THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


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TIP OF THE DAY: Flavored Pasta

It’s National Pasta Day, but think twice before breaking out that box of regular old rigatoni. If you love pasta, you may love flavored pastas even more. There are dozens to try, from artichoke and lemon pepper to jalapeño and wasabi. They’re delicious, and they make cooking a gourmet meal a snap. Create a main dish around them, use them as an exciting side or enjoy them simply with butter or olive oil and fresh Parmesan cheese.

 

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GLUTEN-FREE & VEGAN: Brad’s Raw Chips

Brad’s makes attractive, gluten-free chips from raw food: organic flax seeds, organic buckwheat groats, carrots, scallions and other veggies (depending on the flavor), garlic, Himalayan sea salt and olive oil. Fans of raw food and others who enjoy strong vegetable tastes will enjoy them.

  • The Indian-flavor chips have cauliflower, scallions, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, ginger, garam masala, tumeric, curry, jalapeño, cumin, sea salt and olive oil.
  • Surprisingly, all the heat—very pleasant heat—is in the Bell Pepper flavor, made with red bell peppers, scallions, garlic and jalapeño.
  • Cheddar contains no cheese but neutralized yeast. It provides a slight cheesiness but would never be confused with Cheddar. Still, it’s a tasty chip.

Bags of chips, good for snacking, dipping and garnishing, are $4.00 for 2.2 ounces, $6.00 for 3.5-ounces and $8.00 for 6 ounces at BradsRawChips.com (1.215.534.1112).

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Tasty chips for fans of raw, vegan and gluten-free foods and others looking for something
new and different. Photo by Hannah
Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

 

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TIP OF THE DAY: Season’s Greetings

There’s a major holiday every month or two. No matter what the season, holiday-themed dishes perk up everyday meals as well as special dinners. If you don’t have the space or budget to buy several sets of holiday dishes (turkeys, bunnies etc.), mix-and-match colored glass or ceramic plates. Sets of eight dinner plates in four different colors—red, orange, green and blue—will take you through the entire year: red for Valentine’s Day, Independence Day and Christmas also mixes with orange and green for a fall foliage theme. The orange doubles for Halloween and Thanksgiving, the green for St. Patrick’s Day, spring, summer, and Christmas. Blue is beautiful for Chanukah and all Jewish holidays, for Easter, the blue skies of summer and Independence Day. Each family member can pick his or her favorite color for birthday dinners and other celebrations, too.

 

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ENTERTAINING: “Fitzoween” Tea Party

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Serve Constant Comment or other spiced tea
for Halloween. Photo courtesy SXC.

After a busy afternoon of shopping at Bloomingdale’s flagship store in New York City, we sought quiet refuge for afternoon tea at the Fitzpatrick Hotel, a scant two blocks away. The hotel is celebrating “Fitzoween” all month with a Halloween-themed tea: cinnamon spice tea, pumpkin scones and midnight chocolate double layer cake.

Make a date and invite your friends to celebrate Fitzoween—or Smithoween, or Schwartzoween, or whatever your name is. Get some Constant Comment, the original American spiced tea recipe invented by Ruth Bigelow (available in supermarkets and from BigelowTea.com). Decorate your midnight chocolate cake with candy corn or other favorite Halloween candy; or serve midnight chocolate cupcakes and provide different Halloween candies so guests can decorate their own. No one is too old to enjoy Halloween candy and chocolate cake!

  • Read our review of Top Pick Of The Week Iveta Scones and try their moist pumpkins scones.
  • There’s a bit of the devil in this flourless chocolate whiskey cake. You can color the white chocolate cream orange for Halloween.
  • Or go straight for the real devil’s food cake. Instead of using heart-shaped cookie cutters as this recipe calls for, to make individual “heart” cakes, use a large round cookie cutter for individual “pumpkin” cakes and decorate with Halloween candy.

 

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TIP OF THE DAY: Birthday Cupcakes

Instead of a birthday cake, consider a platter of cupcakes. Beloved by children and adults alike, they eliminate the need to cut a cake, have built-in portion control and can provide guests with their favorite flavors and special needs (chocolate or vanilla cake, different icings, some Splenda-based cupcakes for those who can’t have sugar, gluten-free cupcakes for those who can’t have wheat). If you don’t have a cake stand or cupcake holder, arrange highly decorated cupcakes on a round tray (try topping with chocolate medallions or marzipan figures). You can leave an unadorned cupcake in the center to hold the candle(s).

  • Have allergic friends? Send delicious Divvies cupcakes—dairy-free and egg-free—as a gift. 

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