This Peugeot nutmeg grinder is top-
of-the-line, but may be more ginder
than you need.

We use it to flavor apples and other seasonal fruits (pies, compotes, sautéed sliced fruit), to make cookies and pastries and in custards. We love it in egg dishes and vegetable purées. It’s our favorite seasoning with spinach in any form, and on pasta with broccoli rabe.

For beverages, use nutmeg in addition to (or instead of) cinnamon on hot chocolate, coffee, cappuccino, mulled cider, warm milk, cold milk, chocolate milk and of course, eggnog.

While some cooks grate the whole nutmeg against a fine plane kitchen grater, we value our skin and use a nutmeg grinder (nutmeg mill)—it’s the same principle as a peppermill, but it accommodates the much larger nutmeg, which is the size of an unshelled hazelnut.

If you’ve had the nutmeg for several years, you can check the quality by piercing it with a needle. If the skin pierces slightly and a drop of oil flows out, the nut is still fresh. If the skin won’t pierce, it’s dried out. By the way, mace is the milder-tasting dried hull of nutmeg—the part you peel off to get to the nut, and nutmeg is the nut of a tree fruit.

Available since March, Señor Sangria is the only premium bottled sangria on the market. It’s made with all-natural ingredients and comes ready to pour over ice. You can serve it “old style” by adding fresh fruit to the glass—sliced oranges, apples, pineapple and berries are popular, but most any fruit will do.

• THE PRIZE: One winner will receive a $100 gift card to cover the cost of having a case of Señor Sangria shipped to his or her home from Gary’s Wine & Marketplace in Wayne, NJ. The case contains twelve 750ml bottles of Señor Sangria. It’s party time!
• TO ENTER THIS GOURMET GIVEAWAY: Go to the box at the bottom of our Wine page and enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, January 4th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
• Please note that wine can only be shipped to the following 37 states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, IA, ID, IL, KS, LA, ME, MI, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, VA, VT, WV, WI, and WY. If your state is not listed, it is because shipping wine to your state is prohibited by law. If this is the case, and you are the winner, you can use the gift certificate to ship the wine as a gift to someone in one of the states listed. And petition your state legislators to get the law changed. Any other product can be shipped into your state; the liquor laws exist in states with strong lobbies to protect liquor and wine store owners at the cost of limiting the choices of all citizens.
• Learn more about Señor Sangria.

Our favorite deviled eggs: with salmon
caviar. Photo courtesy Red-Caviar.com.

Are you thinking about serving deviled eggs on New Year’s Eve?

Get past the classic recipe and go for flavored deviled eggs. Use different flavorings: Fresh dill, curry, infused tobiko roes and wasabi are popular choices. Just divide the mashed yolks mixture after you’ve added the binder (mayo, dijon, sour cream and salt), and mix different flavorings into the divided yolk batches.

But filling the eggs—even just one flavor—can be a devilish chore. Instead of struggling to spoon in the filling, do what caterers do and put the filling in a pastry bag—or you can use a Ziploc-type bag. Cut off a corner of the bag and simply squeeze the filling into the egg whites.

Now that you know the easy way to fill eggs, here are more favorite flavors to try: bacon (“bacon and eggs”), chopped chives, chutney, crab, crumbled blue cheese, jalapeño, kalamata olives, lemon herb and smoked salmon.

Stuffed eggs were a popular dish as far back as the Roman Empire.

There are many different recipes for stuffed eggs, but the term “deviled eggs” originated in 18th-century England. “Deviled” refers to the use of hot spices or condiments in a recipe—paprika, mustard, hot sauce, horseradish, chiles, etc.

While we’ve been eating favorite foods throughout the holiday season, some people don’t even have the basics, and go hungry. Please think of ending the year with a small donation—$5, $10 or more would be great—to this worthwhile endeavor.

Your contribution is especially important NOW, because financial planning firm Ameriprise Financial has made a $100,000 matching grant that will double the value of your gift. That means every $5 you give will help provide 20 bags of groceries!

While it’s a tight time for many of us, for too many desperate families in need, the food provided by Feeding America might be the only food they’ll have on the table. As you sit down to breakfast, lunch, or dinner today, think of those homes that have scant—or no—food.

By the way, December 31st is the biggest “giving” day of the year for Americans, because it’s the last day to make a tax-deductible charitable contribution. According to The New York Times (December 17, 2009), charities raised 22.5 times more money on December 31 than any other average day last year. The entire last week of the year is a great week for giving, with the average gift size being 57% larger than the weekly average during the prior 51 weeks.

Every $5 you donate provides 20 bags
of groceries for truly hungry people.
Image courtesy FeedingAmerica.org.

• Learn more about Feeding America and make a donation!
• Also check out GoodEarthCares.com. Good Earth plans to give 50% of its after-tax profits from sales of its tea and coffee, through February 28, 2010. You can purchase the products at Whole Foods Markets and other fine retailers. Anyone can vote for the top three charities that will receive the donations. 

We ring in the New Year with Champagne. But before the clock strikes midnight, we dazzle guests with flaming egg nog.

1. Make or buy the nog. If you purchase it, spice it up with 1-1/2 ounces of spiced rum per 4 ounces of nog.

2. Chill and pour into a martini glass if you don’t have traditional glass cups.

3. Grind fresh nutmeg to garnish. (Check out these nutmeg tips.)

4. The key to flaming is using 150-proof rum (different from the spiced rum, or the 80-proof rum most people have in the house). Float half an ounce of this high-proof rum on top of the nog. Ignite the drink in front of the guest, using a long wooden fireplace match. It’s holiday magic!

5. If you don’t want to ignite the drinks, skip Step 4 and serv.