[1] A pomegranate spritz—juice and club soda—is a non-alcoholic alternative to holiday cocktails (photo © Rawpixel | Pexels).

[2] Festive, biodegradable paper straws. These are available on Amazon (photo © Ououps).

Here’s a holiday beverage that’s non-alcoholic, fun, even good for you.

For those who don’t drink alcohol, or don’t want any more of it at the moment, this flavorful mocktail hits the spot.

You can use either cranberry or pomegranate juice; we think pomegranate juice is more special given the seasonal cranberry overload.

 
You can give guests an option for a short or tall drink. If you only want to serve drinks in rocks glasses, you don’t need straws.
 
 
RECIPE: HOLIDAY MOCKTAIL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. CHILL the juice and club soda. Keep in an ice bucket if they’ll be out on a bar or counter while you entertain.

2. ADD ice to an Old Fashioned/Collins glass or a rocks glass, and fill halfway with club soda. Squeeze in the lime, if desired. Garnish and serve with a festive straw.

Here’s something special for balletomanes and ballet students who like dark chocolate bonbons:

Delysia’s Nutcracker Chocolate Collection.

Only 50 boxes of this seasonal edition have been made.

The 16-piece truffle collection contains four each of themed chocolates inspired by the holiday ballet.

The images atop each chocolate are charming.

And the centers are beautifully flavored:

 
HEAD TO DELYSIA CHOCOLATE to claim yours!
 
 
> Truffles Vs Bonbons Vs Chocolates
 
 
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*Lebkuchen is a honey-sweetened, spiced German cake, molded cookie or bar cookie that has become part of Germany’s Christmas traditions. Since “The Nutcracker” originated in Germany, it’s very appropriate to this collection.

Traditional spices include allspice, aniseed, cardamom, cloves, coriander and ginger. Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts) and candied fruit are also included.

†Russian tea cakes are simple cookies, often called butterball cookies in the U.S. The flour, water, butter and sugar are mixed with ground nuts and formed into balls. After baking, the cookies are rolled in powdered sugar.

[1] A box of 16 memorable chocolate truffles*, a limited edition from Delysia Chocolatier (photos © Delysia Chocolatier).

[2] Close-up; from the top, Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairy, Mouse King.

[1] Easy to carry in a pocket, you can keep different scents in purses, gym bags, etc. Above: Watermelon hand sanitizer (all photos © Earth To Skin).

[2] The inexpensive six-pack lets you hand out little gifties to your friends, colleagues and helpers. Above: Blueberry hand sanitizer.

[3] Lemon + Basil hand sanitizer, like all of the varieties, has a refreshing aroma.

Here’s a perfect food-related stocking stuffer for these times:

Hand sanitizer with different food scents!

Earth To Skin has added something special to their moisturizing hand sanitizer: fruit scents.

Like other fine sanitizers, Earth To Skin’s reduces the bacteria that potentially can cause disease, by killing 99.99% of many common harmful germs and bacteria.

In two-ounce sizes, these mini-sanitizers are sold in a 6-pack bundle exclusively at Walmart.com, for just $4.99 (and are NextDay eligible).

The scents include:

 
They are 72% ethyl alcohol, along with moisturizing aloe.

Click on the individual links above; or here’s the whole line.
 
We’re handing them out to everyone, including the people who help us year-round: hairdressers, letter carriers, package delivery people, etc.

And, we’ll be buying enough of a supply to enjoy them long after the holiday season.
 
 
SOME HAND SANITIZER HISTORY

Alcohol has been used as an antiseptic at least 1363. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer has been commonly used in Europe since at least the 1980s.

While there are non-alcohol-based versions that typically contain benzalkonium chloride or triclosan; they are less effective than alcohol-based ones

The alcohol-based version is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system [source].

Purell hand sanitizer, the first American brand, was invented in 1988 and introduced to the consumer market in 1997.

Its primary component is 70% ethyl alcohol [source].

PigWizard is a sandwich shop with a storied address: Cannery Row in Monterey, California.

Specialties include Porchetta Sandwich, Sausage Sandwich, Porchetta Poutine and other pork-based treats.

While you can’t get a sandwich shipped to you, you can buy the house-made sausage and bacon online.

And the house-made, air-fried pork rinds (chicharrónes), made from pork skin with the attached fat removed.

 
They can be shipped anywhere, for snacking, party favors and stocking stuffers.
 
 
“GOURMET” PORK RINDS, CALLED “PORKCORN”

We respect the savory versions, Pork rinds are great with beer and soft drinks.

In addition to snacking, we have always liked the traditional rinds as a garnish on salads (photo #4), as a crunch factor on burgers and sandwiches, and (no kidding) with a spicy dip or even ketchup.

But the sweet versions, delightfully seasoned, keep the palate dancing.

And we can adventure forth with new pairings.

We used the Sweet Heat and Beer Bacon Caramel as a topping on chocolate ice cream, served Thai Tea Caramel with a cup of tea, served them all with hot chocolate, and included them on a platter of cookies.

Savory or sweet, PigWizard pork rinds are sure to please the snacker and food adventurer: crispy, crunchy air-fried pork rinds in fab flavors.

 
The 5.5-oz. bags are simply wrapped in cellophane. Once opened, you should consume the contents within two days.

Not a problem!

ORDER ONLINE AT PIGWIZARD.COM
 
 
MORE ABOUT PORK RINDS

Check out this article for:

 
 
> THE DIFFERENT CUTS OF PORK

> FOOD FUN: A PORK COMBO PLATTER
 
 
ABOUT THE PIGWIZARD

Jonathan Christopher Roberts began learning butchery at the Monte Vista Market in 2000, after moving to California from his home state of Georgia.

He had dropped out of high school at 16, began working in kitchens, and quickly realized that to be a better chef, he would have to learn butchery.

As a kid growing up, his mom and grandparents always had gardens, and canned and preserved fruits and vegetables. But Jonathan lacked the same kind of early experience with meat.

“After a couple of years as an apprentice metal sculptor,” he says, “I found myself in California, and shortly after moving I was breaking down sides of beef and whole lamb. I loved it.”

You never know where the road will take you, but we hope that it will take us to Monterey, where we can have some of those great pork sandwiches.

[1] A great moment in pork rinds: the creation of Beer Bacon Caramel Porkcorn (photos #1 to #4 © PigWizard.

[2] Some like it hot—and they should head for the Sweet Heat Popcorn.

[3] Thai Tea Caramel Porkcorn is another great innovation.

[4] Use savory pork rinds as a salad garnish (photo © Culinary Vegetable Institute).

[5] Use conventional pork rinds for food fun: in nachos, for example, or in this Pork Rind Pizza. Here’s the recipe from Step Away From The Carbs (photo © Step Away From The Carbs).

[1] “The Lover” is a white chocolate bar filled with passionfruit caramel. Honestly, we love it very much (all photos © Chocolat Moderne).

[2] The Blood Orange Bergamot bar is dark chocolate with a creamy filling of blood orange and bergamot orange.

[3] A trio of Avant Garde bars: Spicy Hazelnut Gianduja, Smoked Sea Salt and Blood Orange Bergamot.

[4] Inside a Magic Maple bar, showing its maple caramel. Each Avant Garde bar is scored into nine squares that can be broken off and eaten one by one. Or, just bite into the whole bar!

We have long loved Chocolat Moderne, an artisan chocolatier that crafts its sweets from Valrhona chocolate.

Chocolatier Joan Coukos as the most creative palate in the business, combining ingredients in her bonbon collections that are rarely seen elsewhere.

Our favorite products in the line, though, are the most wonderful Avant Garde Chocolate Bars: alluring combinations of flavors turned into soft centers and tucked inside dark, milk or white chocolate bars.

To complete the dazzling effect, they’re speckled with color, Jackson Pollock-style.

There’s chocolate for everyone: dark, dulcey†, milk and white chocolate.

But don’t let your color preference stay your hand: We would enthusiastically recommend any of the Avant Garde Chocolate Bars.
 
 
YEAR-ROUND FLAVORS

 
Order these seasonal bars here.
 
 
> CHOCOLATE GLOSSARY: TERMINOLOGY & TYPES
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

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*Blond Dulcey chocolate is a relatively new creation from the great French chocolat producer, Valrhona. It is 32% cacao white chocolate that is prepared with a secret process to produce a light tan color ((photo #2, top bar). Valrhona calls the color blond, and the name of the chocolate is Dulcey. The flavor notes are much deeper than white chocolate: buttery, toasty, shortbread-like. Beginning as an accident, it took eight years of research and development to perfect the recipe.

†Solbeso is spirit that is distilled from the fruit of the cacao tree. The juicy, white, pulpy fruit is inside the hard pod. It envelops the cacao beans (the seeds of the fruit), from which chocolate is made.