You not only use an unreasonable amount of paper towels (non-green greens, as it were); but you also unnecessarily crush delicate greens such as basil and mint.

Instead, use the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner to dry your lettuce and herbs.

What separates the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner from its competitors is the ease and versatility of use.

• The OXO Salad Spinner uses a pump style method for spinning the basket rather than a crank or rope.
• This means you can operate the spinner with only one hand by simply pushing down on the pump.

Dry your salad without wasting paper towels.
Photo courtesy OXO Good Grips.

• There is also a non-slip ring on the bowl to make sure it stays put while you’re drying your salad leaves.

The 6-quart bowl is deep, so you can toss your unwashed greens into it and fill it with cold water. This lets any sediment sink to the bottom while your salad floats to the top.

Then when you’re ready to spin, simply slowly lift the basket out of the water, pour out any dirt and spin. If you’re in a bind, the large bowl also acts as a serving vessel. You can dress the salad and put the entire bowl out for display.

Last year, another brand of salad spinner won a major industry award. We rushed to buy it. Alas, the pull-cord broke within eight weeks.

Our OXO gets the thumbs up!

It’s easy to make from scratch. Photo
by M. Sheldrake | IST.

CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen or fresh cranberries
• Juice of 2 navel oranges
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey (more if needed)
• ¼ cup Bourbon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 jalapeño, finely minced

1. Wash cranberries under cold water and place in a sauce pan with brown sugar, cinnamon stick, half the orange juice, salt, jalapeño and bourbon.

2. Bring mixture to boil on high heat, then maintain a simmer on low heat. The cranberries should pop and break down.

3. When the orange juice has reduced by half (about 5 minutes), add the second half of the orange juice. If the orange juice reduces too quickly before the cranberries fully break down, you can simply add water, about 2 tablespoons at a time, until the cranberries pop and resemble jam.

4. Strain the mixture through a strainer, to separate the skins and stems. Push the mixture through with the back of a spoon.

5. Place back in pan, stir and taste. If the sauce is still acidic, add honey 1 tablespoon at a time. You may not need all the honey.

6. Add a few drops of lemon juice to brighten up the cranberry sauce.

7. It’s ready to serve!

Winners will enjoy treats from Hickory
Farms. Photo courtesy Hickory Farms.

Two lucky winners will receive a Home For The Holidays Gift Box, which includes everything you’ll need for a meat-and-cheese hors d’oeuvres tray: beef, summer sausages, four cheeses, two types of mustard and crunchy crackers. Those with a sweet tooth can nibble on four strawberry candies.

All you’ll need to supply are napkins and plates.

Retail Value Of Prize: Approximately $50.00.

• To learn more about Hickory Farms, visit HickoryFarms.com.
• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Food Gifts Page and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, December 27th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!

Layers of cheesecloth are used to wrap cheeses like Cheddar: The small holes in the cloth allow the cheese to breathe without drying out. Cheesecloth is also used to press and drain the curds of soft cheeses.

While you may not be in the cheese-making business, some recipes require cheesecloth (also spelled cheese cloth) to make a bouquet garni (an aromatic bundle of herbs), as a straining cloth to clarify stocks and soups, and to triple-strain and press Greek-style yogurt.

If you don’t have cheesecloth and you’re in a bind, simply use a coffee filter or two to make a bouquet garni or clarify your soup.

If you can’t find cheesecloth locally, it’s
available online.

Try a spicy beer with your fruitcake.
Photo courtesy CraftBeer.com.

As we relayed last week, a Wakefield Research survey shows that more than 60% of men would prefer to toast the New Year with beer rather than Champagne. By implication, they wouldn’t mind having that beer at Christmas as well.

And by further implication, they wouldn’t mind tasting some exciting craft beers instead of the same old, same old.

So go to your closest depot of craft beer and get six or so different brews for a tasting. If you don’t know where to begin, the sales associate can help you. One place to start is with the same style of beer (pilsner, dark ale) from six different microbreweries. Or, purchase six different styles of beer from the same brewery.

Serve the beers in order from lightest to darkest style, giving everyone a two-ounce pour. This nets out to one bottle of beer consumed per person. One 12-ounce bottle yields 6 pours. Discuss the aromas and flavors in each beer—they’re complex and much more flavorful and aromatic than mass-marketed megabrands.

While many of the top-selling beer brands from the large breweries saw a decline in sales in 2010, 200 new craft breweries opened and almost 500 more are reported to be in the planning stages.

Here are highlights from the ever-changing beerscape, according to the Brewers Association, which represents America’s small and independent craft brewers.

• Cans vs. Bottles: Full-flavored craft beers in cans instead of bottles continued to gain traction across the country.
• “Sour is the New Hoppy”: Barrel-aging, which produces interesting tart flavors, has become very popular—even among America’s hopheads who like the bitter flavors.
• Beer and Food: Craft beer and food pairings continue to be prevalent at the dinner table. From coast to coast, restaurants are offering beer pairings with food. See our beer pairing dinner menu (a great idea for New Year’s Eve) and find many pairing ideas at CraftBeer.com.
• Cooking With Beer: Craft beer has become a staple ingredient in many dishes, from brines to sauces. Get lots of ideas at BeerCook.com.
• Nano Breweries: These tiny breweries, with a case output so small that they can’t be called microbreweries, are hot and growing.
• Brewpubs: The estimated 1,000 brewpubs in the country represents well over half of U.S. breweries. Looks like we want good grub with our craft beer.

Support your local brewery. Meet friends at your nearest brewpub for some holiday cheer.

Understand the types of beer in our Beer Glossary.