The packaging of Crystal Head Vodka is based on an archaeological mystery:

Thirteen crystal heads have been found in regions around the world, from the American southwest to Tibet. They are between 5,000 and 35,000 years old, and are believed to have been polished into their shape from solid quartz chunks over a period of several hundred years.

Inside Crystal Head Vodka’s glass heads—or skulls, as we prefer to call them—is premium vodka that is quadruple-distilled, then triple-filtered through polished crystals known as Herkimer diamonds. (You can read that story on the company website).

The vodka is made in St. Johns, Newfoundland with water from a deep glacial aquifer and a proprietary blend of grains. The result is a creamy texture with a slightly sweet taste on the finish.

The brand owes its existence to actor Dan Aykroyd, whose interest in archaeology and the supernatural got the ball rolling. (His Wikipedia bio describes Aykroyd as “a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist.”)

As to why the skulls are called “heads” when “skulls” seem more accurate: We have an email in to Mr. Aykroyd.

The vodka is certified kosher by OU. Here’s a store locator.

Find more of our favorite spirits, plus cocktail recipes, in our Cocktails & Spirits Section.
  

The correct technique for blending hot soup.
Photo courtesy Cuisinart.

Today, we share a tip for using a conventional upright blender. This tip should be part of every recipe that tells you to blend hot soup, but it isn’t.

That’s why some of us have ended up blowing the top off the blender and spattering soup on the ceiling. Perhaps it’s a rite of passage when first learning to make soup—but it doesn’t have to be.

When a hot liquid is put into a sealed container like the blender carafe, steam builds up inside. Turn on the motor to agitate the liquid and there’s no place for the steam to go—except out through the top.

That’s one reason why blenders have a removable plug in the lid—the focus of today’s tip.

1. Pour soup into the blender carafe.
2. Remove the plug in the center of the lid and cover the opening with a folded kitchen towel.
3. Keep one hand on the towel-covered lid; operate the blender with the other.

Yes, you’ll need to wash the soup-spattered towel, but that’s a lot easier than hauling out the ladder to clean the kitchen ceiling!

Now that you know the trick, make some soup! Check out our Soups & Stocks Section for some new recipes.
HOW ABOUT AN ALL-IN-ONE SOUP COOKER & BLENDER?

So many people use a blender when making soup that Cuisinart created the Blend and Cook Soup Maker.

This unique blender has a patented cooking technology that lets you cook the soup in the blender from scratch—from sautéing chopped vegetables; to boiling, simmering and blending; to keeping the soup hot until ready to serve.

The Cuisinart Blend and Cook Soup Maker performs all standard blender functions as well. Here’s more information.

We may be in a recession, but America hasn’t cut back on fine beef.

For the fifth consecutive year, Certified Angus Beef LLC has reported record sales. The brand, which sells its beef through fine markets and restaurants, hit new heights: 807 million pounds of beef, compared to 2010’s record of 777 million pounds. That’s beaucoup de moo!

The demand for top-quality beef during a period of significant economic downturn shows that consumers are still treating themselves to affordable luxuries.

One may have to refrain from the big expenditures—deluxe vacations and home renovations, for example. But a steak dinner is still within reach for many who are cutting back on the finer things.

What America wants: more fine beef.
Photo courtesy Certified Angus Beef.

Today, the brand sells more than 1.8 million pounds of product daily. It is the largest, most successful brand of beef in the world.

Certified Angus Beef can be purchased at more than 13,600 restaurants and retail stores in 47 countries.

Learn more and find recipes at CertifiedAngusBeef.com.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR BEEF CUTS?

What’s the difference between a boneless strip steak, a New York strip steak, a Kansas City strip, a shell steak and a top loin?

Only the name is different: They’re the same cut of beef. Other names include boneless loin, boneless club steak, Delmonico, strip loin and sirloin strip (which is confusing because it’s not really part of the sirloin).

Learn your cuts of beef in our Beef Glossary.
  

An immersion blender can take the place
of a hand mixer, upright blender and
food processor. Photo courtesy Waring.

More recently, we replaced the hand-held beater with an immersion blender, our current favorite for many kitchen tasks. It’s compact, easy to store and transport (e.g., to make whipped cream for the dessert you’ve brought to a party) and easy to clean.

The immersion blender was created by a Swiss inventor, Roger Perrinjaquet, who patented it in 1950. It was first used by professional chefs in Europe and was then discovered by chefs worldwide. A home version arrived in the U.S. in the 1980s.

Chefs could easily blend sauces and soups in the pot, without having to transfer the hot contents to an upright blender. We got an IB a year or two ago, after watching chefs use them on cooking shows.

Did we really need another special-use kitchen appliance? No, but the IB does make life easier.

You can buy one for under $30, or chose a deluxe model with wire whisk and chopper attachments (as we did). The deluxe models typically have twice the motor power and more speed options.

While our original intent was to blend soup, we found that our immersion blender could also gracefully take the place of a food processor, upright blender or handheld beater for many tasks. In alphabetical order, they are:

 
IMMERSION BLENDER OPTIONS

While there are numerous products on the market, here are two representing the basic and deluxe models:

 
*The first egg beater was patented in 1870, by Turner Williams of Providence, Rhode Island, who improved upon an earlier design. The first electric mixer was invented by Herbert Johnston in 1908. It was sold by the KitchenAid division of the Hobart Manufacturing Company.

In eight years of reviewing specialty foods, the only pepper jelly lines we’ve liked enough to review are Aloha From Oregon, Cherith Valley and Diane’s Sweet Heat.

And now, there’s Hellfire Pepper Jelly—not a line of pepper jellies, but just one variety in the Jenkins Jellies line. The website can be a bit hyperbolic (e.g. the jelly does not contain “psychotically hot peppers”) but perhaps that’s because one of the company’s owners is related to a famous Hollywood family: actors Blythe Danner and her daughter Gwyneth Paltrow; directors Bruce Paltrow (husband to Blythe) and son Jake Paltrow (among other family members in show biz).

Hillary Danner began making jams and jellies from the bounty of the fruit trees and grape arbor in her Los Angeles backyard. She began to sell her most acclaimed recipe, the hot and spicy Hellfire Pepper Jelly, at farmers markets. Demand exploded, and Danner partnered with Maria Newman and chef Jared Levy to create a line of artisan jams and jellies (we wish we had access to the rest of them!).

Hellfire Pepper Jelly is a very fine example of the genre. The complex flavor comes from a mix of seven different chiles (sorry, we can’t bear to call them “peppers” because of a mistake* made 520 years ago by Christopher Columbus).

Buy it on the company website. A portion of sales goes to the Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund.

What Is Pepper Jelly?

Pepper jelly is a clear, sweet-and-spicy jelly that contains flecks of hot chile peppers. Different fruits and spices can be added for complexity—for example, pineapple or mango on the sweet side, and tomato or bell pepper on the savory side.

Pepper jelly is often made with jalapeños and serranos, which are medium-heat chiles. Habañero is one step up on the Scoville Scale, and Scotch bonnet is at the top of the scale, categorized as extreme. (See the different types of chiles.)

While on the hotter side, Hellfire Pepper Jelly does not cripple your taste buds. It’s exhilarating rather than searing.

Bring some Hellfire as a host/hostess gift for Halloween, or keep it in mind for teacher gifts, stocking stuffers and other small holiday gifts.

How To Use Pepper Jelly
Pepper jelly is most famously served as an hors d’oeuvre or snack with cream cheese—typically poured over a block of cream cheese on a plate and surrounded with crackers, so guests can help themselves. You can do the work yourself, garnishing individual crackers with cream cheese and jelly for passed hors d’oeuvre. Sweet and tart, hot and spicy, creamy and crunchy: it delivers a spectrum of favorite flavors.

You don’t need to have a party to serve it: We enjoy pepper jelly with peanut butter or cream cheese on whole wheat toast.

But don’t stop there: Here are dozens of uses with everything from omelets and yogurt to meatballs and cheesecake.

 
*Chiles were “discovered” in the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus, who called them “peppers” (pimientos, in Spanish) because of their fiery similarity to the black peppercorns with which he was familiar. However, there is no relationship between the two plants, or between chiles and Szechuan pepper. “Chile pepper” is a misnomer, and the term “pepper” is not used in Latin America. There, the term is chili, from chilli, the word in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. More on the history of chiles.