Check out Blue Bandana chocolate bars from Lake Champlain Chocolates, one of our favorite producers of fine chocolate candies.

Third-generation chocolatier Eric Lampman developed the bean-to-bar chocolate, using single origin cacao beans from Guatemala and Madagascar.

In what may be a first in artisan chocolate bars, one of the Madagascar bars is flavored with voatsiperifery, a wild peppercorn called known to grow only in Madagascar.

he 3.5-ounce bars are $7.00 apiece. How to they taste? Read the full review.

Lake Champlain chocolates are certified kosher by Star-K.

Bean to bar. Gourmet chocolate. Single origin chocolate. What do these terms mean?

Discover the language of chocolate—all the chocolate terms you need to know—in our Chocolate Glossary.

You can serve it with anything from a sandwich at lunch, to dinner—whether your dinner is hot corned beef and cabbage, grilled fish, a burger or anything that goes well with potato salad.

For year-round feasting, leave out the corned beef and enjoy the recipe as a cabbage potato salad.

Prep time is 20 minutes, cook time is 15 minutes. The recipe serves 6.
 
 
CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE POTATO SALAD RECIPE

Ingredients

A yummy twist on potato salad for St. Patrick’s Day (photo © Potato Goodness).

 
Dressing Ingredients

Preparation

1. CUT potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes and place in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket. Add 1-inch of water to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender; let cool slightly. While potatoes are cooking…

2. COMBINE remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl.

3. PLACE all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well.

4. ADD warm potatoes to bowl and drizzle with dressing; lightly stir to coat salad with dressing. Serve immediately.

Calories: 220 Fat: 12g Cholesterol: 20mg Sodium: 370mg Vitamin C: 50mg Carbohydrates: 22g Fiber: 2g Protein: 7g Potassium: 87mg
  

Bruschetta and crostini are popular hors d’oeuvres that are easy to make. They also can be served as a first course or a light meal, with salad and/or soup.
 
 
BRUSCHETTA VS. CROSTINI: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

The answer, in brief, is the size of the slice, plus grilling versus toasting. Bruschetta (three or four inches in diameter) are cut from an Italian loaf and grilled; crostini (about two inches in diameter) are cut from a thinner loaf such as a baguette and toasted.
 
Bruschetta (pronounced broo-SKEH-tuh) is grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with any variety of items. The toppings can be as simple as extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper, to diced tomatoes and basil, to almost any spread, vegetable, cured meat or cheese—even fruit.

Bruschetta originated in the Tuscany region of Italy, where it is commonly served as a snack or appetizer. It may have been the original garlic bread.

The word comes from the verb bruscare in the Roman dialect, which means “to roast over coals.” If you have access to a grill, grill the bread for authenticity. If not, you can toast it.

Some American manufacturers and others in the food industry misuse the term, using it to refer to the topping only and selling jars of “bruschetta” (it should be bruschetta topping). Show your superior knowledge and don’t allow the term to be distorted: The word bruschetta refers to the grilled bread, not the topping.
 
 
Crostini (cruh-STEE-nee) are croutons: not in the American sense of small cubes tossed into soup or salad, but thin slices of toasted bread.

Smaller than bruschetta, the slices are typically cut from a ficelle, a thinner baguette one to two inches wide (the word is French for “string”). The slices are brushed with olive oil, toasted, and then topped with spreadable cheese, pâté, or other ingredients. Plain crostini are served with soups and salads, like melba toast, or set out with cheese.

While lovely grapefruits are still in season, make this colorful and flavorful Grapefruit Bruschetta recipe from Sunkist (photo above).

We especially like it with a Sauvignon Blanc, which often has complementary grassy/herbal or grapefruit notes. You can use any type of grapefruit, but rosy-fleshed varieties make the most beautiful presentation.
 
 
RED GRAPEFRUIT BRUSCHETTA

Ingredients For 8 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 450°F.

2. PLACE baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides with olive oil. Place in oven and bake for 5-6 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from oven and set aside.

3. MIX together grapefruit and basil in a small bowl.

4. SPOON onto toasted baguette slices and top with crumbled blue cheese and an optional light honey drizzle.
 
Here’s another variation of grapefruit bruschetta that cooks the grapefruit topping.
 
 
MORE BRUSCHETTA & CROSTINI RECPIES

Any of these recipes can be prepared as bruschetta or crostini, depending on whether you prefer to grill or toast the bread.

[1] With bruschetta, the bread is grilled (photo © California Olive Ranch).

[2] With crostini, the bread is toasted. Here’s the recipe for crostini with white bean spread (photo © DeLallo).

[3] You can top bruschetta—grilled bread—with anything, including rosy grapefruit. The recipe is below (photo © Sunkist Growers).

[4] Crostini American-style: BevCooks.com used a regular loaf of whole grain bread for appetizer- or meal-size portions. Also consider rye bread. Here’s the recipe.

Turn bruschetta into open-face sandwiches for lunch by using regular loaves of bread. Cut the slices in half, as the blogger BevCooks.com did in the photo above, with the most delicious-looking bruschetta we’ve seen in a while.

You can also make “breakfast bruschetta” by placing eggs and breakfast meats atop the toast. Add a dab of garnish (diced tomatoes, fresh herbs, sliced green onions, a strip of roasted red pepper…). Does ketchup count as a garnish? Sure: This is America.
 
 

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

[1] Three shades of green for St. Patrick’s Day (photos #1 and#2 © McCormick).

[2] Green food color does the trick.

[3] Themed sprinkles make any cake or cupcake more festive. Find these on Amazon (photo © Man Vs. Cakes).

We love this festive cake from McCormick. It’s an ombre cake: Ombre is the French word for shade, and each layer is a different shade of green. Keep that a secret until you cut the cake: Everyone will be delighted.

You can bake the cake from scratch or use a good white cake mix. Just be sure to have green food color on hand.
 
 
GREEN LAYER OMBRE CAKE RECIPE

Cake Ingredients

 
Frosting Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE cake mix as directed on package, using whole eggs. Stir in vanilla. Divide batter evenly into 3 bowls.

2. STIR 50 drops (about 1/2 teaspoon) food color into one of the bowls, tinting batter dark green. Stir 15 drops food color into another of the bowls, tinting batter medium green. Stir 2 drops food color into last of the bowls, tinting batter light green.

3. POUR each bowl of batter into a greased and floured 8-inch round cake pan. Bake as directed on package. Cool layers on wire rack.

4. FROSTING: Beat butter and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy.

5. PLACE dark green cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1/3 cup of frosting. Top with medium green cake layer. Spread with 1/3 cup of frosting. Top with light green cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Garnish as desired.

You can use the same recipe to make a stunning ombre cake for other special occasions. Simply replace the green food color with your color of choice.

 
 
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*Ingredients as required on Duncan Hines White Cake Mix. Use whole eggs instead of the egg whites directed on the package.

Math geeks have declared 3.14 (March 14th) Pi Day. But we’re adopting it as “Pie Day”; and why not, since a pie is a circle, and you can use pi and the diameter of your pie plate to calculate the circumference. (Lame or a good excuse to bake a pie? You be the judge).

Why bake a savory pie instead of a sweet one? The original pies were savory. Fruit pies and other sweet versions did not evolve until the 1300s and later.

There are plenty of delicious savory pies, from that American favorite, pot pie, to British steak and Stilton pie. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, how about a beef and Guinness pie?

 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PIE

The ancient Egyptians, who were great bread bakers, also worked out the details of early pastry. But don’t salivate at the thought of it: Until relatively recently, the pastry was tough, inedible and used as a cooking vessel. Pie was a savory dish scooped from the crust—more like a casserole.

What about those noted gourmands, the Romans? Greek and Roman pastry did not progress as far as it could have because both cultures used oil, not butter, which can’t create a stiff pastry. It wasn’t until much later, in medieval Northern Europe, that the traditional use of lard and butter instead of oil for cooking hastened the development of other pastry types.

The Renaissance saw a pie-baking boom in England, but still they were meat pies, including the legacies of shepherd’s pie (lamb and vegetables) and cottage pie (beef and vegetable). Both have a mashed potato top instead of top crust.

By the 17th century, flaky and puff pastries were in use, developed by French and Italian Renaissance chefs. Pastry began to become highly decorated, with pastry chefs working intricate patterns on the crusts.

 
CHECK OUT ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PIES IN OUR PIE & PASTRY GLOSSARY.