If you’re passionate about animal care, ask
your grocer to stock these products.

But for those who are very concerned with animal welfare, there’s an even stronger certification from organizations that only focus on the topic. The certifications include American Humane Certified, Certified Humane and Animal Welfare Approved. (Whole Foods has its own “Animal Compassionate” program.)

Their mission is to protect livestock—cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry—from inhumane treatment, both on the farm and in transit.

The concept of certifying animal foods as being humanely raised is relatively new, and not all animal welfare scientists agree on what standards are appropriate. Thus, differences exist among the programs, most significantly, whether factory-farming systems should be approved in addition to family farms. Some programs admit family farms only.

• Learn more about the American Humane Certified program at AmericanHumane.org.
• Also check out Certified Humane Raised And Handled Program at CertifiedHumane.org.
• Visit THE NIBBLE’s Gourmet Meats Section for our favorite meat and poultry products.

Try peppadews too, a cherry pepper-sized African fruit that looks like a small, round red bell pepper and is available in mild and hot styles. They can be stuffed for hors d’oeuvres and even used as cocktail garnishes. But warning to carb counters: Their sweetness comes from added sugar.

• See our review of Peppadew.
• See more of our favorite veggies, plus recipes, in the Gourmet Vegetables Section of THE NIBBLE.

Use sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers
and peppadews to add flavor and color to
sandwiches and dishes when tomato season is over. Photo courtesy Peppadew.com.

Marie Callender’s pies will take care of your
desserts. Photos courtesy Marie Callender.

Regardless of what the winners choose to do with their 12 Marie Callender’s pies that are the prizes in this week’s Gourmet Giveaway, they’ll be eating a lot more delicious pie!

Take some stress off yourself this holiday season by serving Marie Callender’s pies, which are packed with flavor and enveloped in a flaky lattice crust. Or, if you prefer your own homemade fillings, save some time by using Marie Callender’s Deep Dish Pie Shells for the crust, which come in a heavy gauge baker’s pie pan for better baking.

Whether you choose to redeem your prize as one pie a month, one every few weeks or all 12 at once for a pie-eating contest, this week’s Gourmet Giveaway prize will deliver more than 100 sweet slices.

• To enter this Gourmet Giveaway: See THE NIBBLE’S Gourmet Pies & Pastry Section section and click on the link at the bottom of the page. Enter your email address for the prize drawing by Monday, November 23th at noon Eastern Time. Good luck!
• Learn more about Marie Callender products at ConAgraFoods.com.

When brown sugar gets hard, put it into a microwave-safe container and zap it for 60 seconds. The old-fashioned method, placing a slice of fresh apple into the sugar canister, still works; but it takes overnight or longer for the moisture from the apple to absorb into the sugar.

• Learn about the different types of brown sugar—and other sugars and syrups—in our Sugar Glossary.

A microwave zap does it every time! Kenmore microwave available at Amazon.com.

The “Tweety Bird” of the 21st century. Image
via GraphicAlerts.com.

If you’d like to get the daily food holidays via Twitter, along with a link to a relevant tidbit, article or recipe, sign up for Twitter.com/TheNibble.

We post other items to Twitter that we don’t post to the blog (and vice versa), although we do post our articles to both.

We look forward to tweeting with you!