Could you use the space they take up to store something else?

Look for holiday cocktail recipes that use those ingredients, and clear those bottles from the shelf.

Jason Oh, Beverage Manager of the Haru Japanese restaurant chain, shared his recipes for some of Haru’s holiday cocktails, including a Cranberry Caipirinha. It’s helping us use up the cachaça, while looking colorful and tasting great.

Have Limoncello? Here’s a recipe for a Limoncello Cranberry Spritzer.
 
 
CRANBERRY CAIPIRINHA RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MUDDLE limes, cranberries, and orange slice in a shaker; mix in brown sugar.

2. ADD cachaça, cranberry juice, and cinnamon sugar. Shake and strain into a rocks glass.

3. GARNISH with one or two cinnamon sticks.

[2] Silver cachaça (photo © Novo Fogo).

If you have more than a few bottles that need to be drunk—and no occasion in sight—simply give them as “party favors” to the people who come over for the Cranberry Caipirinhas.

Your white elephants are someone else’s celebration!
 
 

The sauce is delicious, and a percentage of
sales do some good in the world. Photo
courtesy Bill’s Best BBQ Sauce.

The majority of the products we taste are perfectly fine, but not special enough to write about. Most are made from ketchup or tomato paste, vinegar, a sweetener (often high fructose corn syrup—HFCS), salt, onion powder and other spices (including cayenne or other chile), molasses and maybe some mustard.

Then Bill’s BBQ Sauce showed up.

Bill Fehon created the “secret family recipe” for what is now Bill’s Best Original Organic BBQ Sauce in the early 1990s. He gave jars to family and friends. The sweet and tangy flavor, combined with a mild kick, says Bill’s family, appealed to everyone.

Unfortunately, in the fall of 2009, Bill was diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration and was no longer able to do everyday tasks like making the sauce.

In his honor, his family now makes it and donates 10% of the profit to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Learn more at BillsBestBBQ.com.

So if you’re looking for an inexpensive food gift that combines the spirit of generosity, consider this delicious barbecue sauce. Even if there were no story of hope, the sauce stands on its own.

As an organic product, it’s made with quality ingredients and has no HFCS.

An 18-ounce bottle is $6.99, with discounts for multiple orders, on Amazon.com:

 
Find more of our favorite barbecue sauces and recipes.

Some people think of Kahlúa as one single type of coffee liqueur, to be used in Black Russians, White Russians, Espresso Martinis and Mudslides.

The brand is actually a delicious family of coffee liqueurs, including Kahlúa Especial, Kahlúa French Vanilla, Kahlúa Mocha and Kahlúa Hazelnut, among other flavors.

There have been limited holiday additions such as Gingerbread Kahlúa and Peppermint Mocha Kahlúa. Last year we loved the debut of Kahlúa Cinnamon Spice, and gave it as holiday gifts.

This year, Kahlúa Midnight is on our gifts-to-give-to-coffee-lovers list.

A combination of 70 proof rum and black coffee, Kahlúa Midnight was designed to be served as a chilled shot. But Kahlúa and other liqueurs are much more than a liqueur or cocktail ingredient. We’re been enjoying Kahlúa Midnight:

 
Last night we finished dinner with the ice cream approach: Kahlúa Midnight over a melange of vanilla, chocolate and coffee ice cream.

How’s that for a very special—and very easy—dessert!

Kahlúa Midnight is available at retailers nationwide.

Find more of our favorite liqueurs in our Cocktails & Spirits Section.

This delicious cheesecake is part goat
cheese, part cream cheese. Photo by Elvira
Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

So we’re coasting into the holiday season, giving luscious goat cheese cheesecakes to our favorite cheesecake lovers.

Cheesecake is one of those foods that either excites people or doesn’t interest them in the least. We’re part of the excited group, and are especially excited to have discovered Belle Chevre Goat Cheese Cheesecake.

A mixture of goat cheese and cream cheese, there’s nothing “goaty” about it: just smooth, creamy cheesecake splendor.

A six-inch diameter cake is $29.95.

Cheesecake trivia: Cheesecake isn’t cake: It’s a cheese-flavored custard-like pie.

Read the full review.

Find more of our favorite cheesecakes and cheesecake recipes in our Gourmet Cakes Section.

Regular old cheese popcorn is seasoned with Cheddar or Parmesan cheese powder, made by removing the moisture from the cheese.

But you can use Adapted from a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis for the Asiago P.D.O. Cheese Consortium.

RECIPE: PARMESAN POPCORN WITH HERBES DE PROVENCE

Ingredients

Use popcorn as a soup or salad garnish. Recipe and photo courtesy BettyCrocker.com.

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the butter, garlic and herbes de Provence in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let stand while making the popcorn.

2. COMBINE the oil and popcorn in a heavy large pot. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until almost all the kernels pop. Transfer the popcorn to a large bowl.

3. REMOVE the garlic cloves from the butter and discard, if desired.

4. ADD the salt, cheese and butter mixture to the popcorn. Toss until the popcorn is coated. Serve immediately.

MORE WAYS TO USE PARMESAN POPCORN (OR ANY POPCORN)

  
Find more of our favorite popcorn recipes and brand reviews.