Forget the saltines, the Triscuits, the wheat thins and the Ritz.

Go artisan with Effie’s new semolina crackers.

An artisan cracker, handmade in small batches with superior ingredients, is a little thing that makes a big difference. Whether for snacking, garnishing or turning into canapés, people who know good food appreciate the nuances of flavor.

Of the three flavors—Roasted Garlic & Coriander, Sea Salt & Lavender and Sunflower Seed & Sesame Seed, we favor the Lavender—but we favor anything with lavender. All three flavors are equally delicious with cheese, dips, salads and soups.

Read the full review, which also answers the question: What is semolina?

SEE ALL OF OUR FAVORITE GOURMET CRACKERS IN OUR BREADS & CRACKERS SECTION.

Effie’s Lavender & Sea Salt semolina crackers. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Cinnamon Raisin PB, a real treat. Photo by
Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Peanut butter is a nutritious food: It was invented by a physician to provide protein for people who could not chew meat (see the history of peanut butter).

While delicious flavored peanut butter has been produced by artisan manufacturers for more than a decade, Planters is the first national producer to take on mix-ins.

Three NUT-rition flavors have inclusions that create a delightful texture as well as added flavor—we’d classify them as “gourmet” PB:

The flavored peanut butters are available at grocers nationwide. Read the full review.
 
FIND MORE OF OUR PEANUT BUTTER BRANDS & RECIPES.

We first discovered Vino de Milo in 2005. It was a new line of gourmet tomato sauces for pasta and other dishes. Each flavor had a different wine in the recipe. It was a delight atop our pasta, chicken, eggs and tofu, and wonderful for gift-giving to cooks and non-cooks alike.

But not every new product line survives and thrives. Some of our favorites have gone with the wind.

That’s why we’re so pleased that Vino de Milo has grown and expanded, with bruschetta toppings, salad dressings and salsas.

Today, we re-endorse the wonderful pasta sauces and the bruschetta toppings, both made from top-quality tomatoes that are so naturally sweet, no sugar is added. (Americans consume a ghastly 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, much of it from “hidden” sugar added to prepared foods.)

Read the full review.

You can purchase the products online from iGourmet.com:

With bread in the freezer and bruschetta on the shelf, you always have an impressive appetizer or snack. Photo by Vitalina Rybakova | IST.

To find a retailer near you, just email your zip code to sales@vinodemilo.com or phone 866.589.6456.

This delicious cheesecake is part goat
cheese, part cream cheese. Photo by Elvira
Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

When you review food for a living, you never have to worry about scrambling for gift ideas: The products present themselves all year long.

So we’re coasting into the holiday season, giving luscious goat cheese cheesecakes to our favorite cheesecake lovers.

Cheesecake is one of those foods that either excites people or doesn’t interest them in the least. We’re part of the excited group, and are especially excited to have discovered Belle Chevre Goat Cheese Cheesecake.

A mixture of goat cheese and cream cheese, there’s nothing “goaty” about it: just smooth, creamy cheesecake splendor.

A six-inch diameter cake is $29.95.

Cheesecake trivia: Cheesecake isn’t cake: It’s a cheese-flavored custard-like pie.

Read the full review.

Find more of our favorite cheesecakes and cheesecake recipes in our Gourmet Cakes Section.

We taste a lot of jams that are perfectly nice. But on rare occasions, we come across a knockout. That’s how we feel about Emily G’s Jam Of Love, a lovely line of artisan jam.

Superb fruit flavor, exquisite texture, creative recipes: These are jams (and marmalades) to treasure. They’re a treat for the table, and a simply delectable gift (at $8.00 per jar).

Far beyond a bread spread, these joyous jams can be enjoyed during every meal of the day, plus snacks. You’ll see the 20 different ways we use them in the full review.

In fact, just thinking about Emily G’s jams make us want to have a snack right now. So we’ll cut this piece short and send you to the longer review.

And if you don’t know the difference between chutney, jam, jelly, marmalade and preserves, we’ve got that covered in our Jam Glossary.

Delicious peach marmalade can be used on toast…or with 20 other foods. Photo by Al 62 | iStock.

One of eight delicious flavors of Krave
gourmet jerky. Photo courtesy Krave.

Jerky was created in prehistoric times, as people endeavored to preserve their fresh-killed meat without benefit of coolers. They dried the meat in the sun.

Today’s jerky makers use ovens; and if you’re Krave Jerky, you double-marinate the meat and slow bake it into melt-in-your-mouth tenderness.

Then there’s the flavor, or rather, eight of them, divided among beef, pork and turkey jerky: Basil Citrus, Chili Lime, Curry, Garlic Chili, Honey Chipotle, Lemon Garlic, Pineapple Orange and Smoked Teriyaki.

In other brands these flavors might not be so appealing; in Krave Jerky, they’re masterful. They’re the very definition of gourmet jerky.

Check out the full review and try a sampler. You’ll likely return for stocking stuffers and other holiday gifts.

Discover how wonderful fine jerky is with a beer, glass of wine, Bloody Mary or Martini. And take a look at recipes on the company website that use jerky as an ingredient: from blue cheese dip and bruschetta to chicken and artichokes.

If you’re inspired, watch this video to see how easy it is to make jerky at home. Although without the secret recipe, we can’t vouch for it tasting as good as Krave Jerky.

Find more of our favorite jerky products and other savory snacks.

A beekeeper in the Catskills harvests honey twice a year. She bottles most of it for sale, and blends some of it into achingly good honey truffles.

Made with the finest 70% Belgian chocolate and sweetened only with Catskill Provisions’ wildflower honey, these truffles are gems for indulgent chocolate enjoyment, or a special trick-or-treat gift for Halloween. (Keep them on the list for holiday gifts, too.)

Any chocophile will appreciate some. The beautiful gift boxes are embossed with a honeycomb pattern. One might say that they’re the bee’s knees.*

Send for a box or two and let them melt in your mouth.

Read the full review.
 
*“The bee’s knees” is a Jazz Age idiom meaning something or someone considered extremely special. According to Mark Israel of the University of Ottowa, 1920s U.S. slang had a slew of similar phrases with the same meaning, including, but not limited to, “the cat’s pajamas” and the less familiar “the eel’s ankle,” “the clam’s garter,” “the kipper’s knickers” and “the sardine’s whiskers.” How about “THE NIBBLE’s quibble?”

You can purchase 4, 9 or 18 truffles. Go for 18! Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT TRUFFLES?

 
Find more of our favorite chocolates in our Chocolate Section.

We just reviewed delicious honey-sweetened truffles (honey-sweetened chocolate) from Catskill Provisions as a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

If you’d like to make your own honey truffles, Chef Alex Guaranaschelli shows you how easy it is in this video.

You may enjoy truffle making so much that you’ll have solved your year-round gift giving challenge.

The History Of Chocolate Truffles.

The Truffle Confusion: Why Other Types Of Chocolates Are Also Called Truffles.

Truffles Versus Pralines

America loves mac and cheese. But too much of America is content to eat reconstituted powdered cheese sauce poured over boiled elbow macaroni.

That’s the equivalent of a glass of Tang instead of fresh-squeezed orange juice.

If your palate demands a gourmet version of mac and cheese, Cucina Fresca is ready to fill your freezer with four different varieties:

Not exactly orange: what real mac and cheese looks like. Photo courtesy Cucina Fresca.

You can bake the frozen entrées for 30 minutes or microwave them for 10 minutes. At the end, you’ve got great comfort food.

Read the full review, and start stocking the freezer.

It includes suggested toppings and mix-ins to make your mac and cheese even more gourmet.

 
MORE MAC & CHEESE

Bites of heaven: painted chocolate shells
filled with pumpkin-spiced chocolate
ganache. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE
NIBBLE.

Halloween candy means different things to different people. To us, it means tasting the wares of our favorite artisan chocolatiers, to see what magical seasonal accents they’ve created.

If you’re looking for the finest chocolates for Halloween, you can’t do better than John & Kira’s, a former NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week as well as this week’s pick.

The chocolatier’s signature silky ganaches in 62% cacao Valrhona shells are just right for a gourmet chocolate Halloween.

It’s difficult to choose among Apple Spice, Chocolate Orange and Chocolate Pumpkin bonbons; so if the budget allows, get them all!

Check out the full review, along with this week’s recipe and cooking video.