It’s hot chocolate that’s chilled and served on ice. It’s easy to make:

1. Prepare hot chocolate with milk (regular, lowfat or fat-free). Don’t use cream or half and half, which is too heavy for a tall iced drink.

2. Consider flavoring the hot chocolate—with Aztec spices, chai spices, mint or other favorites (steep the spices as you cook the hot chocolate).

3. Chill in the fridge. Consider making iced chocolate ice cubes, so as not to dilute the drink.

4. Optional garnishes: whipped cream with or without shaved chocolate, fresh mint, a strawberry or raspberry.

5. Add an optional scoop of ice cream and serve for dessert!

Three flavors of iced hot chocolate:
traditional, spicy Aztec and white with
lemon myrtle. Photo courtesy VosgesHautChocolat.com.

• See our favorite hot chocolate mixes.
• Learn the difference between hot chocolate and cocoa (or, if you will, iced cocoa and iced hot chocolate). 

For 170 calories, this grapefruit
yogurt is a real treat. Photo
courtesy EmmiUSA.com

*1.5% milkfat

First, it’s unusual to come across a grapefuit-flavored yogurt.

Second, in Emmi’s hands, the yogurt is velvety and pudding-like with bits of pink grapefruit. It’s flavored with grapefruit juice concentrate.

The yogurt line, which originally was imported from Switzerland, is now made in the U.S. The rBst-free milk contains live and active cultures and is certified kosher by OU.

• Read our review of Emmi Swiss Yogurt.
• What’s the difference between Swiss-style (a.k.a. French-style) yogurt and sundae-style yogurt? Learn all about yogurt in our Yogurt Glossary.

Bison has less fat and fewer calories than skinless, white meat chicken! It has an elegant red meat flavor. The inelegant-looking bison produces quite the gourmet feast.

Because it has so little fat, bison should be cooked rare or medium rare. Since it’s National Bison Month, it’s the perfect time to introduce yourself to this fine meat.

Just as with beef, all products are not created equal. Our favorite producer is Blackwing Bison, which also happens to be organic and glatt kosher.

• Read our review of Blackwing Bison, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
• Learn the difference between bison and buffalo—those critters roaming the Great Plains were bison!

Whether in a strip steak, burger or other
favorite cut, the flavor of bison is a happy
revelation. Photo by David G. Freund | IST.

A jar of artichoke dip creates elegant snacks or canapés (photo by Evan Dempsey | © THE NIBBLE).

We hasten to say these are elegant cream cheese dips and spreads. KC Classic Cheese Dips and Cheesecake Fondues have nothing to do with a “queso,” the melted cheese dip enjoyed with tortilla chips.

KC Classic cheese dips are seasoned cream cheese spreads—both savory and sweet varieties—that make entertaining or serving specialty dishes easy. You can warm them up to serve as dips, drizzles, and sauces, or spread them on any variety of foods.

The savory flavors—Artichoke Leaf, Chipotle, Green Olive & Pimento, Raspberry Jalapeño and Pineapple Jalapeño—are a treat and a flexible ingredient that can go from canapé to sandwich to snack or wine complement.

The Cheesecake Fondues—Chocolatey Cherry Amaretto Cheesecake, Luscious Lemony Cheesecake, and Vanilla Cheesecake—are delicious with muffins, as French toast fillings and cupcake icings, and to make cookie sandwiches. Eating them as “cheesecake in a jar” is a delightful experience.

The jars are a high-perceived-value mini-gift. Recipients of one or two will be very happy.

Read the full review.

Today’s pressure cookers are not your mother’s (or grandmother’s) chugging hunks of iron. Sleek and 100% safe in stainless steel, they’re one of the biggest time-savers in the kitchen.

Two years ago we wrote all about pressure cooking and how it can change your kitchen life. There’s a brief learning curve, but you’ll be so happy that you decided to learn!

In the heat of the summer, when you don’t want to turn on the oven for one hour much less for four, the stove top pressure cooker will cook your food without heating up the kitchen.

You don’t have to stand over a hot pot: all the heat is contained within the pressure cooker until you’re ready to remove the lid. In the winter, hearty stews and other favorites take 30-40 minutes—not half a day.

Today, we take on two favorite recipes—braised short ribs and pulled pork—in our review of the new Kuhn Rikon Ecomatic pressure cooker. This shiny kitchen appliance is the best $100 we’ve spent in a long time.