We love getting gifts from Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties. The brownies and blondies are tops, the flavor choices wonderful, and they’re packaged beautifully for gifting.

Here’s our original review.

For harvest season, there’s the Harvest Blondie: a kind of pumpkin brownie with a pumpkin purée swirl, pumpkin pie spices, roasted walnuts and white chocolate chips in a classic blondie batter. (While it may look like a torte, the photo shows the blondie on a miniature pedestal.)

They’re one of our seasonal picks as treats for the family, as party favors or as Thanksgiving place settings.

Six Harvest Blondies individually encased in round acrylic boxes are $29.75. Lovely gift packaging options—including monogrammed silk bags—are available. Head to Sugardaddys.com.

The blondie was not named for Dagwood Bumstead’s wife. It started life known as a butterscotch blondie.

The batter—flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and vanilla—is yellow (blonde), as opposed to chocolate brownie batter. Early recipes contained butterscotch chips.

Today’s blondies typically combine butterscotch chips and chocolate chips, and often, nuts.

According to Food Timeline, blonde brownies predate chocolate brownies by about 10 years. Around 1896, a molasses-flavored bar cookie (no chocolate, cocoa or chocolate chips) called a brownie appeared. The name honored the elfin characters featured in popular books, stories, cartoons and verses, very popular at the time, by Palmer Cox. The Eastman Kodak Brownie camera was also named after these elves.

After the later introduction and popularity of chocolate brownies, became known as a butterscotch brownie (history of the brownie). The name “Blondie” surfaces in the 1980s.

Want to bake your own? Here’s a recipe from Dorie Greenspan.

If you need extra claws or legs, you can purchase them from your fishmonger. The legs, removed to sell cooked lobster tails, are inexpensive. This easy recipe is a treat for family and guests.

Bisque, chowder…what’s the difference?

 
 
CRAB OR LOBSTER BISQUE RECIPE

You can use fresh cooked, canned or thawed frozen seafood in this recipe.

Ingredients

 
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*The tomato is largely to provide a nice color; so if you don’t have tomato paste, you can omit it.
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Preparation

1. REMOVE half and half from the refrigerator so it will lose its chill prior to use.

2. COOK butter, onion and parsley slowly in a pan until the onion turns yellow. Add the seafood; cook and stir five minutes.

3. STIR in the flour and tomato paste, followed by the chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes; then remove the parsley.

4. ADD the half and half; stir. Season with salt, cayenne and sherry/cognac to taste.

5. HEAT but do not boil prior to serving; garnish and serve.
 
TIP #2: For a smaller soup course, serve the bisque in demitasse or espresso cups.
 
 
LOVE SOUP?

Check out the different types of soup—and beautiful soup photos—in our Soup Glossary, along with the history of soup.

Here are different soup garnishes for 20 favorite soups.

Soup cooking tips: 10 tips and tricks for better soup-making.

[1] The best garnish for a bisque is a solid piece of the seafood it is made from (photo © Mackenzie Ltd).

[2] Lobster bisque garnished with pieces—more readily available than a claw for every bowl (photo © Turner Seafood | Foody Direct).

[3] Waiter, there’s a crab in my soup! Photo © Genji Sushi.

[4] Rich soups like bisque are often served in small portions as a first course. The classic presentation is in a demitasse cup (photo © Hancock Gourmet Lobster).

Look for Darnley’s View Spiced Gin, Edinburg Gin’s Spiced Orange Gin and Opihr, a London Dry Gin with oriental spices.

Brew a cup of spiced tea and add a tablespoon of gin; relax and enjoy. Then, gather friends for a sophisticated cup of tea.

No spiced gin? Check out friends’ travel plans: We had bottles brought back to us by a colleague who regularly visits England because we couldn’t can’t find them locally.

Alternatively, you can infuse Old Plymouth Gin or a brand that doesn’t scream “botanicals!” to you. Add allspice, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel. Follow the directions for how to infuse vodka.

If you’re a real do-it-yourselfer, you can make gin from scratch with this homemade gin kit.

And then there’s the easy default: Use whatever gin you have on hand.

A nice twist: gin with similar spices as you’ll find in Constant Comment and other spiced teas.

Unlike Tanqueray’s well-known London Dry Gin—the juniper-infused style that most people think of as gin—Malacca is more like Old Tom Gin, a style that faded away in the 20th century but is enjoying a small renaissance (see below). Malacca is flavored with citrus and a hint of spice—though not as much spice as the spiced gins above.

Tanqueray Malacca Gin was introduced in 1997 as a “wetter” (sweeter) alternative to the London Dry Gin. It was launched as a better gin for sweet gin drinks like the Gimlet and the Tom Collins. It didn’t take off as the company had expected, and was discontinued.

But it was before its time. Over the last decade, the demand for the older style of gin has grown, as evidenced by the launch of several Old Tom-style gins, reviving a style popular in 18th-century England.

Treat yourself to a bottle of Malacca, a
sweeter, more citrusy style of gin for
sweeter drinks (or neat). Photo courtesy
Tanqueray.

Old Tom gin is popping up again in England, with brands such as Hayman’s and Ransom. (If you can’t find them in the U.S., ask a favor of a friend who travels to the U.K.)

More citrusy and not as focused on juniper and other botanicals, Old Tom gin is a style that was popular in 18th-century England but faded away in the 20th century. It is currently undergoing a small renaissance.

Old Tom is slightly sweeter than London Dry gin, but slightly drier than Dutch jenever, the original gin.

The name is said to come from wooden plaques shaped like a black cat (an “Old Tom”) that were mounted on the outside wall of some pubs in 18th century England for passing pedestrians. After they deposited a penny in the cat’s mouth, they would place their lips around a small tube between the cat’s paws. On the other side of the wall, the bartender would pour a shot of gin into the tube. (Yes, it sounds very unsanitary to us moderns.)

See the different types of gin.

How cool is this witch popcorn ball? The recipe comes from the National Popcorn Board, which has a cornucopia of popcorn recipes.

So, don’t be afraid of the wicked witch: polish her off for dessert.

RECIPE: HALLOWEEN WITCH POPCORN BALLS

Ingredients For 8 Four-Inch Popcorn Balls

1. SPREAD a sheet of wax (or parchment) paper over a work surface and place the wafer cookies on it.

2. SPRAY a large mixing bowl with cooking spray and place popcorn inside.

3. MELT butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Stir in marshmallows and gelatin dessert powder until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth. If desired, adjust color with a drop or 2 of food color. Pour over popcorn and mix well until coated.

4. SPRAY hands with cooking spray and press firmly to form into 8 balls. Place balls on 8 of the wafer cookies. Press candy decorations into popcorn balls to form eyes, nose and mouth.

5. PLACE chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl. Cover and heat for 10 seconds. Stir chocolate to aid melting. Repeat as needed until chocolate is melted and smooth. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon melted chocolate onto the top of each popcorn ball. Press a few licorice strings into chocolate to form “hair.”

6. DIP cone edges into melted chocolate and then into orange sugar sprinkles. Place on remaining wafer cookies to form witches hat. Place hats onto popcorn balls. Allow chocolate to set for about 45 minutes before serving. Serve or seal individually in plastic wrap for storage.

Drink your milk or else! Photo courtesy
Lenny Mud.

Trying to track down a clever tea pot, we followed a trail from website to website and ended up at the Etsy store of Lenny Mud, based in Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Lenny is the studio cat; the ceramist is Lorrie Veasey, who creates handmade ceramic cups, mugs, teapots, bowls, vases, ornaments and other pottery items.

The Frankenstein mug in the photo has a built in holder for the cookies. The price for this work of art? Just $18.

The ceramics are made from earthenware clay and kiln fired twice to over 1900 degrees. The glazes are lead free and the pottery is dishwasher- and microwave-safe.
What will Lorrie think of next? Head over to Etsy.com to see her other nifty creations.