People in Vancouver are lucky; they can drive down to Butter Baked Goods and pick up their handmade marshmallows. While the store does not have online sales, we had the pleasure of tasting the marshmallows at a trade show earlier this year, and recently came across the marshmallows at Dean and DeLuca.
Of course we bought them, and they were just as good as we remembered—airy, delicate and beautifully flavored. You can send them as a Thanksgiving or holiday gift via DeanandDeluca.com: three gift-boxed bags in Pumpkin Spice, Toasted Coconut and Vanilla are $28.00. (When you get to the site, search for “marshmallows.”)
Gourmet marshmallows are one of our favorite sweet treats: made from egg whites, sugar, gelatin and flavoring, there’s no fat or cholesterol,* and one large marshmallow is very satisfying. You can put them in hot chocolate, craft gourmet s’mores and use them as accents with other desserts.
November 13, 2009 at 8:56 am
· Filed under The Nibble
Tasty placecards: Use affix the card to a pumpkin bonbon. Photo courtesy of WeddingBee.com.
For Thanksgiving dinner, it’s easy to make place cards that are good enough to eat: Just stick a card in a bonbon (preferably, pumpkin, maple or other holiday flavor).
If you’re artistically inclined, buy tent place cards at any card shop or stationery store. Then look for candies the size of a quarter: flat chocolate turkeys or pumpkins, nonpareils or colorful white chocolate pastilles. Affix a piece of candy to the left side of each place card, using a paste of 2T confectioner’s sugar and 3 to 4 drops water. The cards add fun and anticipation from the moment people see the table. Guests can remove and eat the chocolate at the end of dinner.
For other holidays, you can attach Christmas trees, hearts, bunnies, etc. If you don’t want place cards, use chocolate place settings.
November 12, 2009 at 8:43 am
· Filed under The Nibble
Hors d’oeuvres from GoodWives.com.
Entertaining? Plan 4 to 6 cocktail hors d’oeuvres per person if you’re following drinks with dinner; 8 to 10 pieces if it’s just a cocktail party.
Some brands of frozen hors d’oeuvres available to consumers are the same brands caterers use. They’ll cook up hot and crispy in your oven in just 7 or 8 minutes. Just try the products in advance of the event so there are no surprises. Not only do you want to be sure that the food tastes as good as it looks; different ovens produce different results, and you don’t want to experiment while guests are waiting to be fed!
Find reviews of our favorite hors d’oeuvres, plus recipes, in our Hors d’Oeuvres & Cocktail Snacks Section.
Thank goodness the growing demand for sophisticated cookie platters gave birth to Cookie Panache, because the cookies are simply wonderful. In a world where the cost of labor and ingredients to bake one’s own butter cookies is almost as much as buying the finest, Cookie Panache is a real find. Crafting twists on favorites that add layers of flavor, these cookies and their biscotti siblings have most definitely earned their panache.
Cookie Panache answers the ever-hanging question of what to give for personal and corporate holiday gifts, hostess gifts and thank-you gifts for loving relatives who treat you to Thanksgiving, and Christmas and Chanukah memories.*
*Anyone who celebrates anything else: Add it here!
So, what are you waiting for? You know you want to dig in and find out more about the Dulce de Leche Cookie (a super sandwich), Triple Chocolate Bites (worth every calorie), Mojito Lime (a cocktail in a glass), Dutch Granny (we’ve adopted her) and the rest of the melodious cookie chorus, including impeccable biscotti.
Read the full review of Cookie Panache—but read it on a full stomach.
Biscotti with panache. Photo by Evan Dempsey | THE NIBBLE.
See more of our favorite cookies, plus recipes, in our Gourmet Cookies Section.
