[1] Kir Royale: sparkling wine and crème de cassis, which is blackcurrant liqueur (photo © The Mercury | Atlanta (now closed, alas).

[2] The original Kir, simply crème de cassis and white wine, has no bubbly. It begat the Kir Royale (with Champagne, above) and a dozen more variations (photo © Stuart Webster | Wikipedia).

[3] Crème de Cassis is a blackcurrant liqueur made with blackcurrants grown near Dijon, the main town in the Burgundy region of France, where the liqueur was invented (photo © Bols).

If you open a bottle of sparkling wine and find it’s not to your liking, there’s no need to drink bitter or too-dry bubbly. Think of the Kir, a French cocktail of crème de cassis—blackcurrant liqueur—and white wine.

Add a bit of crème de cassis to the bubbly, and you’ve created the luscious sparkling drink known as Kir Royale.

Pour an inch of the liqueur into a flute or other wine glass, then add the sparkling wine. You can use this recipe to turn any still or sparkling white wine into a festive party drink. For a more intense flavor, add more liqueur.

The drink was named after Félix Kir (1876-1968), a mayor of the city of Dijon in Burgundy (the same city of mustard fame). As an apéritif, he added a splash of cassis to Aligote, a local still white wine. The “Kir,” as it was known, became very popular and led to the creation of the Kir Royale, substituting Champagne for still wine.

In addition to the Kir Royale made with crème de cassis and Champagne, the drink has evolved into some 18 delicious versions, including:

 
THE OTHER “KNOWN” KIR VARIATIONS

 
 
HOW ABOUT AN ALL-KIR COMPETITION?

We’ve long had a fantasy of trying all of these creations at one event. It would probably have to be a three-day event, with half the recipes tried and ranked on Day 1, and half on Day 2.

The “finalists” from both days would compete on Day 3, with the winners chosen—and then a restful sleep for all!

In reality, you can just offer a few options, using the liqueurs you have.

Grab the last tomatoes of the season and make tomato sorbet. If you’re a fan of gazpacho and/or Bloody Marys, you’ll love this recipe.

Tomato sorbet is a savory sorbet—no sweetener. It’s very refreshing. Flavored with herbs, it’s very healthy and low in calories.

When do you eat it?

• With cocktails, served in miniature cones. Yohay makes mini cones in garlic, salt, and tomato basil flavors.
• As a first course or palate cleanser, garnished with a fresh basil leaf.
• With a chilled or room temperature vegetable soup. Serve the soup in a shallow bowl and place a scoop of tomato sorbet in the center of the dish. Garnish with chopped fresh herbs.
• Freestyle—how would you use it?

See the recipe.

Tomato sorbet photo and recipe courtesy Canard Inc.

Extra egg yolks? It’s easy to keep them
fresh. Photo by Michael Lorenzo | SXC.

To freeze egg yolks, you need to keep them from drying out by adding the equivalent of a teaspoon of salt per pint or a tablespoon of sugar or honey.

Another freezing tip: Place one yolk in each compartment of an ice cube tray. (After they freeze, move them to freezer bags.)

What can you do with egg yolks?

Make hollandaise sauce, aïoli or other sauces. You can use yolks to enrich sauces that don’t call for yolks. On the sweet side, there’s crème brûlée, French-style ice cream, mousse and zabaglione.

• Find egg recipes in our Eggs Section.
• Egg nutrition, facts and more tips.

Do you like oatmeal but wish the instant kind were more like stovetop-cooked?

Do you want an easy way to get your daily 48g of whole grain?

Do you want more fiber, cancer-fighting foods, the ability to lower bad cholesterol?

Malt-O-Meal, a company that makes only cereal products, has hit a home run with its new Better Oats line. It has a toothy, not mushy, consistency. No one would know it’s instant oatmeal. We don’t know all of the secrets, but one of them is the inclusion of flaxseed, which adds crunch plus Omega-3 fatty acids.

The variety of choices—classic, brown sugar, chai-spiced, cinnamon, maple, multigrain blend and even a tasty chocolate oatmeal—offer a different flavor for every day of the week. Unlike most instant oatmeal, they aren’t stripped of fiber and nutrients.

Enjoy a better bowl of instant oatmeal.
Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

• Read the full review and buy Better Oats—you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
• The health benefits of oatmeal.
• Why you need whole grain foods daily.

A chocolate-lover’s dessert fantasy:
milk and dark chocolate cups filled with
chocolate mousse.Chocolate cups from Godiva.

For an easy and elegant dessert at the end of a sumptuous dinner, simply place a scoop of ice cream into a molded chocolate cup. Garnish with a berry and a mint sprig, and you’ve got an impressive crowd-pleaser.

• Think beyond vanilla and chocolate ice cream to coffee, strawberry, mint and other flavors that pair easily with chocolate.
• For something really rich, fill the cups with mousse. Here’s Julia Child’s chocolate mousse recipe.
• We also like a filling of custard topped with fruit.

You can find chocolate cups at specialty food stores and baking supply stores. Or, get the Godiva chocolate cups in the photo. If you’re shopping online, make sure you purchase chocolate cups and not dessert cups.

• Find more of our favorite dessert recipes and product reviews in our Desserts Section.