You can celebrate May 9th, National Moscato Day, with a glass of Moscato: the slightly sweet white wine pairs well wherever an Alsatian Gewürtztraminer or Riesling would be at home (see the food pairings below).

But for National Moscato Day, we present two cocktail recipes, courtesy of Gallo Family Vineyards, one of our favorite Moscato makers.

MOSCATO DAY CELEBRATION PUNCH

Serves 6-8 people.

Ingredients

Try a Moscato-Tequila punch. Photo courtesy Gallo.

Preparation

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a punch bowl or large pitcher filled with ice.

2. GARNISH and serve.

MOSCATO GIMLET

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a coupe glass.

2. GARNISH with lime wedge and serve.

ABOUT MOSCATO

Moscato is a lighter-style white wine, lower in alcohol (5%-8% ABV, about half the alcohol of other wines). It is popular with brunch, dessert or as an apéritif. It is grown around the world. The Italian bottlings, from Italy’s Piedmont region, are called Moscato d’Asti: named after the grape, Moscato, and the Italian town of Asti, the center of production. Asti Spumante is sparkling Moscato.

Straw-colored Moscato is known for its fruit (often peaches and tangerines, depending on region), its floral fragrance fragrance and its subtle sweetness.

PAIRING MOSCATO WITH FOOD

Don’t store Moscato: It’s meant to be drunk fresh and vibrant in the year it is vinified. Serve it with:

 
SEE ALL THE AMERICAN FOOD HOLIDAYS.

People regularly top plain Greek yogurt with fruit, granola and other sweet ingredients to create yogurt sundaes or parfaits.

But what about savory toppings?

When Pinkberry recently added conventional Greek yogurt to its frozen yogurt shops, among the fruit flavors were two savory yogurt sundaes:

 
We liked them, and they inspired us to use vegetables and other savory toppings on our plain Greek yogurt, as well as vegetable-fruit mixes. An ingredients template follows so you can do the same.

Pinkberry’s Tomato-Basil Yogurt Sundae. Photo courtesy Pinkberry.

Vegetables

 
Fruits

 
Sauces

Toppings

 
SWEET YOGURT SUNDAES

We’d be remiss if we didn’t supply the recipes to Pinkberry’s sweet yogurt sundaes with Greek yogurt:

 
*Giardinera is a mixture of pickled vegetables, Italian in origin, that can include carrots, cauliflower, celery, onions, red bell pepper and zucchini, carrots and cauliflower, pickled vegetables in red- or white-wine vinegar. It is typically eaten as an antipasto, and is also delicious on sandwiches.

The original recipe topped two toasted English muffin halves with round-cut slices of ham, poached eggs; and Hollandaise sauce. Over the years, the more conveniently-shaped Canadian bacon replaced the trimmed ham.

The ham substitutions continued, gaining momentum among creative chefs in modern times. Why not create your own reinvention of Eggs Benedict for Mother’s Day or other special occasion? Select your options from these categories of ingredients:

English Muffin Substitute

Classic Eggs Benedict. Photo courtesy American Egg Board.

Note: You need a type of bread that will soak up the egg yolk. Pita, for example, doesn’t work here. Steer clear of regular pancakes and waffles. They take what should be an elegant dish to McGriddles territory.

Ham/Bacon Substitute

 
What about everyday bacon strips? Eggs Benedict should be a special dish. By all means, serve poached eggs with bacon—just not on an English muffin with Hollandaise sauce.

Similarly, fried eggs, sausage and gravy should remain their fine casual selves, and not be adapted into a Benedict-style variation.

 
Consider how you can flavor a basic béchamel to match the ham substitute. For example, add dill to the sauce for lobster, horseradish and lemon zest for crab cakes.
 
Garnish

The term, a combination of breakfast and lunch, was coined in the U.K. in 1895 to describe “a Sunday meal for Saturday-night carousers.” This first reference in print was an article in Hunter’s Weekly (source).

Brunch eliminated the need to rise early for breakfast. Instead of the conventional post-church early Sunday dinner, the new meal, served around noon, started with a course of toast, marmalade, tea. coffee and other breakfast foods before moving on to some heartier fare.

And the rest is delicious history.

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Typically, if you get any garnish with a scoop of sorbet, it’s a mint leaf, berry, lemon peel curl or other variation of the fruit used to make the sorbet.

But how about preserves? We were inspired by this photo from Vivoli, a gelateria in Florence, Italy, of pineapple sorbet with pineapple preserves. Yum!

So for Mother’s Day, we’re loading a large lazy susan with different sorbet toppings (see the list below) so guests can choose their own. We’re adding enough toppings to create a super sorbet sundae.
 
 
BENEFITS OF SORBET OVER ICE CREAM

Compared to ice cream, sorbet it is naturally fat free, lactose free and has fewer calories. Because it’s generally made of fruit, it has fruit’s vitamins, minerals and antioxidants—although it does add sugar to them.

Another benefit: Even after the biggest, heaviest meal, there’s room for a few spoons of sweet sorbet. And although it‘s not science, we find that it helps to settle a stuffed tummy.

Lemon sorbet crowned with a dab of pineapple preserves (photo © Vivoli.it).

You can buy the sorbet (we’re purchasing lemon, mango and raspberry for Mother’s Day). But it’s easy to make. The recipe couldn’t be simpler: one part sugar, two parts water, four parts puréed fruit. You can add a tablespoon of lemon juice, lime juice or liqueur for extra flavor, or replace some of the water with juice or tea.

After you get the hang of it, add herbs or spices. Lemon-basil and mango-chile are terrific; cilantro, mint and rosemary pair beautifully with fruits.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can place the mix in a flat pan in the freezer and scrap the forming crystals with a fork: That’s granita! (Check out the different types of frozen desserts in our Ice Cream Glossary.)

1. MAKE simple syrup by combining the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. If you want to infuse herbs or spices, add them at this stage (lightly crush the leaves in your hands to release the oils). Allow the mixture to cool; remove any herbs/spices† and set the pan aside.

2. PREPARE the fruit. Small berries don’t need to be cut, but large strawberries and other fruits should be diced into small cubes, place it in a blender or food processor along with the simple syrup and lemon or lime juice to taste (about 1/8 of a cup for every cup of fruit), and purée until smooth.

3. PROCESS in your ice cream maker or turn into a granita.
 

OTHER SORBET GARNISHES & TOPPINGS

 
Or go back to basics with plain berries and/or fresh mint leaves.
 
 

FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM & SORBET RECIPES.
 
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*Instead of fruit, flavors such as chocolate, coffee and hibiscus are popular.

*You can leave inclusions such as red chili pepper flakes or pink peppercorns.
  

There are two basic styles of salsa: raw salsa (salsa cruda or salsa fresca, which includes pico de gallo) and cooked salsa. All shelf-stable salsas in a jar are cooked to pasteurize the ingredients.

 
BASIC SALSA INGREDIENTS

Salsa is great with far more than Tex-Mex foods. Here, grapefruit salsa tops a baked potato. Photo courtesy TexaSweet.

GET READY TO DICE
Some people make salsa in a food processor to save time, but it produces a purée style. We prefer hand-chopping for a chunky salsa. It has a better mouthfeel and looks more appealing.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

BASIC SALSA FRESCA RECIPE

Ingredients

1. MIX all ingredients thoroughly.

2. REFRIGERATE overnight or for several hours to let flavors blend.

TRY THESE SALSA RECIPES

THE HISTORY OF SALSA

*Here’s why the tomato is a fruit.