Get it while you can: pumpkin goat cheese
for the holidays.

Two weeks later, she entered her chèvres (goat cheeses) in the National Cheese Competition sponsored by the American Dairy Goat Association. She won two Best of Show awards, two First Place awards and one Second Place award. Awards continued to roll in, most recently at the 2011 American Cheese Society competition (for her Apricot Ginger Chèvre).

In addition to plain chèvre logs, Mackenzie Creamery makes flavored logs that tempt us to hold a goat-out (really a pig-out, where we dig into every flavor). The flavors include Black Truffle, Blue, Blueberry Lemon, Cranberry Orange, Garlic Chive, Herbes de Provence, Honey, Sweet Piquant and seasonal Toasted Pumpkin.

Toasted Pumpkin and Cranberry Orange chevre logs are wonderful additions to holiday tables. The Toasted Pumpkin tastes like pumpkin cheesecake.

GOAT CHEESE TIPS
Tips straight from the cheese-maker:

 
For retail locations or to buy online, visit the website, MackenzieCreamery.com.

Find out why goat cheese is a good choice for lactose-intolerant people.

Find a trove of cheese information, plus reviews of our favorite cheeses, in our Cheese Section.

*While Hiram, Ohio may become famous as the location of Mackenzie Creamery, it was also the residence of a U.S. president. James A. Garfield lived there as a college student, instructor and then principal at what is today Hiram College. He also married a Hiram girl, Lucretia Rudolph. Several of their children were born there, including Harry Augustus Garfield, who became president of Williams College, and James Rudolph Garfield, who became the 23rd Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt.

Ever since we first discovered them in 2007 and made them a Top Pick Of The Week, cake pops have been our favorite party cake.

That they’re delightful food-on-a-stick is one reason. That they’re very festive is another. They can be glamorous or adorable, depending on the occasion.

But our personal favorite reason for loving cake pops—aside from deliciousness—is portion control. We love cake, and cake pops take the portion size down several notches.

Cake Pops For Everyone

Cake pop blogger Molly Bakes (her nom de plume) has put 50 irresistable cake pop designs into a recipe book, Crazy For Cake Pops.

At about $10 a copy, think of it as a holiday gift for everyone who loves to bake. Hopefully, they’ll fall in love with making cake pops, and you’ll be the lucky recipient of some of them.

You’re not the only one who deserves a treat of cake pops: Every sweets-lover on your gift list deserves them, too.

A fig cocktail for fall and winter. Photo
courtesy Linnea Johansson.

The recipe makes one cocktail.

FIG & MAPLE FIZZ

Ingredients

Preparation

1. Muddle the fruit and syrup in a shaker, or add fig jam (which will add more sweetness to the cocktail). Add the lemon juice and vodka.
2. Add ice and shake well. Strain into a glass and top with ginger beer.
3. For garnish, dip a slice of honey comb into maple syrup and place atop the cocktail. (We didn’t want to create a potential mess of honeycomb dipped in maple syrup, leading to guests with sticky fingers, so we used a plump little fig, notched on the bottom and set on the rim.)

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

While there are conversion tools online, you won’t need to run to the computer if you have a measurement magnet on the fridge.

This handsome and easy-to-read brushed stainless steel magnet (see photo) easily converts cups, fluid ounces, tablespoons, teaspoons and milliliters.

You can also use it to hold your shopping list on the fridge. And it’s a truly useful gift for friends who cook.

You can buy the magnet online for $11.90.

Chocolate milk for adults: Delicious! Photo
courtesy Adult Beverage Company.

Take a look at Adult Chocolate Milk, a liquid confection made from real cream. While the company positions it as an alcohol-infused chocolate milk, to us it’s more of a creamy chocolate milkshake. Either way, no complaints.

Adult Chocolate Milk may be one of the first products manufactured as the result of a Facebook post.

A couple of years ago, one of the company’s founders updated her Facebook page to say, “Tracy is enjoying some Adult Chocolate Milk.” Friends began inquiring about the recipe, or where they could buy a bottle. Another friend, with experience in management and manufacturing, read the post and became Tracy’s business partner.

Now, we can all enjoy some Adult Chocolate Milk! It’s only 40 proof, half the alcohol of conventional spirits. (Straight spirits are at least 80 proof, or 40% alcohol.)

We drink it from a brandy snifter. The nose is a combination of cream and vodka with a hint of cocoa. On the palate it’s a creamy spiked milkshake, subtly flavored with chocolate. It’s very smooth, to the point where you’ll need to hide it from kids.

The company won’t disclose all of the ingredients, but we imagine that an infusion of chocolate liqueur creates the subtle, chocolaty flavor. Whatever the secret, it tastes great: comfort food in a glass.

We love sipping Adult Chocolate Milk straight, but you can also use it as a base for cocktails, such as:

 
Get the recipes and more information at AdultChocolateMilk.com.

Adult Chocolate Milk is distributed by W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd., and is available at selected retailers, including some Costco stores. To find a retailer near you, write to info@adultchocolatemilk.com or telephone 1.949.371.6455 during business hours, Mountain Standard Time.*

The suggested retail is 17.99 to 19.99 per bottle. Order a case for holiday gifts!

Find more of our favorite spirits in our Cocktails & Spirits Section.
*Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time. It remains on Mountain Standard Time year-round. Thus, in the winter months it is in the same time zone as Mountain Time states. In the summer months it is on the same time as Pacific Daylight Time states.