Which of the five flavors of Pepperidge Farm
stuffing will we use in our final recipe? Tune
in next week. Photo courtesy Pepperidge
Farm.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, our Mom—a great cook by anyone’s account—always starts with a base of packaged Pepperidge Farm Stuffing.

Not only are Pepperidge Farm stuffings delicious to her ever-so-picky palate, but they also save time—which nobody has to spare when preparing Thanksgiving dinner.

(In addition to turkey, stuffing and homemade gravy, Mom whips up two different types of cranberry sauce, both white and sweet potato dishes, two green vegetable dishes, hot biscuits, a green salad, a relish tray, fresh fruit salad and two different pies. If I’ve forgotten something, Mom, chime in.)

In our youth, there was only one style of Pepperidge Farm Stuffing: herb-seasoned cubes of bread. Today, busy cooks have five choices: Herb Seasoned, Herb Seasoned Cubed, Cornbread, Country Cubed and Sage and Onion cubed.

This Year, It’s Pepperidge Farm For Us
After years of making stuffing from every type of bread we came across—one year, we spent a fortune on brioche—we’re excited to return to our roots. We’ve accepted a challenge from Pepperidge Farm to create an original stuffing recipe based on one of their stuffing mixes.

The biggest challenge for us is where to begin—we’d like to make all five flavors.

And we just may do so, since in exchange for our recipe, Pepperidge Farm will reimburse us for ingredients and time. And of course, we get to eat all the stuffing!

Last week we provided the recipe for a Tipsy Turkey pumpkin cocktail, followed by Thanksgiving-appropriate liqueurs.

But if your family and friends really enjoy creative cocktailing, here’s a more comprehensive Thanksgiving cocktail menu:

The Martini Group

The Mojito Group

 
The Warm Drink Group

Spiced cider and rum (make that spiced rum!) is one of almost 30 delicious Thanksgiving-appropriate cocktails you can serve. Photo courtesy National Honey Board.

 
What to do next?

Put together a cocktail menu of three specials to serve on Turkey Day.
  

Comfort food: peanut butter cookies and a
glass of milk. Photo by River Soma | THE
NIBBLE.

From Loveland, Ohio, we received a gift of Blue Chip Cookies from Chief Cookie Officer Donna Drury.

The company’s phone number, 1.800.888.YUMM, lives up to its promise.

The all-natural cookies are available in some 20 different flavors, including Almond Toffee, with or without chocolate chips; Black & White, a chocolate chip cookie with both dark and white chocolate chips; Blue Chip Joy, made with almonds, coconut and semisweet chocolate chips; Peanut Butter Surprise, with dark chocolate chips; Triple Chocolate, a combination of milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate and bittersweet chocolates; and White Chocolate Macadamia.

You’ll find all the classics, too, from oatmeal and plain PB to snickerdoodle.

If you know someone in need of a treat or need to send a thank you to your Thanksgiving hosts, a cheerful blue and yellow tin of Blue Chip Cookies will be most appreciated.

Want To Sell Cookies?

This year, the company established a Gourmet Cookie Licensing Program to partner with retailers to sell fresh-baked Blue Chip cookies. Check the company website for more information.

Trivia: Loveland is a suburb of Cincinnati, the “Blue Chip City.” Cincinnati got the name because it’s home to the headquarters of numerous “blue chip” corporations. The cookies can hold their own in the “blue chip” category.
  

Building on yesterday’s tip, mustard greens, you can create a spicy salad with no chiles or other “outside heat” whatsoever.

Just use the spiciest salad ingredients: arugula, mustard greens, radishes and red onions. Even with a plain or a lime vinaigrette* dressing, your salad will be spicy.

You can spice it up even more with:

A spicy salad: no chiles required! Photo
courtesy the Fat Radish restaurant | NYC.

The bright red radishes and emerald green leaves also make for a nice holiday-themed side dish.

SPICY VINAIGRETTE DRESSING RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. WHISK together the vinegar and mustard. Add the oil and whisk until fully combined. Taste and add salt and pepper.

2. ALLOW the flavors to blend for 15 minutes or longer. Whisk again before serving. Pour over salad, toss and serve.
 
Find more of our favorite salad recipes.
 
_________________
*Substitute fresh-squeezed lime juice for the vinegar in a 1:3 proportion with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Or, split the acid 50% lime juice, 50% wine vinegar, and zest the lime into the emulsion (best to zest before you squeeze the juice).

Antidote Chocolate combines raw and
roasted cacao beans in high-percentage-
cacao, flavored chocolate bars. Photo
courtesy Antidote Chocolate.

We came, we saw, we conquered lots of chocolate. Here are our five favorites from the show, in alphabetical order by company:

1. Antidote Chocolate of Ecuador. This newcomer has a concept we hadn’t seen before: a combination of raw and roasted cacao beans in high percentages of cacao (77%, 84% and 100%). The bars are beautifully flavored with flowers, fruits, herbs, nuts and spices. The goal: a more nutritious chocolate bar, due to the raw cacao and the high cacao percentages. Website.

2. Chocolate For The Spirit of Shelbyville, Indiana. The Mayan Spirit Bar, made in 72% bittersweet chocolate or 38% milk chocolate, has a Mesoamerican kick of chipotle, other chiles (a secret blend!) and cinnamon. Most “Aztec” chocolate bars don’t get the seasonings right—or at least, they’re not right enough for us. Here we’ve found sizzling perfection. Website.

4. West End Confection Co. of Morganville, NJ. Most chocolate-covered pretzels are dipped in such cloyingly sweet chocolate that we can’t take a second bite. Although this confectioner’s line looks like a kids’ chocolate paradise, the chocolate-dipped and decorated pretzels can also be enjoyed by adults with discerning palates. Website.

5. Bernachon of Lyon, France. The final kudos goes to one of the world’s legendary chocolatiers, Bernachon. Founded by Maurice Bernachon in 1953, the business was taken to the next level by his son Jean-Jacques. Jean-Jacques Bernachon was the first chocolatier to discover the superiority of single origin beans over cacao blends, and to use it in his chocolates. It earned him the title, “dean of microbatch chocolate bars.” The company is a bean-to-bar manufacturer as well, which means they purchase raw cacao beans, roast them and make their own chocolate. The chocolates are sold only at the Lyon store and at the À l’Etoile d’Or chocolate shop in Paris.* The chocolate, silky and elegant, is lightly sweetened—in a great way. That’s what you achieve when you’re the dean. Website.

*À l’Etoile d’Or, 30, rue Fontaine, 75009 Paris. Métro stop Blanche or Pigalle. Telephone: 01 48 74 59 55. Open daily, except Sunday, and occasionally closed Monday. Alas, what has been called the greatest candy store in Paris is a small shop that has no website.

Find all of our favorite chocolate in our Gourmet Chocolate Section and The Nibble Gourmet Market.