Bagels with pumpkin cream cheese spread!

We recently devoured a whole wheat bagel with pumpkin cream cheese at Dunkin Donuts, and are now hooked on this holiday spread.

It’s easy to make, with your choice of cream cheese (regular or fat free) or fresh goat cheese. Or, substitute sour cream or yogurt for the cream cheese.

The pumpkin purée “stretches” the cream cheese so you don’t need to use as much. The result: more vitamins,* more flavor, less fat, fewer calories.

We personally don’t sweeten the recipe: The pumpkin pie spices are more than flavorful, and who needs added calories and carbs?

But if you’re of the sweeter inclination, add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, maple syrup or agave, plus 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.

PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BEAT softened cream cheese until creamy.

2. ADD pumpkin purée and spices; beat to incorporate.

3. CHILL for at least an hour. Can be made up to a week in advance.

4. SPREAD on bagels and toast. Yum, yum!
 
*Pumpkin is a very good source of copper, dietary fiber, manganese, potassium and vitamins A, B2 (riboflavin) and C and a good source of vitamins B1 (thiamin), B3 (niacin), B6, B9 (folate) and E plus iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

Versatile pistachio relish can be paired with
everything from crab cakes to dessert. Photo
courtesy Island Creek Oyster Bar.

Try this Pistachio Relish from Jeremy Sewall, executive chef of Boston’s Island Creek Oyster Bar. Chef Sewall follows the New England tradition of canning and preserves with house-made relishes and chutneys. They add a touch of vibrant fall flavor to savory dishes—and sweet ones, too.

He particularly enjoys this pistachio relish atop a crab cake:

PISTACHIO RELISH RECIPE

Yield: 1-2 quarts

Ingredients

Preparation

1. SWEAT garlic and onion in canola oil until translucent.

2. COMBINE the sugar and salt with the zest and juices from oranges and lemons. Simmer until the mixture has cooked down to a loose syrup. Remove from heat.

3. FOLD in the chopped pistachios.

4. COOL the mixture over an ice bath. Store in the refrigerator.

For gifting, pick up pretty jars and create a gift label with a use by date. Tell them to use the relish within 10 days, so you’ll get a thank-you call saying how delicious it is.

If you like the idea of food gifts, pick up a book of food gift recipes and ideas.

Other Uses For Pistachio Relish

This versatile pistachio relish can be used:

 
How would you use pistachio relish?
 
Find more of our favorite condiments and recipes.

We’ve gotten this question more than a few times. The answer is really simple:

Make homemade poultry seasoning from the dried herbs you already have on the shelf. You don’t need to buy pre-blended poultry seasoning.

Premixed poultry seasoning is one of those convenience spices that has emerged in the last few decades. What did Grandma and Great-Grandma use?

A mix of rosemary thyme, sage, salt and pepper. McCormick’s poultry seasoning makes things a bit more interesting by adding marjoram (a basil relative) and nutmeg.

Bell’s Seasoning, popular for use on poultry, is a mix of ginger, marjoram, oregano, pepper, rosemary, sage and thyme.

You can follow McCormick’s ingredients and add your own notes of interest, from chili and cilantro to parsley and tarragon. There is no one “right” recipe for poultry seasoning.

If you only have two herbs, that’s enough, as shown in this delicious roast rosemary chicken recipe that uses rosemary, thyme and seasoned salt.

So the next time you need to season poultry, peruse your options and simply shake them onto that bird!

Find more of our favorite poultry recipes.
  

“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.