If you’re trying to cut back on sugar, switching jam and preserves is one place to start.

The producers of the Fiordifrutta (“flower of the fruit”) line of no-sugar-added jams (actually fruit spreads*), imported from Italy, say that they “work with nature” to produce their products.

*Per U.S. Food & Drug Administration definitions, a jam or preserve sweetened with something other than sugar is called a fruit spread.

The taste is right from nature. It’s as if you picked and cooked the fruit in your own kitchen, modestly sweetened with apple juice.

The only ingredients in the jar are organic fruit, organic apple juice and apple pectin, resulting in about 30% fewer calories than conventional products.

The 100% organic line works with nature in a second way: Organic agriculture is sustainable agriculture. By choosing an organic product, you help maintain the environment for your family and for future generations.

Spread more for less: There are less sugar
and fewer calories in this line of apple-
sweetened organic fruit spreads. Photo
courtesy Fiordifrutta.

Spread away: on bread, with cheese, as a dessert or pancake topping, in sauces, in smoothies, in plain yogurt.

The suggested retail price is $5.99 per 9.52-ounce jar. All of the flavors are available online at SelinaNaturally.com. Or, phone the importer at 1.305.470.7583 for a retailer near you.

One note: Since the fruit spreads are organic and made without sugar, there is no preservative—natural or otherwise. Thus, the shelf life is shorter than other jams in the fridge. Enjoy your Fiordifrutta within 6 to 8 weeks of opening. Most people won’t have to worry about this: The jar will be empty within a week or two.

Organic Hazelnut Spread

Apart from the fruit spreads, Nocciolata chocolate and hazelnut spread, an elegant version of Nutella, is a must-try. According to the company, Nocciolata contains 15% more hazelnuts than Nutella.

Learn more at FiordifruttaUSA.com.

• See more of our favorite jams, jellies and preserves in our Gourmet Jam Section.
• What’s the difference between jam, preserves, marmalade and the rest? Check it out.

Substitute tofu for mozzarella in your
caprese salad. Photo courtesy
MaiCuisine.com.

They’re also loaded with saturated fats. So one of our 2011 goals is to look for satisfying substitutes.

When we had lunch at Mai Cuisine, a creative New York-area sushi bar-and-restaurant chain, we didn’t have to look far. We discovered Tofu Caprese, which has become a new favorite low-calorie, lowfat appetizer, side or snack.

Mai has cleverly substituted tofu for mozzarella. (Tofu is sometimes called “the cheese of Asia” due to its physical resemblance to a block of farmer’s cheese.) It’s delicious, and it’s also vegan, helping us with our environmental goals to eat vegan two days a week. (If you don’t know how animal-based foods contribute to global warming, here’s the scoop.)

While cheese has protein, it has a lot of saturated fat. An wee ounce of mozzarella (made from the milk of cows or water buffalo) has less fat than other types of cheese, but that’s still 6g, including 4g saturated fat. And don’t think you’re “doing good” by choosing part-skim mozzarella: It saves just one gram of total fat.

Try it; you’ll like it!

Bouquet garni is classically tied with string and enclosed in cheesecloth, for easy removal at the end of the cooking process. The herbs can also be added into a sachet (the type that are also used to fill-your-own tea bags); and you can use a tea ball.

But what if you have no cheesecloth? No sachet? No tea ball?

Use a couple of coffee filters (or just one if the herbs fit). Insert the herbs, tie it closed and add it to the pot.

A bouquet garni is made of particular herbs that accent a recipe. There is no one herb mix: three or four choices are made among a group that typically includes bay leaf, chervil, parsley, sage, savory, rosemary, thyme and tarragon.*

*Did you realize that Simon & Garfunkel were singing about bouquet garni? Here’s the background of the song, Scarborough Fair.

As you cook, enjoy Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, or at least the MP3 of “Scarborough Fair.”

A bouquet garni of bay leaf, sage and thyme.
Photo © David Monniaux, courtesy Wikimedia.

Make the delicious recipes from Patsy’s
Italian restaurant at home.

Five lucky winners will win the cookbook from the restaurant, to cook the cuisine that Sinatra loved.

Patsy’s Cookbook: Classic Italian Recipes From A New York City Landmark Restaurant, by Salvatore Scognamillo, presents 100 recipes from the classic southern Italian cuisine that’s become American comfort food.

Plan a buffet dinner of Mussels Arreganata, Fettuccine Alfredo, Rigatoni Sorrentino, Chicken Parmigiana, Veal Marsala and Shrimp Scampi, with Tiramisù for dessert.

Directions for the 100 recipes are simple and well adapted to home cooking; the book will please both old and new fans alike.

• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Italian Cookbooks Page and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. Approximate Retail Value Of Prize: $27.50. This contest closes on Monday, January 17th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!

Six lucky winners will each receive a set of four My Little Cupcake molds—guaranteed to become the most popular molds in the house. For a kids’ project, there’s a no-bake cupcake recipe (simply make a dough from cream cheese and ground chocolate sandwich cookies—it’s delish) and push the dough into the mold. There are other recipes as well.

Once popped out of the mold, a lollipop stick can be added (we dipped pretzel sticks in chocolate) and the cupcakes can be decorated with sprinkles, mini chips, etc.

The little cupcakes make charming ice cream toppers. We decorated a whole layer cake with mini cupcakes. Learn more at MyLittleCupcakePop.com.

The mini pink mold on the left produces the
mini cupcakes the right. Photo courtesy My Little Cupcake.

• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Cake, Cupcakes & Cake Mix Page and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. Approximate Retail Value Of Each Prize: $24.00. This contest closes on Monday, January 17th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!