A one-ounce serving has 13 grams of good unsaturated fats, just 1 gram of saturated fat, and is cholesterol-free. Unsaturated fat is the “good fat” that your body needs, and that may help lower low-density lipoproteins (LDL or “bad” cholesterol). You can find the studies here.

One ounce of almonds (about 20 to 24 shelled whole almonds) provides 35% of your daily value for vitamin E, an antioxidant that may help promote healthy aging (a study reported in the Journal of the American Association [June 26, 2002] suggests a diet rich in foods containing vitamin E may help protect some people against Alzheimer’s disease).

So Happy National Almond Day. Enjoy them guilt-free.

Hopefully, your Valentine’s Day will be filled with lots of romance.

But if you need more heat, try Deano’s Jalapeño Chips.

The typical “jalapeño chip” is a potato chip or tortilla chip flavored with jalapeño extract.

Deano’s Jalapeño Chips are the real deal: actual jalapeño chiles, sliced and fried. No potatoes have been invited to this party.

The chips are delicious with a beer, as a garnish for food, as a jalapeño crust for chicken or fish and other nifty uses.

Read the full review.

Find more of our favorite chips and other snacks.

Slices of jalapeño fried into crisp deliciousness. Photo by Elvira Kalviste |
THE NIBBLE.

The easiest way to make vegetables attractive to veggie non-enthusiasts is to put them on skewers. Serve them as snacks or with lunch or dinner.

Bamboo skewers are very inexpensive: six-inch skewers are $1.00 for 50, and you can wash and reuse them. (Make sure you get skewers with pointy ends, not flat popsicle sticks.)

Then, cut whatever veggies you have into a large dice: bell peppers, brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, cucumbers, green beans, sugar snap peas and zucchini; whole or halved broccoli and cauliflower florets; cherry or grape tomatoes.

You can get creative, adding anything from grapes to olives; but the objective here is not to make appetizer or dessert skewers but to get people to eat more veggies.

The plainest food exudes glamor on a stick. Photo by Matthew Bowden | SXC.

If you want a dip, serve salsa or nonfat Greek yogurt and your favorite seasonings. Here are three recipes for starters:

 
Serve the skewers on a plate, vertical in a juice glass or other vessel, or stick the pointy ends into a halved winter squash or a melon (and use the squash or melon for the next meal).

Find more vegetable ideas and dip ideas.

Another healthy Valentine idea: Medjool dates.

Whenever we encounter the Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers at a trade show, it’s our favorite booth. The melt-in-your-mouth, better-than-sugar dates have been called mankind’s first candy—and maybe the best. The Medjool variety has been called “the fruit of kings,” and unlike other “favorites of kings”—horse racing, for example—everyone can enjoy dates, as often as they like.

Dates grow on a specific type of palm tree, Phoenix dactylifera. The date palm was one of the first cultivated trees, domesticated in Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago. Because the trees are so productive (an average date palm produces 100 pounds of fruit a year, some varieties twice that, for 60 years or longer), dates were the cheapest of staple foods. They were dried and eaten as sweets, added to meat and grain dishes and were easily portable, carried by travelers as an energy food.

The best dates we’ve had are from the growers of the Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers Association of Southern California, the members of which are family-owned date gardens (it’s gardens, not orchards).

From top: Date Pistachio Rolls, Date Coconut Rolls, medjool Dates and Date Almond Rolls. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

The date trees in Bard Valley are descendants of tree shoots brought back to the U.S. from Morocco by an agriculturalist in 1927. Descendant trees grown from those original shoots are still thriving 65 years later, each producing an annual yield of over 200 pounds of dates!

The unique microclimate in the Bard Valley (situated between San Diego and Phoenix) is perfect for date growing, with an ever-present sun, intense heat and a high water table. The result is large, moist and delightfully sweet fruit. No pesticides are used in their growing process.

Our favorites are the plain dates, worth every dollar. Date rolls with almonds, coconut or pistachios are also available—also delicious, but the plain dates are pure joy. You can buy them online, finer products than any we’ve been able to purchase in local stores.

Dates are very nutritious and their sugars, fructose and dextrose, are quickly metabolized for energy. Enjoy them:

 
Check out these delicious date recipes

So delicious! Sweet potato chips in four
flavors. Photo by Elvira Kalviste |
THE NIBBLE.

Just in time for the Super Bowl, our favorite tortilla chip maker, Food Should Taste Good, has launched a line of superb sweet potato chips.

Thick, super-crunchy and addictive, the line includes four popular chip flavors:

 
The kettle-cooked sweet potato chips are 100% natural, gluten-free and made with the finest sweet potatoes and other ingredients. One serving—15 chips (Original flavor), at 150 calories—provides 175% of your daily value of vitamin A and three grams of fiber!

A bonus: The sweet potato chips have 25% reduced fat compared to other sweet potato chips on the market, thanks to Food Should Taste Good’s innovative centrifuge equipment, which spins out unwanted fat.

Chip, chip, hooray!

We’ve loaded up on all four flavors. They’re so flavorful, no dip is needed. The Original flavor is terrific with our favorite tuna tartare recipe from chef Daniel Boulud.

The chips are available in grocery stores nationwide with a suggested retail price of $1.29 for the 1-ounce bags and $3.49 for 4.5-ounce bags.

Hummus chips and lentil chips are each
available in three flavors. Photo by Elvira
Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

How many different ways do you enjoy hummus? As a dip, of course; but also as a bread spread, on sandwiches, on a mezze plate, as a dip, as a canapé (as filled cherry tomatoes or on crostini with ham or turkey, for example), as low-cholesterol deviled eggs (replace the mashed yolk filling with hummus) and [add your own favorite use here].

And then, there are hummus chips. While hummus chips have been around for a few years, there’s a new hummus chip in town. And it’s brought its lentil-based brother.

Simply7* bakes chickpeas into all-natural, bite sized hummus chips, and does the the same with lentils. The result: two flavorful, nutritious chip alternatives for the Super Bowl and beyond.

Each variety is made in three flavors:

*The name does not stand for seven ingredients, but for the seven core standards that the chips must live up to: (1) simple ingredients containing (2) no trans fat or cholesterol, (3) no artificial flavors or colors, (4) no additives or preservatives, (5) gluten-free ingredients, (6) all-natural recipes and (7) simply delicious.

Both chickpeas and lentils have long been appreciated for their nutritional value. Chickpeas are packed with protein, fiber and other important minerals, as are lentils. Both are low in sodium and are cholesterol-free.

If your Super Bowl crowd likes things on the healthier side—or simply likes to try new and different foods—introduce them to Simply7.

Simply7 Hummus Chips and Lentil Chips are available nationally in select stores and on Amazon.com.

We also enjoyed baked lentil chips in six flavors from Mediterranean Snack Foods: Cracked Pepper, Cucumber Dill, Parmesan Garlic, Roasted Pepper, Rosemary and Sea Salt. Is this the beginning of a new chip trend?

Learn more at Simply7Snacks.com and Mediterranean Snack Foods.com.

Find more of our favorite snacks.

Focaccia (foe-KAH-cha) is a thick Italian snack bread that is served with meals, used as a base for pizza and as sandwich bread. A basic focaccia is simple, sprinkled with salt; it can be topped with fresh herbs and ingredients as elaborate as any pizza. Popular toppings include sautéed onions and mushrooms, diced tomatoes, prosciutto and cheese—or they can be anything that appeals to the maker.

“Focaccia is the canvas upon which you can paint,” says chef Johnny Gnall, “and your artistic freedom should know no bounds. Sure, everyone loves some herbs or cheese on their focaccia. But if you’re interested in really expanding your palate (pun intended), try looking beyond the everyday and reach a bit further into your fridge—and your imagination.”

Check out the suggestions below as a jumping off point, then survey your own on-hand ingredient list and get to topping! Focaccia is delicious any day of the year. If you’re a Super Bowl host, your guests will love it.

Focaccia: a canvas upon which you can paint
your favorite flavors. Shown with heirloom
grape tomatoes. Photo courtesy HotBreadOven.org.

Start with a basic focaccia recipe and try the toppings below. Enjoy a batch as you watch the Super Bowl.

FOCACCIA TOPPINGS: MIX AND MATCH

When you’re making a batch of focaccia, you don’t have to limit yourself to one type of topping. Feel free to “mix and match.”

Apples And Pears
Apples and pears, in season right now, work as focaccia toppings. Slice them very thin and lay them flat on the dough, then brush heavily with olive oil so they don’t dry out. Keep an eye on the focaccia as it bakes so that you can reapply some olive oil if the fruit gets too dry. Dust lightly with cinnamon if you’d like, but stop from heading too far in the direction of focaccia apple pie.

Beans
Take your favorite cooked beans (canned black beans always work); toss them in olive oil and a generous amount of your favorite herbs, then sprinkle them atop the focaccia. You’ve just added protein and fiber that tastes like olive oil and herbs: a home run.

Canned Tuna And Sardines
Italian tuna brands are typically terrific. But as long as you use a top-grade brand, tuna is an outstanding focaccia topping. Moreover, you can use the oil it’s packed in to brush on the focaccia. The same goes for sardines or any other canned seafood. Clams and squid may seem like pushing it, but Italians will tell you otherwise. Just make sure the seafood is properly cooked and seasoned; toss it with roasted garlic to add more flavor and add some grated lemon zest.

Citrus
No orange segments on your focaccia; instead, think of different ways to prepare citrus that would work well on soft bread with a hint of olive oil. Almost any citrus zest has a place, especially with a hearty green like kale or chard. Julienned pieces of preserved lemon rind are delicious, their intense flavor and saltiness softened with some crumbled goat cheese. For even greater wow factor, top your focaccia generously with rosemary and paper-thin slices of grilled lemon or blood orange.

Custom Sauces
Create your own sauces for focaccia. An easy one is sour cream mixed with mustard and seasoned with salt and pepper. It’s a great way to add moisture to the focaccia and it goes well with most any vegetable. Another option: Mix roasted garlic with olive oil or a bit of chicken stock to make a spreadable paste. If you’re stuck for ideas, grab an armful of jars out of the fridge and just start mixing!

Dried Fruit
Chop dried apricots and dried cherries, toss them in olive oil and sprinkle them over the focaccia, followed by a very light dusting of cinnamon. The key here is knowing that less is more; too much fruit or cinnamon will taste like a failed attempt at dessert. With just a bit of both, you still get a light olive oil flavor from the bread. It also works as breakfast focaccia.

Nori
Seaweed on pizza? Paired with the right ingredients, it works: Nori has umami, which pretty much makes anything better. Try a focaccia with anchovy filets, thin strips of nori, sesame seeds, chile flakes and sea salt. You won’t find focaccia in Tokyo; but if you did, this is probably what it would be like.

Pickled Peppers
Be they jalapeños, banana peppers, pepperoncini or other favorite, pickled peppers can bring a lot to an otherwise one-dimensional focaccia. They add brightness and acidity, both of which balance richer toppings. For a killer tag team, try focaccia with pickled peppers and shredded bacon or turkey bacon.

Pine Nuts
Not many nuts work on focaccia, but pine nuts—an Italian favorite—do. They get incredibly buttery when roasted and they also go well with fresh herbs. If you put basil, pine nuts and a little Parmesan cheese on focaccia, you basically have a deconstructed pesto. Add some grated lemon zest for a final flourish.

Seasonal Vegetables
Try butternut or your favorite squash: Peel it, cut it into a very small dice, coat generously with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle it onto the focaccia along with your favorite herbs (rosemary works great) and bake. Hearty winter greens (kale, chard, spinach and even Brussels sprouts leaves) are also ideal focaccia toppings; their edges get crispy in the oven and add a pleasant dimension of texture.

Check out the different types of bread in our Bread Glossary.