“We all called it Booze Cake. In my family, you knew you had arrived when you were old enough to get your own booze cake from Grandmother.”

Thanks to product labeling, we know what’s in the “secret recipe, passed down through the generations”: pecans, walnuts, golden raisins, cane sugar, whole wheat flour, eggs, butter, bourbon whiskey, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.

The three-pound bourbon cake is handcrafted in Seattle by way of its spiritual origins in Kentucky.

This cake is baked for Bourbon lovers. While you’ll taste the alcohol, you won’t get snockered: The bourbon is less than 1% by weight.

That encouraged us to pull out our bottle of Blanton’s single barrel bourbon. We enjoyed a shot with our slice of bourbon cake.

So what does Grandma’s “booze cake” taste like?

First, there’s the bourbon that wafts up through the crumb and delights the nose.

Then there’s the noticeably low level of sugar—less than in the average muffin. We’re not complaining: It enables the slightly smoky bourbon to be the star.

And it’s what makes this a perfect cake for those who don’t like sweets. Sitting back after dinner with a slice and a shot is a happy end to dinner.

Only 100 bourbon xakes have been made for the holiday season, at $59.95. Ordering begins on November 15th.

Head for the Bootleg Bakery website to claim yours.
Find more of our favorite cakes and cake recipes.

Only 100 gift tins have been made for the 2012 holiday season. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE/

Now that we’ve discussed why it’s so important to keep your knives sharp, here’s a video that shows how easy it is to do so at home.

Chef and cookbook author Clifford A. Wright demonstrates how to use a manual knife sharpener and a honing (sharpening) steel.

He makes it look like fun!

Consider daily or at least weekly use of a honing steel with the knives you use daily.

A sharp knife slices easily and cleanly; a dull
knife requires more pressure and can slip
and cut you. Photo of Shun chef’s knife (the brand we use at THE NIBBLE) courtesy Sur La Table.

A dull knife blade makes cutting more time consuming and the edges of the sliced food less clean. And then there’s the the danger aspect: A dull blade needs you to expend more pressure, which can cause the blade to slip off the food and into your finger.

That’s why Sur La Table is encouraging you to take the time to sharpen your knives. From now until Thanksgiving, the gourmet retailer is offering:

FREE KNIFE SHARPENING

With all the holiday cooking at hand, your knives should be at their best. So the gourmet retailer is offering free sharpening on the first knife for any knives sharpened at the stores (find the nearest Sur La Table store.)

This freebie applies to any shape, style or size of knife, except ceramic knives (which require special equipment), damaged knives and scissors.

All other knives can be sharpened for $5 apiece.

KNIFE SKILLS CLASS

If you want to learn how to better use your knives better, Sur La Table offers a basic knife skills class. You’ll practice the fundamental cuts for vegetables—mince, dice, brunoise, batonnet and julienne—plus some advanced techniques.

You’ll also learn how to select a knife that best fits your needs, and share tips for keeping all your cutlery sharp and well maintained at home.

SHARPENING KNIVES AT HOME

Use a sharpening stone. Most experts agree that a sharpening stone is the best method for home use: It provides the sharpest edge and removes the least amount of steel from the blade. You need some basic instruction, so if you have a friend who uses a sharpening stone, ask for a lesson.

Get a knife sharpener. Choose a manual knife sharpener as an easy home alternative. An electric knife sharpener may take less effort, but it also takes years off the life of your knife by removing a larger amount of steel from the blade. It also does not provide a great edge—it’s an OK edge.

Use a sharpening steel or honing steel. This steel rod, which is used religiously by professional chefs, is typically included with a set of good knives. With use, tiny metal fibers on the blade bend down, dulling the surface. The sharpening steel straightens those fibers to maintaining a sharp edge for daily use (and you can use it daily). You’ll still need those professional sharpenings, but not as frequently.
  
In this video, chef Jeffrey A. Wright shows how to use both the sharpening steel and the manual knife sharpener.

Finally, you can:

Seek out a professional. If you’re not near a Sur La Table, ask at your local hardware store or search online or in the Yellow Pages.

Both pancetta (pan-CHEH-tuh) and prosciutto (pro-SHOO-toh) are Italian pork products.

 
Prosciutto is often served as part of an antipasto platter and as an appetizer with asparagus, fresh figs or melon, either on the side or wrapped in a bundle.

Check out the different types of bacon in our Bacon Glossary.

Check out the different types of ham in our Ham Glossary.

While fresh apricots are a summer food, you can use dried apricots to make this a fall appetizer.
 
 
RECIPE: APRICOTS & PROSCIUTTO

Ingredients For 8 Two-Piece Servings

 
Supplies

[2] Fresh apricots, a summer fruit (photo © Washington State Fruit Commission).

1. DICE the cheese into rectangles. If using a round log, slice circles in half.

2. SLICE fresh apricots open to the center and fill them with a piece of goat cheese. If using dried apricots, sandwich a piece of cheese between two halves.

3. WRAP a slice of prosciutto around each apricot and spear it with a toothpick.

4. HEAT the grill pan and fry the apricots for 5 minutes until crispy.

5. SERVE with a white Italian wine, such as Verdicchio. You can serve these on a tray with cocktails, or plate them with a baby arugula salad with vinaigrette as a first course.

Distinctive red wines made from the
Sagrantino grape are unique to Umbria.
Photo courtesy i-Italy.com.

It’s Umbria Month in New York City, proclaimed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and celebrated at wine stores, restaurants, Italian food markets and Eataly, which is a combination of all three.

There are restaurant menus with Umbria’s signature fare, cooking classes led by Eataly’s chefs and tastings of Umbrian foods and wines at shops including Di Palo’s Fine Foods and Enoteca (wine store) in Little Italy.

Can you pick out Umbria on a map? The region of Umbria is in central Italy, less than two hours from Rome and Florence. The capital is Perugia.

Neighboring Tuscany gets much of the food and wine coverage in America, but the region of Umbria, east of Tuscany, is equally deserving of your attention.

And there’s much atmosphere as you eat and drink. Known as “il cuor verde d’Italia”, the green heart of Italy, Umbria home to stupendous mountains, valleys and medieval villages and of course.

We sampled some of the local specialties at Eataly—fine wines, black truffles, olive oil and a perfect porchetta, roast pig with the crispest skin we’ve ever had. Good news: It’s available every Thursday in the Rosticceria, one of the 12 eating areas at Eataly.

Along with the full-bodied, spicy Sagrantino-based red wines (the grape is unique to Umbria), it was a delicious lunch. Fully refreshed, we left “Umbria” and returned to the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

See all the Umbria Month In NYC activities at UmbriaMonthNYC.com.