Other sleeve options include a skull (use with any white-frosted cupcake), a black cat (chocolate frosting) and a pumpkin (white or orange-tinted frosting with orange sanding sugar). The sleeves aren’t inexpensive—$8.99/dozen—but they sure have a high WOW factor.

• Check out all the Roundabouts cupcake sleeeve designs.
• Find more of our favorite cupcakes and recipes in our Gourmet Cakes Section.

Who among your family and friends have ever
seen a cupcake like this? Photo courtesy of Roundabout Sleeve.

Two antioxidants—chocolate and cranberry
—combine in this tasty new snack. If only
sugar were an antioxidant, too! Photo by
Emily Chang | THE NIBBLE.

For cooking, think of cranberry nut bread instead of banana bread, cranberry muffins, cranberry chocolate chip or cranberry oatmeal cookies, cranberry chutney, rice pudding with dried cranberries and dried cranberries tossed into salads of every kind. If you can find cranberry sorbet, grab it!

Better yet, celebrate by enjoying your dried cranberries milk-chocolate-covered in the form of new Nestlé Cranberry Raisinets. These delicious and convenient snacks come in single-serve, 100-calorie snack packs, plus larger, 5.5-ounce, resealable bags. Toss them onto ice cream, use them as cupcake garnishes or repackage your daily allotment from the larger bag to enjoy in front of the TV.

One winner will receive a gift basket brimming with Nestlé Cranberry Raisinets, including 100-calorie packs like those seen in the photo at left, plus several 5.5-ounce, stand-up bags. You’re sure to make lots of new friends to share them with. Read the bullet below to find out how to enter to win this week’s chocolate-covered prize.

• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: See THE NIBBLE’S Snacks Section and click on the link at the bottom of the page to enter your email address for the prize drawing by noon Eastern Time on Monday, October 19. Good luck!

• Learn about balsamic vinegar.

If you’re going to invest in a set of knives, don’t skimp: You may only buy them once in a lifetime, so get the best, even if that means starting with just the five basic blades. What are the best brands? There are old standards, and new ones come onto the market each year as technology improves.

• The new ceramic blades win raves although they require more care. If you use knives a lot, consider ergonomic handles.

Gorgeous Shun knives, licensing a design by
master bladesmith Bob Kramer, are available
at Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma. They’re definitely not recession priced; if you have to
ask, you can’t afford them.

• Read all the reviews you can, and ask chefs and caterers. Remember that people have different hand and arm strengths; a knife that feels good in one person’s hand may not be right for another.
• Before investing in a entire set, purchase the knife you use most and see how you like it after a few weeks of use.
• Look for an excellent warranty.
• Don’t fall for celebrity endorsements; they don’t ensure top quality (although they don’t preclude it, either).
• Unless you’re a fanatic about care, leave the high-maintenance carbon steel to the professionals.
• Call a store that sells numerous brands, like Sur La Table, and ask to speak to the head of the knife department. Make an appointment when he or she will have the time discuss your needs in detail, and make recommendations.
• Even if you’ve been cooking for years, consider taking a knife skills course. We took one at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, and learned a tremendous amount. Call your local cooking school; you’ll meet like-minded food enthusiasts. You can also take (or send) a friend as a special birthday or holiday gift.
• Read about some of our favorite kitchen products.
•  

Buckbean Beer, a Nevada craft brewer, uses
cans for its Black Noddy Logger and Orange
Blossom Ale. Photo courtesy of Buckbean
Beer.

While canned beer comprises a fraction of craft brews, some companies have started canning their beer exclusively, for environmental reasons as well as for consumer convenience:

• Cans are more easily recyclable than glass.
• Cans don’t have to be washed when they arrive at the brewery, thereby saving water.
• A delivery truck can only be stacked 2/3 full with bottles but can be filled 100% with cans, thereby saving on fuel expended.
• Cans are lighter and don’t break: They’re safer and easier to transport.
• Cans are better for storage: Light and air affect the quality of the beer (and all food products—including wine, olive oil, and spices). Clear beer bottles expose the beer to light; it’s possible for air to seep through caps and for carbonation to get out.

• Learn about the different types of beer in our Beer Glossary.
• Find recipes, food-and-beer pairing tips, beer reviews and more in our Beer Section.