[1] Use frosted grapes to garnish (photo All Recipes).

[2] Even one grape does the trick. Photo of vanilla bean cupcake with a center of champagne whipped cream, frosted with champagne butter cream and garnished with a half a sugared grape, courtesy Yummy Cupcakes.

As the days grow cold, berries can be scarce—or costly.

Substitute a sugared grape. It’s even more festive than a berry, and is easy to make (recipe below).

Sugared grapes can top any frosting or pudding, sorbet, ice cream or fruit salad. Or use them as a plate garnish with fish and poultry.

You can frost entire clusters of grapes and use them to garnish holiday platters and cheese plates.
HOW TO MAKE FROSTED SUGARED GRAPES

This easy recipe is adapted from Gale Gand’s Just A Bite, by Gale Gand and Julia Moskin.

You can use a half or whole grape for garnish.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. FREEZE the grapes. At least 3 hours and up to 7 days before serving, remove the grapes from their stems and place them in the freezer. To frost an entire cluster, leave the grapes intact on the stems. When ready to serve…

2. WHISK the egg whites with the lemon juice in a large bowl until frothy. Put the sugar in another bowl.

3. DROP the grapes into the bowl of egg whites, then pour the contents of the bowl through a strainer to drain the liquid. Place the grapes on a paper towel and roll them around until most of the excess egg white has been absorbed. Then, working in batches…

4. ADD the grapes to the sugar and shake them around to coat. Shake off any excess. Use as garnish and serve.

Raw eggs carry a slight risk of food-borne illness, including Salmonella. To reduce the risk, use only fresh, grade A or AA eggs. The eggs should be clean and properly refrigerated. Discard any eggs with cracked shells.

As an alternative, use pasteurized eggs, like the Davidson’s Safe Eggs brand.

Last year, we entered Kettle Brand Chips’ the People’s Choice Create-a-Chip Challenge. Our inspiration was a fully loaded baked potato: sour cream, chives, shredded Cheddar cheese and bacon.

Fifty-four other people had the same idea, and Fully Loaded Baked Potato was the winner.

The final recipe—the 15th in the current main line of chips (see all the flavors)—used green onion instead of chives and a smoky flavor substituted for the bacon. A year ago we received our reward: a bag of the chips (we really could have used an iPad…).

KETTLE BRAND BAKES, BAKED POTATO CHIPS

Now a year later, Kettle Brand has relaunched its Kettle Brand Bakes line with updated packaging and two new flavors: Sour Cream & Onion and Cheddar & Roasted Tomato. We received a bag of each, along with a bag of Sea Salt, and they are delicious (the Bakes line also includes Sea Salt & Vinegar and Hickory Honey Barbeque).

The flavors are excellent and the texture seems to be a tiny bit thicker than we remember: a much crunchier chip. Here’s the secret: Kettle Brand Bakes are the only baked chip made from whole slices of potatoes. Other baked chips and “crisps” (the British term for potato chips) on the market use dehydrated potato pulp and flakes. Really!

Oven toasting, rather than frying, also adds to the hearty crunch.

These crunchy, golden baked chips are one of our very lines. Kettle Brand uses all-natural ingredients and non-GMO potatoes. Kettle Brand is certified kosher by KOF-K.

NO ADDED SUGAR

We also like the seasonings in the Bakes line. The three flavors we tasted had no added sugar. While we respect the complex flavor mixes that Kettle Brand uses, we don’t enjoy even a hint of added sweetness on our potato chips (except in flavors where it naturally belongs, such as Barbeque and Honey Dijon and the Bakes line Hickory Honey Barbeque). So much sugar is, alas, added to “savory” foods in the U.S. that the line between savory and sweet has become blurred.

If you like the sweetness, why is this a problem? We don’t need extra sugar in our diets—neither the empty carbs nor the calories. In addition, the unnecessary sweetness trains the palate to want everything sweeter and sweeter. Here’s an article from WebMD.com on sugar’s effects on health.

Here’s more information about Kettle Brand. The Bakes line is available in 4 ounce bags for a suggested retail price of $3.39 at select retailers nationwide, and online at BuyKettleChips.com.

Find more of our favorite snack foods.
  

Yummy glazed root vegetables. Photo
courtesy Capitol Grille | Nashville.

While perusing the photo gallery on the restaurant’s website, we were inspired to whip up a batch of glazed root vegetables.* They were so tasty, we at the whole batch in a day, and made them again two days later. We’ll be making them regularly—to Thanksgiving and beyond!

A glaze is glossy coating, often sweet. Glazed meat and vegetable recipes typically use honey or maple syrup. To counter the sweetness, we like to add a tangy bit of vinegar.

What root veggies should you use? This is the time to make a luscious medley: Beets, carrots, celery root, parsnips, rutabaga, salsify, sweet potato and turnip are some options. A medley is a great opportunity to try vegetables you don’t usually cook.

Select five vegetables for your medley. If you can find specialty versions—purple carrots and sweet potatoes, yellow beets—go for it!

GLAZED ROOT VEGETABLES RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F.

2. TOSS the cut vegetables in a large bowl with the oil, honey/maple syrup and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

3. PLACE the mixture on two large baking sheets (ideally with rims). Do not pack the vegetables tightly or they will not caramelize. Cover with foil; roast for 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender. For even roasting, switch the positions of the sheets in the oven after 20 minutes.

4. REMOVE foil and roast for 10 minutes longer, until glazed. Return them to the bowl and stir in the vinegar then season with salt and pepper. Serve right away.
If you prefer melted cheese to honey or maple syrup, take a look at this Root Vegetables Gratin recipe.

*Root vegetables are plant roots eaten as vegetables. Beetroot (beets), carrot, ginger, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke, jicama, parsnip, potato and sweet potato, radish, rutabaga, salsify, turnip, wasabi, water chestnut and yam are just a portion of the long list of root vegetables consumed in the U.S.

How about an Asian-accented pumpkin pie? This recipe, from Thai Kitchen, adds a bit of flare to the conventional pie. Coconut milk substitutes for the evaporated milk or sweetened condensed milk in many recipes. It adds more flavor and is a boon for anyone with lactose sensitivity.

Not to start a riot among traditionalists, you can serve this pie in addition to a conventional recipe.

COCONUT PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Place frozen pie crust on foil-lined baking sheet.

2. MIX eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt in large bowl until smooth. Stir in pumpkin. Gradually add coconut milk, mixing well. Pour into pie crust.

3. BAKE 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake 55 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

4. SERVE warm or refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with shredded coconut and whipped cream. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Find more of our favorite pie recipes.

[1] Homemade nachos (photo © Chee Hong | Wikimedia).

[2] You can make them as simple or as layered as you like. This verson has both salsa and crema (sour cream—photo © Natasha Bhogal | Unsplash).

November 6th is National Nachos Day. Who doesn’t enjoy a hearty plate of nachos for a snack, or even for the main course? They’re the easiest Mexican dish to make at home.

At the most minimal, you can simply cover tortilla chips with shredded Cheddar or other semi-hard cheese, with or without salsa; then use the microwave or broiler to melt the cheese.

Serve the nachos with a beer or a Margarita, of course.
 
 
NACHOS FULLY LOADED

You can get creative with your nachos, adding anything you have on hand. You can add a couple of extra ingredients, or go fully loaded.

Our favorite add-ons to nachos:

 
For visual and flavor interest, use a mix of yellow and blue corn tortillas (for Independence Day, use red, white and blue).

And for a more legitimate main course, here’s a recipe for Nacho Stuffed Shells, “nacho pasta.”
 
 
FOOD TRIVIA

In Mexico, nachos are called totopos, the word for tortilla chips (totopos).

French fries, potato chips and even popcorn are sometimes substituted for the tortilla chips.

Nachos are an example of necessity being the mother of invention.

As the story goes, in 1943 a group of Army wives from Fort Duncan, in Eagle Pass, Texas, had gone over the border to Piedras Negras, Mexico, on a shopping trip. By the time they arrived at the Victory Club (Club Victoria) restaurant, the kitchen was closed.

But the accommodating maître d’hôtel, Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya (Nacho is a nickname for Ignacio), threw together a snack for the ladies from what was available in the kitchen: tortillas and cheese.

He cut the tortillas into triangles, added shredded Cheddar cheese, quickly heated them and garnished the dish with sliced jalapeño chiles.

When asked what the tasty dish was called, he answered, “Nacho’s especiales,” Nacho’s Special. It was an instant hit.