Have a Margarita for just 5 calories on top
of the liquor calories. Photo by Katharine
Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

There’s a new contender on the market: The Original Skinny Margarita, made by Jordan’s Skinny Mixes. It’s joined by the Original Skinny Appletini and the Original Skinny Cosmopolitan.

The mixes are made with natural flavors and sweetened with sucralose (Splenda). The Margarita mix has five calories per four-ounce serving; the other varieties contain zero calories.

The five calories make a difference: The zero-calorie varieties were more “diet” tasting. It’s easier to make a lemon-flavored, almost-calorie-free Margarita mix than to duplicate the flavors of apple schnapps or cranberry juice.

There’s a need in the marketplace for sugar-free or low-glycemic agave-based cocktail mixes. A regular mix adds hundreds of calories, many of them sugar, to a cocktail. We applaud the introduction of these sugar-free cocktail mixes, and hope that a line of agave-sweetened mixes is forthcoming.

• Find more cocktail mixes and drink recipes in our Cocktails & Spirits Section.

More than two years ago, we tasted 32 tomato ketchups and found enormous differences. Some brands stood out as superior tastes, others didn’t make the grade. We’ve just tasted nine more ketchups—some bound for glory, some bound for the recycling bin.

Use a spoon to try the ketchup you’re using. Do you taste rich tomato flavor or corn syrup (sugar)?

Most commercial ketchups are made from tomato concentrate, distilled vinegar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and seasonings—salt and spices, such as onion powder.

What if your ketchup were made from tomato purée, cider vinegar, agave nectar or brown sugar and enough spice so that you can savor a complex layering of allspice, clove, cinnamon and onion? What if you could cut your sugar intake by half, and switch to low-glycemic agave sweetener instead of high fructose corn syrup?

Should you care about the quality of your
ketchup? If you care about your other food
and beverages, absolutely! Photo by Fotografia Basica | IST.

• Read the full review of our two featured ketchups, Montebello Kitchens and Sir Kensington’s. Both make regular and spicy ketchup (chipotle, curry).
• See the history of ketchup plus our original review of more than 50 ketchup brands, including non-tomato-based ketchup.

Is your recipe better than Junior’s Lemon
Coconut Cheesecake? Photo courtesy
Junior’s.

The company already has dozens of delicious cheesecake flavors, from Original Plain, Chocolate Swirl and best-selling Strawberry to Pumpkin, Red Velvet and Tiramisu. It sells approximately 5,000 cheesecakes a week, ranging in weight from the individual 5-ounce cheesecake to a hefty five-pounder.

If you’ve got an original recipe for the next great flavor, head over to JuniorsCheesecake.com to enter it.

The winner will receive a $1,800 prize and will have his or her cheesecake featured as a limited edition at Junior’s Restaurant. A portion of the proceeds from the winning cheesecake sales will be donated to charity.

• Find our own favorite cheesecake recipes in THE NIBBLE’s Gourmet Cakes Section.

Yes! says the Idaho Potato Commission.

Pierce the baked potato with a knife or fork, once lengthwise and crosswise. Press the potato at both ends and it watch it “blossom.” If the potato is too hot to handle, use kitchen tongs or silicon gloves/pot holders.

More baked potato tips:

• Use russet potatoes, generally considered the best for baking.
• Brush olive oil or canola oil onto the potatoes before baking. It makes the skin crisp and keeps it from drying out and wrinkling.

Make your baked potatoes “blossom.”
Photo courtesy Idaho Potato Commission.

• Sprinkle kosher salt (or table salt) on the potato before baking.
• Don’t wrap the potatoes in foil: It creates a wrinkled, less tasty potato.

Find potato recipes in our Gourmet Vegetables Section.

You may be a locavore, but are you a locapour? When in Texas, drink Texas wine (photo © Texas Department Of Agriculture).

According to the Washington Post, the “drink local” movement is on its way to joining the locavore “eat local foods” movement.

Californians have it easy with many thousands of local wines, that also have fans nationwide (and worldwide).

But if you’re in Texas, try some Texas wines—perhaps some Barking Rocks, Chisolm Trail or Lone Star.

In Virginia? Look for Virginia wines—there are 156 vineyards, including the compellingly named Blacksnake Meadery, First Colony Winery and the Democracy Vineyard.

In Maine? Cellardoor Winery bottlings make loving gifts, with names like Amorosa, Perfect Stranger, Prince Valiant, Sweetheart and Treasure, among others. (Take note for Valentine’s Day!)

But the important takeaway is to support your local vintner. We’re taught that a country’s wines go with a country’s cuisine. Shouldn’t that apply to our regional wines as well? If restaurants talk the talk with “local ingredients,” shouldn’t they walk the walk with local wines?