Eat your craft project: a dog made from hot
dogs. Photo courtesy Dietz and Watson.

Family and friends will howl with delight at this edible dog sculpture made of hot dogs or brats. We love edible craft projects!

The recipe is courtesy Dietz & Watson, purveyors of premium deli meats.

HOT DOG SCULPTURE RECIPE

Ingredients Per Dog

 
Preparation

1. SLICE off one end of the hot dog; cut the end piece in half to make the ears.

2. CUT off the other end in a chunk large enough for the head.

3. AFFIX all the appendages with toothpicks

4. OPTIONAL: Use a melon baller to hollow out a thick cucumber slice as a “dog bowl”; fill with mustard or ketchup and place in front of the dog as a dipping sauce.
 
MORE FUN WITH FOOD

Try a book like Funny Food: 365 Fun, Healthy, Silly, Creative Breakfasts, and Fun Stuff series:

 
We love the original “Play With Your Food” books by Joost Elffers and Saxton Freymann. Most are out of print, but you can find some of them on Amazon:

 
Have fun!

Before there were sorbet makers, there was granita, hand-scraped in ice cube trays as the mixture freezes (it‘s also known as shaved ice).

Granita is a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and flavoring—typically fruit or coffee. A precursor of sorbet and Italian ice, it originated in Sicily, where the texture remains coarser and more crystalline (crunchier) than in other parts of Italy.

The preferred texture varies from region to region: chunkier in the western regions and smoother in the eastern regions.

The texture is the result of how little or much the mixture is agitated while freezing.

But no matter how smooth the granita, it is never as smooth as sorbet (sorbetto in Italian). A little “crunch” on ice makes it unique, and is why some people prefer granita to sorbet.

[1] Grape granita: crunchy, grapey ice crystals (both photos © Melissa’s Produce).

This recipe for grape granita was created by chef Chris Faulkner for Melissas.com.

Ingredients

 
For a more adult flavor profile, add a tablespoon of grappa or vodka.
 
_______________

*Muscato grapes are available in red or green. Red grapes add a pinkish color to the granita; green grapes produce a paler product. Muscato, Muscat and Moscato are the same grape.

1. COMBINE the wine, sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan; bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer the syrup for 5 minutes and let it cool.

2. PURÉE the grapes with the syrup in a blender or food processor and strain the purée through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids.

3. STIR in 1 cup cold water and the lemon juice; chill the mixture, covered, until cold. Stir the mixture and transfer it to 2 metal ice cube trays without dividers, or a shallow metal bowl.

4. FREEZE, stirring with a fork every 20 to 30 minutes and crushing the large frozen clumps. Do this for 2 to 3 hours, or until the granita is firm but not frozen solid.

5. SCRAPE the granita with a fork to lighten the texture and serve it in chilled bowls.
 
 
MORE GRANITA RECIPES

 
 
CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FROZEN DESSERTS IN OUR ICE CREAM GLOSSARY.

While you can purchase peach purée (The Perfect Purée makes a great one), with peaches plentiful and affordable, it’s cost effective to make your own.

We picked up a flat of a dozen peaches from Trader Joe’s for $5.99. We had planned to snack on them, but the more they ripened, the more we had other eating priorities.

The next thing we knew, we had a dozen very ripe peaches. When life gives you peaches, make peach purée. We peeled them and tossed them in the food processor.

We snacked on the tasty peelings, full of the antioxidants vitamins A, C, E and K and chlorogenic acid. (Peaches are also a rich source of calcium, fiber, folate acid and potassium.)
 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE BELLINI COCKTAIL

While many people use Champagne to make a Bellini, the original recipe, created in 1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani, head bartender at Harry’s Bar in Venice, is made with Prosecco.

The dry, sparkling Italian wine is lighter than Champagne and doesn’t contribute Champagne’s chalk and mineral flavors to the drink. (Some people confuse the Bellini with the Mimosa, a cocktail made of Champagne and orange juice.)

[1] Celebrate summer with Bellini cocktails. See the photo below to understand why it was named the Bellini (photo © Chocolate By The Bay | San Francisco).

It is said that the original Bellini was made with white peach purée. White peaches were plentiful in the area and were often marinated in wine as a dessert.

If you can’t find white peaches, don’t worry. When mixed with the Prosecco, the flavor difference between white and yellow peaches is indistinguishable. And yellow peaches provide more of the color for which the drink was named. Feel free to use whichever are more affordable.
 

BELLINI COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients Per Cocktail

Preparation

1. POUR purée into a Champagne flute.

2. ADD a squeeze of fresh lemon.

3. TOP with chilled Prosecco. You don’t need to stir, but if you do, do it just once and very gently so that you don’t break the bubbles.

 
 
FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE COCKTAIL RECIPES.

Cheddar ice cream with grilled pineapple and balsamic reduction. Photo courtesy WMMB.

Most of these ice creams don’t pair with caramel, chocolate or berry sauces. Instead:

 
FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM
RECIPES IN OUR GOURMET ICE CREAM SECTION.

This guest post is from Jim Laughren: wine collector, former president of a Florida-based wine import and distribution company and founder of WineHead Consulting. A Certified Wine Educator, Jim has conducted hundreds of teachings, tastings and training sessions, and has visited wine regions throughout the world. He is the author of A Beer Drinker’s Guide to Knowing And Enjoying Fine Wine. He recommends three exciting white wines you’ve probably never heard of.

As a kid in New England, growing up within earshot of chilly North Atlantic waves crashing onto the rocky shoreline, “summer whites” referred to lightweight, summer uniforms donned by the swabbies at nearby Newport Naval Base. While I’m sure the sailors were glad to trade in their peacoats and winter woolens for something a bit more comfortable, many modern day sailors—of the culinary variety—have grown tired of their summer whites and would love to find some delicious new wines for onboard entertaining.

Whether grilling in the backyard, welcoming friends to the summertime table or lounging next to the pool. If you’re still reeling from the ABC syndrome (anything but Chardonnay), and have had your fill of not-too-exciting Pinot Grigios, take heart. There are some wonderful white wines out there just waiting to be discovered.

Txakoli, pronounced cha-ko-LEE, from Spain’s Basque region. Photo © Jose Ortuza.

Txakoli

The Basque country of northern Spain us one of the world’s centers of great cuisine. When a light white is needed, the locals call for Txakoli. Ppronounced cha-ko-LEE, it’s a lively, light-to-medium bodied wine with a slight effervescence.

Typically pale straw in color with dramatic, mouth-watering acidity, expect to find honey, citrus and stone fruit notes that go beautifully with light, simply prepared seafood. It’s the answer to the question of what wine is perfect with grilled octopus.

If the wine’s name isn’t enough to give you pause, consider that it’s made from the grape variety Hondarrabi Zuri (onda-RAH-bee THOR-ry, with a rolled “r” on rabi).

Edelzwicker (AY-del-ZVEE-kur) is next in our lineup of who-named-these wines. The name means “noble blend.”

Edelzwicker is a scrumptious, fuller bodied white that easily handles foods like smoked salmon, light pork and veal dishes. Higher in alcohol than Txakolis, these wines hail from Alsace, that northeast corner of France that’s been a ping-pong ball of territory batted back and forth between Germany and France since the Romans first established the region as a viticultural outpost around 50 B.C.E.

Edelzwickers are a free-form blend of any or all of the best Alsatian varieties, including Riesling, Muscat, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Auxerrois and/or Sylvaner. Despite the lack of uniformity in composition, these wines are usually a lovely yellow color with open, fruity aromas. A similar, and more easily pronounced, wine, called Gentil, hails from the same region and is nearly indistinguishable.

It may sound more Italian than Greek, but Moschofilero (moss-ko-FEE-leh-roe) hails from the highlands of the central Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. This rather marvelous white wine is vying to become my new, new favorite.

Moschofilero, a pink-skinned grape descended from the ancient Filero grape family, produces wine that is light in color and known for its effusive aromas of roses and violets, followed by some nicely textured, spicy fruit flavors. This wine has presence; in fact, it’s hard not to be impressed with this particular wine, regardless of the wine styles you’re normally drawn to.

There you have it: three unique wines, three excellent summer sipping options. While you may have trouble getting all the syllables in order, you shouldn’t have any problem finding them at most good wine shops.

Let your retailer know you want the best examples of these wines. After all, life is short; why drink anything less than excellent? Txakoli, Edelzwicker and Moschofilero are able, exotic and ready for deployment as your new summer whites. Do your palate a favor and welcome them aboard.