Soft peppermint sticks won’t hurt
teeth. Photo courtesy King Leo.

Here’s an inexpensive gift that every peppermint candy lover will cherish.

King Leo Candy makes succulent chocolate-dipped soft peppermint sticks just once a year, for the holidays.

Made with 100% pure peppermint oil, they’re very flavorful and melt in your mouth. There’s no hard candy cane to crunch at the risk of your dentistry.

Hand-dipped in luscious dark chocolate, the peppermint sticks are great for snacking, to garnish desserts or to serve with coffee or hot chocolate.

A 6-ounce box is $5.99; a case of 12 boxes is $70.00, at KingLeoCandy.com. The minimum order is $25, or 6 boxes.

For a crowd-pleasing dessert, serve a small piece of pumpkin/apple/other seasonal favorite pie or cake with a small “side” milkshake (4-6 ounces) in a holiday flavor. If you’d like something lighter, substitute biscotti or cookies. Think of it as the “bake and shake” equivalent of “surf and turf.”

To make the shake, just blend 1 cup of ice cream with 1/2 cup milk (or 1 pint of ice cream and 1 cup of milk).

Depending on the flavor, you can add chocolate or caramel syrup; and can garnish the milkshake with chocolate shavings (candy cane milkshake), ground cinnamon and/or nutmeg (for cinnamon, eggnog and pumpkin milkshakes).

To get chocolate or caramel markings as shown in the photo, use a bristle paint brush or a thin squeeze bottle.

Find more of our favorite recipes and products:

• Cookies Cake & Pastry
• Desserts (Fondue, Mousse, Pudding, etc.)
• Ice Cream

Have your cake and eat it too—with a
mini-milkshake. Photo by Rafael Fragoso | SXC.

A satisying O.J. Lite. Photo by Erika Meller |
THE NIBBLE.

If you’re still stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner, it’s a good time to read about Minute Maid Light fruit drink, instead of some rich, heavy food.

At only 15 calories and 4 grams of carbohydrate per 8-ounce glass, it’s an orangey way to start your day or quench your thirst throughout it. Each 8-ounce serving contains 100% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C.

We tried Orange Tangerine and Lemonade fruit drinks. The products are made with real juice from concentrate, sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), and are certified kosher by Triangle K. Both can also be used as low-calorie cocktail mixers.

The line also includes Limonada-Limeade and Raspberry Passion, which we couldn’t track down at our local markets. A colleague tells us that Limonada-Limeade, some Orange Tangerine (substituting for the Cointreau) plus tequila makes a lower-calorie, No Sugar Added Margarita.

Minute Maid, the world’s largest marketer of fruit juices and fruit drinks, is a brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company.

They’re perfect to serve with espresso or after-dinner drinks; and for a luscious snack any time you need a chocolate fix. Fill the candy bowl and guests will be in heaven.

Choose from cocoa-powder-coated Rum Truffles or powder-sugar-coated Champagne truffles—or don’t choose and get some of each.

Packaged in an elegant bronzed gift box, these are a sophisticated, grown-up treat that kids will love as well. Twelve individually-wrapped truffles (13.5 ounces) are $39.95 at HarryAndDavid.com.

• See more of our favorite chocolate gifts for Holiday 2010.

Melt-in-your-mouth happiness. Photo
courtesy Harry & David.

Have a delicious Thanksgiving. Photo
courtesy iGourmet.com.

Wishes For Today:

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

– Anonymous

Thanks to SaucyMamaCafe.com for reminding
us of this holiday verse.