For Memorial Day festivities, we cut our beer purchases in half and substituted hard cider—specifically, the Crisp Apple variety of Angry Orchard Cider.

Think of an elegant apple cider, made from a very complex blend of both culinary (eating) apples and bittersweet “angry” apples. Then, add a lengthy fermentation process, including oak aging for complexity and balance.

Angry Orchard is made by a brewer that knows how to satisfy: Boston Beer Company, makers of Samuel Adams beer. (Read the full review.)

Th cider was a hit.

So for summer entertaining, consider a hard cider tasting. Following our Memorial Day success, we’re gathering up different hard cider brands and for a multibrand tasting.

Magners (made in Ireland) and Woodchuck (from Vermont) are brands found most often in our local supemarkets, but check in wine stores for artisan brands (if your state’s wine stores don’t sell cider, they may be able to send you somewhere that does).

Angry Orchard’s Crisp Apple Cider is our new favorite refreshment. Image courtesy Angry Orchard.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HARD CIDER (FOR STARTERS)

“Apple cider” is a redundant term: By definition, the term cider indicates a beverage made from apples. Cider made from pears is called perry.

Hard cider has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage. Fresh apple cider is raw apple juice that has not undergone a filtration process. Apple juice has been filtered to remove solids and pasteurized so that it will stay fresh longer.

What Dad really wants for Father’s Day.
Photo by Margo Ouillat Photography | IST.

Every year we try to find something special for the connoisseurs on our Father’s Day gift list. In recent years we’ve sent truffled cashews, great chocolates and rare cheeses. But this year we’re going back to basics:

For the slam dunk, we’re sending Certified Angus Beef.

Not all Angus is certified by the Certified Angus Beef Program, which requires 100% Angus bloodlines. Other beef called Angus need be only 51% Angus—which of course affects the quality.

Certified Steak and Seafood sells Angus beef that is triple-certified:

Check out the full review and send Dad a Father’s Day gift that’s sure to please.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR CUTS OF BEEF?

It can be confusing, especially when boneless club steak, boneless loin, boneless strip steak, Delmonico steak, Kansas City strip steak, New York steak, New York strip steak, strip loin, strip steak, shell steak, sirloin strip and top loin are all the same cut!

Brush up on your beef cuts in our Beef Glossary.

It’s delicious. It’s healthful. It’s a probiotic yogurt drink that can be enjoyed by lactose intolerant people.

It’s the original smoothie, when mixed with ripe fruit. And it’s our Top Pick Of The Week.

Lassi is a four thousand year-old drink. Dahlicious produces its lassi in Vermont, with Indian-style yogurt made from the milk of meadow-grazing, rBST-free cows living on family farms.

What a refreshing and nutritious treat! We’ve been enjoying all four flavors: Alphonso Mango, Ecuador Banana, Oregon Strawberry and Wild Maine Blueberry.

Read the full review: Lassi come home!

Make your own lassi. Cooking video and recipe.

How much do you know about yogurt? Check out our Yogurt Glossary.

Banana, one of four Dahlicious flavors. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Melt-in-your-mouth French macarons. Photo
by Oksana Shufrich | IST.

What’s more delicious than a box of macarons?

Great macarons are a memorable gift—and you can still get some in time for Mother’s Day.

This week’s Top Pick is Macaron Café in New York City: our current reigning favorite macaron.

Airy, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth sandwich cookies are made in dozens of flavors. Unlike many overly subtle macarons we’ve tried, these flavors are strong and delectable.

Macaron Café makes all the classic flavors, plus trendy favorites such as Caramel Fleur de Sel (salted caramel) and Nutella.

Check out the full review and treat yourself—or your favorite mom—to a box.

Macaron vs. macaroon: What’s the difference?

Find more of our favorite cookies and recipes in our Gourmet Cookies Section.

Need a Mother’s Day gift that’s sure to please?

Some of our favorite brownies are made by artisan bakery, BT Baking.

Moist and fudgy—but never cloying or “too rich”—the brownies are made in four fab flavors:

 
Read the full review, or head to BTBaking.com.

Love Brownies?

Check out the history of brownies.

Brownies, in an attractive gift box, are individually wrapped for freshness. Photo by Corey Lugg | THE NIBBLE.

Gelato is the original ice cream, invented in Florence in the 16th century. The key differences vis-à-vis ice cream are less cream/more milk and less air (overrun). This combination enables a more intense showcasing of the fruits, nuts and other flavors.

Talenti Gelato is named for Bernardo Buontalenti, the impressario who first created gelato for a Medici banquet. We think the Tahitian Vanilla is the best vanilla gelato or ice cream out there.

Five new flavors launched this month include Banana Chocolate Swirl gelato with chocolate flecks and a dulce de leche swirl, and Black Raspberry Chocolate gelato, a heartbreaking raspberry with chocolate flecks. The heartbreak comes when your store doesn’t carry it.

Peanut butter lovers can dig into Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Gelato, PB ice cream with an organic peanut butter swirl and chopped miniature chocolate peanut butter cups. It’s not gimmicky, just great.

Talenti: a great gelato experience in 19 flavors (plus 3 sorbetti). Image courtesy Talenti Gelato.

The Joy Of Gelato

Chocolate povitica: a winner. Photo courtesy
Strawberry Hill.

When we received a note telling us to expect a shipment of Strawberry Hill Povitica (poe-veet-suh), we rushed to the company website to answer the question: What is povitica?

It is, as we discovered, an eastern European yeast cake similar to Russian babka—but better. Richer. More dense and buttery. And some flavors have cream cheese, which opens the door to cake and pastry heaven.

After tasting the first three flavors, we knew that Strawberry Hill Povitica would be a Top Pick Of The Week. Then, eight more loaf cakes arrived.

In handsome, reusable boxes, these scrumptious cakes, often in beautiful patterns, are at the top of our list for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts. We’ve become big fans of Strawberry Hill—as will anyone who takes a bite of their povitica.

Read the full review, check out all 12 flavors and our top three favorites.

See all the different types of cake in our Cake Glossary.

Kurobuta ham has been called the world’s best ham. It‘s also known as the Kobe beef of ham, because of the fine intramuscular marbling that makes the meat melt-in-your-mouth tender.

While Kurobuta (koo-row-BOO-tuh) ham isn’t quite as pricey as Kobe beef, it is a special-occasion luxury.

Snake River Farms, a Kurobuta producer, has created a more affordable “Mini Karver,” a three-pound ham that serves four as a main course or more as an appetizer ($40.00).

Try one this Easter, or any time you hunger for great ham. It’s also the best Easter gift, with all due respect to chocolate bunnies and buttercream eggs.

Read the full review.

Three pounds of ham perfection. Photo courtesy Snake River Farms.

Can’t have gluten? Or, like a growing number of Americans, are you choosing to avoid it?

You can still enjoy bakery-style cookies, thanks to My Dad’s gluten-free cookie line.

A broad selection of tasty cookies awaits—cookies so well crafted that most people will never know they’re gluten-free. We couldn’t tell when we first tasted the cookies!

Read the full review, and treat yourself or a gluten-free loved one to some lovely nibbles.

Find more of our favorite gluten-free products.

How many different types of cookies are there?
See our Cookie Glossary.

Delicious and gluten-free! Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Pacific Beach Peanut Butter Spreads, made in sunny San Diego, tempt the palate with “mix-ins” in three popular flavor profiles:

 
The sweet ingredients are ground along with the peanuts, creating a whipped texture that melts in the mouth.

As a sandwich spread, cookie topping or straight from the jar, the spreads are delights.

Read the full review.

Don’t Like/Can’t Have Peanuts? Check out these alternative nut butters (almond, cashew, macadamia, pecan, walnut and more) from Artisana, another Top Pick Of The Week.

Take Our Peanut Butter Trivia Quiz.

Toffee-accented peanut butter is just one of the sweetly enhanced flavors of Pacific Beach Peanut Butter. Photo by Leah Hansen | THE NIBBLE.