Add a special element to any small party, or even a quiet evening with the family, by putting together a mix and match pudding parfait bar. It’s a popular annual event at our place; and unlike ice cream parfaits, pudding doesn’t melt.

If you don’t have glass dessert dishes, use juice glasses or wine glasses so people can enjoy their layering talents.

You can make the pudding or buy it. At different times. we’ve made instant pudding or cooked pudding, even cooked from scratch (mixing and measuring all the ingredients). Sophisticated palates will prefer the cooked variations.

Here’s what else you need:

MIX & MATCH PUDDING PARFAITS

Basic Ingredients

 
and/or

 
Creamy Layers

Customize the ingredients to your crowd and the occasion. If you’d rather have pistachio or maple pudding, team colors, a layer of crushed peanut butter cups or Corn Flakes, and so forth, by all means set them out!

NEW PRODUCT: TRUWHIP 100% NATURAL WHIPPED
TOPPING

If you like frozen whipped topping but not all the chemical additives, now there’s an all-natural alternative.

Truwhip is the first frozen whipped topping that is 100% natural and gluten-free. Made from plant-based ingredients, it contains no high fructose corn syrup, no hydrogenated oils, no polysorbate 60, no trans fats and no GMOs.

It’s also gluten-free and certified kosher (dairy) by OU.

Truwhip Natural and Truwhip Skinny look just like the other stuff and can be used in the same way:

 
Truwhip Natural has 30 calories, 20 from fat, per two-tablespoon serving. Truwhip Skinny has 25 calories, 15 from fat.

Discover more at Truwhip.com.

In terms of the flavor, to quote one of our tasters:

“It tastes different from Cool Whip. You kind of get used to all those chemicals.”

It tastes like what it is: cool, creamy and natural.

Truwip, in Natural (regular) and Skinny (reduced fat). Photos courtesy Peak Foods.

TOP PHOTO: Mac & cheese, crumbed for
crunch and glamour. Photo courtesy Morgans
Hotel | NYC. BOTTOM PHOTO: Linguine
tossed in olive oil, Parmesan and herbs,
topped with bread crumbs. Photo courtesy
All’onda | NYC.

While mac and cheese may not be a southern Italian tradition, toasted breadcrumbs are, often replacing grated cheese as a garnish for the pasta.

As we close out National Pasta Month, our tip is: Go southern and garnish some of your pasta dishes with breadcrumbs instead of cheese. If you can’t live without grated Parmesan, toss the pasta with it before topping with breadcrumbs.

In its simplest form, just toss cooked pasta in olive oil, plate it and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. If you like anchovies, try the classic recipe with anchovies and chile flakes below.

THE HISTORY OF BREADCRUMBS ON PASTA

According to Academia Barilla, the tradition of pasta with breadcrumbs in Southern Italy was created by poorer people who could not afford pricier ingredients like cheese.

They would prepare the breadcrumbs using stale bread leftovers. Those who had them also added kitchen staples, salted anchovies and dried chili peppers.

Over time in the region of Calabria, people began to prepare this dish on Christmas Eve, which was traditionally fish or seafood (or, in the Feast Of Seven Fishes, both).
 
MAKE YOUR OWN PANGRATTATTO BREADCRUMBS

When we have enough bread ends left over, we make pangrattatto (“grated bread”) instead of buying gourmet seasoned breadcrumbs. This classic Italian garnish consists of breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil and seasoned.

Feel free to use your favorite seasonings. Anchovy paste, cayenne, chili flakes, garlic, herbs, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese and parsley are traditional; but you can try curry, nutmeg or whatever you think adds pizzazz to your pasta recipe.

The type of bread doesn’t matter; a combination of different loaves only adds to the flavor. If you don’t have enough bread ends saved up, you can dry out fresh bread (details follow) or default to panko, Japanese breadcrumbs.

In addition to pasta topping, use the crumbs on casseroles and gratins, in meatballs and meatloaf.

Preparation

1. PLAN ahead. Store all the ends and leftover slices from loaves of bread in a heavy-duty freezer bag. You can keep it in the freezer or not. When you’re ready to make breadcrumbs…

2. LET the bread sit at room temperature overnight or until it gets hard enough to grate into breadcrumbs. (Our Nana kept the ends in a breadbox for weeks until she had enough to make crumbs.) If your bread isn’t hard enough, you can dry it in a 250°F oven.

3. GRATE the bread on the grating disk of a food processor to the desired texture, or with a hand grater. We prefer a coarser crumb that provides crunch, rather than the fineness of commercial breadcrumbs.

4. STORE the crumbs in an airtight jar. When ready to use, measure out what you need for the recipe.

5. HEAT a bit of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat (1/4 cup olive oil for 4 tablespoons crumbs). Add the breadcrumbs and seasonings. Toast the breadcrumbs for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are golden.
 

This Calabrian dish, courtesy of Acadamia Barilla is made with bucatini, a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. The name comes from the Italian buco, “hole” and bucato, “pierced.” You can substitute any ribbon pasta.

This dish is traditionally served on—but not confined to—Christmas Eve. You can make it in just 25 minutes, anytime you have a hankering for anchovies.

If you don’t want the brininess of anchovies but want a depth of piquant umami flavor, substitute anchovy paste.

Serve the dish with a full-bodied red wine.

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. BRING a large pot of water to a boil. While it heats…

2. RINSE the anchovies well under running water and debone them. Place a pan over low heat and add half the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the anchovies and cook for a couple of minutes, until the anchovies break down. While the anchovies are cooking…

3. PLACE another pan with the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and chili flakes. Toast the breadcrumbs for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are golden.
Once the water is boiling…

4. ADD the salt and cook the bucatini following the package instructions. Drain the pasta when done and toss with the anchovies and toasted breadcrumbs.
  

[2] Take a sip, bite the apple (photo © Spirits Marque One).

[3] How about adding some Serpent’s Bite to a glass of cider? (photo © Freestocks).

It does for whisky what so many distillers have done for vodka: infuses a delectable layer of flavor.

And Serpent’s Bite is the flavor of fall. It will appeal to fans of whisky and hard apple cider alike.

It’s very smooth with a fine balance of sweet, crisp apple cider flavors with the whisky.

The latter is distilled from corn and rye, which are blended during distillation and then infused with the apple cider flavors.

Serpent’s Bite was made to be enjoyed in a neat shot, straight up with a slice of apple, or in a mixed-based shooter.

At 35% ABV/70 proof, it’s a bit less alcoholic than your typical shot.

It’s available in 50 ml (MSRP $1.89), 750 ml (MSRP $15.99) and 1 liter bottles (MSRP $18.99).

If you want to know anything else about it..hmm.

The only things on the one-page website are links to Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter feeds, the latter promoting the hashtag #BiteTheNight.

Perhaps the only thing to say is: It tastes really good and would be a swell gift for the right folks.

Spirits Marque One, producer of Serpent’s Bite, is part of Constellation Brands, the holdings of which comprise the world’s largest producer of wine, including Manischewitz and Robert Mondavi.

Other alcohol brands among the hundred-plus include Corona beer and Svedka vodka.
 

WHISKY VS. WHISKEY

Whisky is the Scottish spelling of whiskey.

The alternative spelling was chosen to differentiate the national product from Irish whiskey.

The “whisky” spelling is used in Canada, Japan and Wales, as well as Scotland.

In the United States, a 1968 directive from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms specifies “whisky” as the official U.S. spelling. However, it allows the alternative spelling, “whiskey.”

Most U.S. producers prefer to include the “e,” as do we. Without it, it looks like something is missing.

And another reason to keep the “e”: Irish whiskey predates Scotch whisky.

Check out this brief hhistory of whiskey.

Ironically, distillation was discovered in the 8th century in Persia—a country that has not permitted the sale and consumption of spirits since the 1979 Islamic revolution.