Whether your guests want a glass of white wine, sparkling wine or other clear drink, add a bloody effect with crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) or any red fruit liqueur.

For the mocktail set, use raspberry syrup instead of cassis and add it to club soda, ginger ale or lemon-lime soda. If you can’t find raspberry or other red fruit syrup on the shelf (check the pancake syrup area), you can make it:
 
RASPBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP RECIPE*

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. CLEAN and slice berries. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, skimming off any foam.

2. REMOVE from heat and strain into a clean pot. DO NOT press down on the berries to release more liquid. Discard the berries.

3. ADD sugar to the berry liquid and return to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve. Simmer for 5 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved, continuing to skim off any foam.

4. REMOVE from heat and cool completely. Pour into a glass container, seal and refrigerate. The syrup will keep for several weeks.
 

RECIPE: VAMPIRE DELIGHT

Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. PLACE first three ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake.

2. RIM a martini glass with cassis and pour some down the side to get a pool of “blood” at the bottom of the glass. Add cocktail and serve.

 
*This recipe is for simple syrup for beverages, not for pancake syrup. You’ll need to reduce the syrup further for a thicker pancake-style syrup.
  

The filling was totally bland, seemingly lacking in seasoning of any kind. The label mentioned white wine, salt, white pepper, ground savory, dried parsley, ground thyme and black pepper, but the spices were indiscernable. As was the salt. Tthat chicken pot pie has 970 mg of sodium per 1 cup serving—more than half of anyone’s daily allotment—and it still tasted bland. Some people might have added even more salt.

But we lifted up the crust, sprinkled ground sage and thyme onto the filling and mixed them in. It was a vast improvement—not as good as if the herbs had been baked in originally, but much better than the first bite.

Here are some take-aways:

It’s the universal answer: salt is cheaper than herbs, and most people don’t know enough to complain. In fact, the more salt people eat, the more they expect and want “saltiness.”

Rule of thumb: If the salt jumps out at you and you’re not eating an intentionally salty food (pretzels or potato chips, e.g.) it’s over-salted. The salt flavor should be in the background; most foods shouldn’t taste “salty.”

Prepared foods—packaged foods and meals consumed outside the home—are the worst culprits. With convenience comes salt, one thing that few people need more of.

Excessive dietary salt consumption over an extended period is associated with hypertension and cardiovascular disease, in addition to other adverse health effects.

The American Heart Association recommends 1,500 milligrams of sodium (salt) per day*. But the average American’s salt intake is more than twice that: 3,436 mg sodium daily.

A single teaspoon of salt contains approximately 2,000 mg of sodium. Even if you don’t salt your food, if you eat restaurant food or processed food—canned, prepared and frozen meals or components—you’re often consuming more salt than a deer at a salt lick. Just look at the sodium content on the nutrition labels of condiments, mixes, soups, tomato sauce and any prepared foods or meals.

Single items sold by fast food restaurants can typically have 2,000 mg of sodium. And many other restaurant meals are also packed with hidden salt.

No matter how young and healthy you feel now, control your salt now and you won’t have to pay the piper later—in the form of hypertension (high blood pressure) and other conditions.
 
*Some people are in higher risk groups for coronary disease and should check with their healthcare providers.

[2] Sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) grow underground like potatoes, and can be cooked in the same ways (photo © Melissa’s Produce | Facebook).

[3] The smaller the Brussels sprouts, the more tender (photo © Sweetgreen).

[4] Crème fraîche is cultured cream like sour cream, but without the latter’s tanginess (photo © Vermont Creamery).

[5] Sliced almonds can be tossed into just about anything, from yogurt and scrambled eggs to salads and grain dishes (photo © Happy Belly | Amazon).

[6] Sprigs of fresh rosemary (photo © Burpee).

[7] Fresh thyme (photo © Good Eggs).

[8] Pomegranate juice, required for the jus (sauce), can also be used for cocktails before dinner (photo © Pom Wonderful).

If you can’t find sunchokes, substitute zucchini.

What are sunchokes? They’re also called sunroots, earth apples, more popularly, sunchokes. They are neither artichokes nor from Jerusalem! and See photo #2 and the explanation below.
 
 
RECIPE: OLIVE OIL POACHED SALMON WITH SPICED CIDER JUS, BABY BRUSSELS SPROUTS & SUNCHOKE PURÉE

Prep time is 45 minutes, cook time is 1 hour 15 minutes.

Ingredients For 6 Servings

Olive Oil Poached Salmon

 
For The Sunchoke Purée

 
For The Brussels Sprouts

 
For The Spiced Cider Jus

 
Garnish

 
Preparation: Spiced Cider Jus

1. COMBINE pomegranate juice, apple cider, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, and orange zest in a medium pot; reduce over medium-low heat to 1/2 cup. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer, discard the spices and zest and return reduced cider to the pot.

2. ADD the butter and heavy cream, whisking to combine; add salt to taste. Using a hand-held immersion blender, blend until light and foamy. Cover to keep warm and set aside.
 
Preparation: Sunchoke Purée

1. PREHEAT oven to 220°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the sunchokes and cook until fork tender. Drain and transfer to a baking sheet. Place in a warm oven and allow to dry. Meanwhile…

2. BRING butter and heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, over medium-low heat. Transfer the dried sunchokes and crème fraîche to the bowl of a food processor. With the machine running, add the hot butter and cream mixture; continue mixing until purée is smooth and creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
 
Preparation: Brussels Sprouts

1. COOK butter over medium heat until it begins to brown. Add brussels sprouts and almonds. Cook until heated through; season with salt and pepper.
 
Preparation: Olive Oil Poached Salmon

1. BRING bring olive oil up to 160°F in a large Dutch oven or stockpot, over low heat. Add the rosemary, thyme, and kosher salt.

2. PLACE place the fillets into the hot oil carefully. Make sure the oil completely covers the fillets; add more oil if needed. Slowly poach until the center of each salmon fillet reaches 115°F, about 12 to 15 minutes.

3. REMOVE the fillets gently and season each portion with fleur de sel. Place a portion of the sunchoke purée in the center of each plate. Making a well with the back of a spoon, spoon the brussels sprouts mixture into the well. Place a salmon fillet on top.

4. RE-FROTH the spiced cider jus and skim the foam from the top. Spoon around the plate, garnish with fresh pomegranate arils and serve.
 
 
WHAT ARE SUNCHOKES?

Sunchokes, a modern term for Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) are edible tubers that grow underground, similar to potatoes.

They taste like a cross between potatoes and artichoke hearts, with a slight  nuttiness. Although many people peel them, we like the earthy flavor of the skins.

Native to North America and related to the sunflower, when in bloom, the sunchoke resembles a miniature sunflower. It is related to the aster and usually has bright yellow flowers.

The Native Americans who cultivated them cooked it for themselves and traded it with other groups, which is why Jerusalem artichokes are now grown in different regions throughout North America.

Early European explorers tried them, liked them, and sent them back to Europe, where it soon flourished throughout most of the continent [source].

Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichokes can be cooked like potatoes: boiled, fried, grilled, mashed, microwaved, or steamed. Raw, the flavor is reminiscent of jicama, and can be added raw to salads and wherever raw jicama is used.

The origin of the name “Jerusalem artichoke” is unknown but there are two theories, the first of which sounds right to us.

 
Whatever the origin of the name, try them. Like those early European explorers, you’ll like them.

[2] Mortadella, the Italian progenitor of American bologna (photo © Heritage Foods).

[3] You can tell mortadella by the pistachios (photo © Gate 74 | Pixabay).

[4] Mortadella on a charcuterie board (photo © Maille Mustard).

National Bologna Day is October 24th.

We haven’t had a bologna sandwich since grade school, when Mom would make one up once a week or so, alternating with a BLT, ham, PB & J, or tuna sandwich.

Yet to other people, a bologna sandwich is a culinary staple. Beyond the sandwich, we had a college friend who would snack on bologna and cheese stacked between Ritz crackers, and add bologna strips to her pizza.

> Beyond Italy: The different types of bologna are below.
 
 
BOLOGNA HISTORY

Bologna (boe-LOE-nya), also Americanized (unfortunately*) to baloney, is a type of cooked pork sausage that derives from Italian mortadella.

It has been made for at least 500 years in Bologna, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.

A sausage mentioned in a document dated 1376, of the official body of meat preservers in Bologna, mentions a sausage that may be mortadella [source].

Traditionally, the pork filling was ground to a paste using a large mortar (mortaio in Italian) and pestle.

Given that “della” means “from the,” the name can reference meat ground from the mortar.

Mortadella by that name has been made in Bologna for more than 500 years.

The recipe includes ground pork studded with cubes of white fat and seasoned with anise, coriander, pepper and pistachio nuts.

According to one source, in 1661, mortadella was such a delicacy that “the papacy officially laid down the legal definition” for it, to protect its integrity as a “subtly seasoned delicacy made of lean pork speckled with lumps of lard.”

American-style bologna is believed to have come to the U.S. with German immigration, which began in the mid-19th century. Some of the strongest bologna traditions hail from regions where German immigrants settled†.

Mortadella came to the U.S. with Italian immigrants. The Great Italian Immigration, as it is called, began in the 1880s [source].

Bologna became broadly available in the early 20th century. It had a good shelf life, and a bologna sandwich could be carried to work, school, or on a trip with no need for refrigeration.

Bologna was a more affordable cold cut than ham or salami, not to mention the even pricier turkey and roast beef.

The key to its low cost was that bologna was made out of typically discarded or fatty parts of meat. (Today, artisan bologna, made from quality cuts of pork and beef, is available.)
 
 
BOLOGNA & MORTADELLA TODAY

Today, U.S. government regulations require bologna to be made without the visible pieces of lard, to distinguish it from mortadella.

U.S. standards allow bologna to be made from beef, chicken, pork, turkey, venison and others (bison, goat, etc.), or from soy protein (vegan bologna).

Nitrates, the preservatives that give cooked pork products a pink color, are used in American bologna and mortadella.

As is typical with sausages, scraps of meat are mixed with spices, then cooked and stuffed into casings (originally made from animal intestines, which are still used in all-natural sausage).

Oscar Mayer is the most popular bologna brand thanks to its 1973 jingle “My bologna has a first name….”

Here’s a very classy version of the jingle.

To make things confusing in the world of bologna, comparisons differ widely by country:

Germany & Austria

 
France & Switzerland

 
There is also a sausage called polony, popular in South Africa, that made from a mixture of beef and pork. It is highly seasoned and hot smoked, then prepared by cooking in boiling water. The name is believed to be derived from Polonia, an old name for Poland; although some think it is named after Bologna.

Bologna can be pan-fried with morning eggs, added to potato salad or combined with other loaf meats and cheese, pickles and olives for an “Italian deli” sandwich.

Here’s a recipe for a Frenchie, a battered and fried grilled cheese sandwich with cheddar and bologna. Serve with a side of pickles and olives.

________________

†German immigrants created strongholds in Appalachia, the Midwest and Pennsylvania.

[6] German bologna (photo © Stiglmeier).

If you don’t want to hollow out a dozen or more baby pumpkins to serve as vessels for this Pumpkin Patch Julep, just use a standard glass.

The ingredients make a delicious seasonal cocktail and a Halloween cocktail.

TIP: You can wash, dry and freeze the pumpkins in food storage bags to use again, including for Thanksgiving.

Or, start a collection of pumpkin mugs.

The recipe is courtesy Alibi American Whiskey.

RECIPE: PUMPKIN PATCH JULEP

Ingredients For 1 Drink

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a shaker and shake vigorously with ice.

2. STRAIN into chilled cocktail glass—or a baby pumpkin, or a pumpkin mug.

3. GARNISH with a mint leaves, a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice and a whole clove.