Gingerbread may be the best known Christmas “bread” in the U.S. Hopefully you’ll enjoy a few bites before the season ends (and send someone an adorable Gingerista gingerbread family that mirrors his or her household).

But don’t let the holidays pass you by without trying pandoro, panettone, panforte and/or stollen.

All are delicious with spiced tea like Constant Comment, which is also available in decaf and green tea versions. You can substitute an unflavored black tea.

If you want to put some spirit into your snack, dessert or tea time, serve the Christmas bread with mulled wine (warm spiced wine) or with a sweet dessert wine, such as Spumante or Moscato.

Gather the goods and invite friends to a special Christmas tea party.
 
 
CLASSIC SWEET CHRISTMAS BREADS

Think of these sweet breads as cake.

Stollen, the traditional German christmas
cake or “bread.” Photo courtesy The London
Hotel, New York City.

 
 
ENJOY THEM!

 
If you’re in New York City for the holidays, you can stop by The London Bar by Gordon Ramsay at The London Hotel, 151 West 54th Street, not far from Carnegie Hall, Tiffany’s, the Time Warner Center/Columbus Circle and Times Square. Through the holidays, you can enjoy a slice of fresh-made stollen with spiced wine and a side of rum. It’s served daily from 3 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. If you prefer tea, they’ll gladly oblige. (Editor’s Note 2020: Alas, now closed.)

A simply scrumptious goat cheese spread in Cinnamon, Coffee, Fig and Honey (photo by Katharine Pollak | © THE NIBBLE.

Whether or not you like goat cheese, we’re here to spread the joy about Belle Chèvre Breakfast Cheese.

It’s a line of four sweet-and-tangy spreadable cheeses that reminds us of lighter, drier cheesecake filling.

Each of the flavors is perfect for spreading on your bagel, toast, muffin, crispbread and any place you’d spread cream cheese.

Goat cheese is a lot healthier than cream cheese.

Even if you don’t like it, if you like cheesecake, chances are you’ll like Belle Chèvre Breakfast Cheese.

The melt-in-your-mouth cheese spreads—in Cinnamon, Coffee, Fig & Honey—can go from breakfast to hors d’oeuvre to dessert.

You’ll be maaa-d about it.

Keep fresh basil, chives, dill, parsley, tarragon and other favorites in the fridge. They’ll make any savory dish taste better—from breakfast to dinner. Use fresh herbs and you don’t need to add as much salt (or any sugar) to recipes.

Snip them into, or garnish:

• Boiled, fried, poached or scrambled eggs
• Soup—add a generous garnish or stir into the soup right before serving
• Green salad, egg/chicken/tuna/seafood salad, macaroni and potato salad—herbs really perk up the flavor
• Potatoes—baked, boiled, hash brown or mashed; sprinkle over French fries
• Anything else that needs a bit of color and flavor

If you find that your herbs only last a day or two in the refrigerator and can’t figure out why, the number one culprit is usually overexposure to moisture due to built-up condensation.

An herb saver is a more formal way to
preserve your herbs. Photo courtesy
Cuisipro.

• Instead of keeping your herbs in the plastic bag in which you bought them, loosely wrap them in a sheet or two of paper towel to absorb excess condensation.
• If you have room, another tip is to “plant” the herbs in a glass filled with enough water to cover the roots, and cover with a plastic bag.
• If you want to get really fancy, there are herb savers that do the same as the water-glass-and-plastic-bag approach.

Infinium is a most glam beer gift. Photo
courtesy Boston Brewing Company.

The handsome, engraved bottle looks like Champagne; but it’s a special sparkling ale from Boston Brewing Company, makers of Sam Adams beers. It’s been created in partnership with Weihenstephan Brewery of Bavaria, Germany, the oldest surviving brewery in the world (since 760 C.E.).

And it’s made with the thousand-year-old brewing technique called Reinheitsgebot (“The German Beer Purity Law”), which requires that beer be made with only malt, hops, water and yeast.

A special treat for beer lovers, Infinium contains 10.3% alcohol by volume, twice the amount of an average beer. A 750 ml bottle has a Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price of $19.99.

Infinium is available at retailers nationwide. You’ll thrill the beer drinkers at your party by pouring it to toast Christmas and the New Year.

• See more of our favorite liquor gifts for Holiday 2010.
• See all of our favorite holiday gifts.
• Brush up on the different types of beer (there are 30 different styles!) in our Beer Glossary.

We like a Cranberry Martini or Crantini: a martini with cranberry liqueur or cranberry juice. Here’s the recipe.

You can garnish by adding three whole cranberries to each glass, with a garnish of rosemary (it looks like evergreen).

Serve a red Christmas cocktail. Photo
courtesy Sence Nectar.