The best dessert this year! Photo by
Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

That’s because the recipe and the visual presentation are simply divine.

Rectangular shells of butter pastry are lined with a perfect caramel, then topped to overflowing with the tastiest, fresh-roasted nuts.

There are nuts to suit every palate: almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios or walnuts. Or, have them all in the mixed nuts version shown in the photo.

Then drizzle a tiny bit more caramel over the nuts; bake and sell to grateful customers.

These elegant desserts will dazzle at a dinner party or tea party, make a memorable gift, or treat you to a sublime pastry experience. And for only $6 per nut box!

Each nut box could easily be shared by two people—but don’t even think of asking for half of ours.

• Sink your teeth into the full review.
• Find more of our favorite pastries.
• Discover new types of pastry in our beautiful Pastry Glossary.

Do the math, and you get 15,000 different combinations—a different cookie for every day for the next 41 years.

First, you start with a choice of an Original, Oatmeal or Peanut Butter cookie dough (what—no chocolate?) or muffin tops in Original or Bran muffin tops.

Then pick 2 or 3 mix-ins:

• Chips: dark chocolate chunks, semi-sweet chocolate chunks, milk chocolate chunks, white chocolate chunks, chocolate mint chips, peanut butter pieces and butterscotch chips, plus sprinkles

Cookies made to order in two minutes.
Photo courtesy Sweet Flour Bake Shop.

• Candy: M&Ms, mini pretzels, snickers, toffee pieces
• Dried Fruit: blueberries, cherries, cranberries, figs, raisins
• Nuts: almonds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, walnutsIf you’ve in the mood for ganache, have a sandwich cookies in chocolate, peanut butter or shortbread with chocolate, maple, peanut butter, salted caramel or vanilla crème.

   

  OK, we’ll start with a chocolate sandwich cookie with salted caramel ganache; then move onto a bran muffin with dried cherries, figs and pistachio nuts. We’ll be back later for an Original cookie with M&Ms, toffee and snickers.

  How about you?

  And when is a Sweet Flour bakery opening near us?

   

It’s fun to play with your food. Photo
courtesy WorldwideFred.com.

Food face, available with a man’s or woman’s face, is a ceramic plate that gives children (or the child within) free reign to play with his or her food.

The 8-1/2-inch plate is $12 to $13. If you give one to every member of the family, there can be nightly food art competitions. It’s also a fun party activity.

• Buy online at Amazon.com. See WorldwideFred.com for a complete list of online retailers.
• See our entire list of holiday gifts for kids.
• See 10 more holiday gift lists—from Diet Gifts and Kosher Gifts to Stocking Stuffers.

Our favorite, all-natural, flavored waters:

Hint. There are 10 delicious flavors of hint, but Pomegranate-Tangerine and Pear are especially appropriate for the Thanksgiving table. Available in 16-ounce plastic bottles at fine supermarkets and specialty food stores nationwide, they can also be purchased online at DrinkHint.com.

Ayala’s Herbal Water. For more sophisticated palates, there are six varieties of Ayala’s Herbal Water that combine two or three food-friendly flavors. Cloves Cardamom Cinnamon, Cinnamon Orange Peel and Ginger Lemon Peel are our picks for Thanksgiving.

The right flavored waters add panache
to the Thanksgiving table. Photo courtesy
Ayala’s Herbal Water.

If you’re a guest, you can send a case ahead of time as a host(ess) gift.

Both products are NIBBLE Top Picks Of The Week.

• Read our review of Hint.
• Read our review of Ayala’s Herbal Water. 

Have you decided yet how to cook your Thanksgiving turkey? The biggest problem people cite is that the white meat comes out too dry (hence, the need for gravy to moisten it).

Different techniques are used by skilled cooks to ensure a moist bird—from bacon under the skin to brushing with butter to injecting melted butter under the skin. But brining is generally thought to be the best way to go.

In this week’s video, Chef Scott Cutaneo—formerly of Le Petit Chateau in Bernardsville, New Jersey and now at the helm of Equus—shows how to brine a turkey to soften the meat and add flavor.

Ingredients

Measurements courtesy Scott Cutaneo and Howdini.com.

Brining works well with other types of poultry too, as well as pork and even salmon. See our full guide to brining.

NEXT WEEK: How to roast the turkey.