[2] America’s favorite peppermint water, original Peppermint Hint (still water; both photos courtesy Hint).

Hint, a pioneer in flavored, unsweetened water, has been a hit with us since we first discovered it—way back in 2006 (here’s the review).

Following the original line of still waters are Hint Sparkling and Hint Kick, which is caffeinated water (a gift idea!).

To celebrate the holidays, a limited-edition of Sparkling Peppermint Hint is available through January (the still version is available year-round; it’s the #1 peppermint-flavored water in the U.S.).

With zero calories, it’s a gift for:

 
Sparkling Peppermint Hint is another mixer to add to your recipe arsenal. For starters:

 
As for still Peppermint Hint, how about heating it in the microwave and mixing your next packet of hot chocolate?

All Hint products are made with purified water and natural flavors from non-GMO plants. The waters are never sweetened; there are no preservatives or other additives.
 
 
THE GIFT OF HINT

The limited-edition Sparkling Peppermint, and for that matter, the Kick flavors, are great gift ideas for the right person. No one else you know will think of them. We’d be delighted to receive a case or two.

You can find the caffeinated flavors there as well.

Hint can also be found at CVS, Target and grocery stores nationwide.
 
 
ABOUT DRINKING WATER

As long as we’re talking about drinking more water, here’s the history of drinking water.

Be grateful you have a reliable municipal supply.

November 24th is National Sardines Day.

Every year we make a different dish for our Feast Of The Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. They’re typically the easiest to make—which is good news, when you’re cooking seven fish dishes.

In the U.S., fresh-caught sardine season begins in July and lasts for a few weeks. They’re great grilled (photo #5), so mark your calendar.

Until then, look for flash-frozen sardines and then to canned.

The silvery fish are inexpensive, ready to eat, and loaded with protein, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and other key nutrients*. They’re a superfood.

They’re also one of the most sustainable fish around: all-around, a fish to feel good about.
 
 
THE BEST CANNED SARDINES

Bad canned sardines are fishy, but good brands can grace any table. We like:

 
Group brunch idea: a canned sardines tasting, with regular and avocado toast, hard-boiled eggs and green salad.
 
 
EVERYDAY WAYS TO USE SARDINES

As a garnish, whole or chopped, pureed into a dip or sauce: Sardine lovers can have a buffet. They easily fit in at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 
 
RECIPES WITH SARDINES
This is simply the small collection on TheNibble.com. There’s an ocean of recipes out there for you to explore.

 
 
A GIFT OF SARDINES

It’s holiday season: Why not? BELA Olhão even has a gift set.

Head to:

________________

*Per three ounces of sardines: an ounce of protein, 2 grams of omega-3 essential fatty acids vitamin B-12, nearly 70% of vitamin D daily value, (75% of daily value of selenium, plus phosphorus, calcium and iron.

[1] Spaghetti with garlic and sardines packed in chile oil, topped with toasted breadcrumbs. Here’s the recipe from Taste | Australia.

[2] Sardines on a wilted greens salad: a first course or a luncheon salad with some cherry tomatoes (photo Emily Chang | The Nibble).

[3] A first course or snack: Sardines Venetian Style, with crostini and pickled vegetables (photo courtesy Trattoria Italienne | NYC).

[4] Chirashi sushi with a poached egg, using canned sardines in tomato sauce. Here’s the recipe from Kitchen Gidget. You can do the same with a grain bowl.

[5] Fresh sardines with and ramps (photo courtesy Abboccato Restaurant | NYC).

Some might think that snow cones are for kids, but they’d be wrong.

Some think they’re only for cooling off on a hot day, but that’s wrong, too.

For ice-cream-loving dieters, the lactose-intolerant, vegans, kosher eaters and lovers of wine and spirits, they’re an alternative to ice cream, 365 days a year.

We’re not talking about street-vendor snow cones, with neon-colored sticky-sweet HFCS syrups. Nope!

We’re talking about homemade snow cones made with the Little Snowie 2 Snow Cone Machine and really good syrup, regular or sugar-free.

Let’s start with the machine.
 
 
LITTLE SNOWIE 2 SNOW CONE MACHINE

Snowie, the company, is a key player in the shaved ice industry worldwide. The majority of the machines they sell are for shaved ice shops and similar commercial use.

Consumer demand to make snow cones at home led to the development of the Little Snowie 1. Its next generation, Little Snowie 2, is even more impressive, and has twice the ice capacity (approximately 64 ounces).

Modeled after Snowie’s workhorse commercial ice shavers but affordably priced for the home ($199 on Amazon and Bed, Bath & Beyond*), Little Snowie 2 fast and impressive, rated the best home ice shaver in an independent test.

Using regular ice cubes from your freezer, its high-speed commercial motor and 301 hardened stainless steel blade deliver fine, fluffy shaved ice in 3-5 seconds per 8-ounce cup (photo #3). Then, just add syrup (photo #4).

The machine comes with three 16-ounce bottles of syrup (Blue Raspberry, Lemon Lime and Wild Cherry) and 6 sample bottles of other flavors. As a bonus, there are eight Italian-style ice cream spoons, long enough to dig down into deep cups (BYO cups, BTW).

You can purchase additional syrup 3-packs (three different flavors per pack) for $19.99 in:

 
All Snowie-brand syrups are made without HFCS.
 
 
LET’S TALK ALCOHOL SNOW CONES

There’s no need to make frozen drinks in your blender when you’ve got Little Snowie, which gives you the fine, delicate ice you want instead of rough, crunchy blender chips.

Just make your favorite cocktail and pour it over the shaved ice. Frozen Margarita, Frosé, we’re ready for you!

 
Let your first warm-weather cocktail party be frozen!
 
 
LET’S TALK DESSERT

For dessert, make a snow cone version Hawaiian snow ice sundaes with lots of toppings, from American favorites (coconut, fresh fruit, nuts) to Hawaiian favorites: jellies (Jell-O cubes), mini mochi balls, tapioca pearls and a sauce of sweetened condensed milk.

The difference between snow cone and snow ice is the consistency, based on how the ice is shaved.
 
 
It’s all waiting for you at ChocZero.com and on Amazon.

GET YOUR SNOWIE ON AMAZON, Bed Bath & Beyond, and other retailers.
 
 
12 SUGAR-FREE SYRUPS FROM CHOCZERO

Looking for a zero-calorie snow cone that tastes great?

Snowie has sugar-free syrups in Blue Raspberry, Lemon Lime and Wild Cherry, which would have been fine, as would a 1/3 dilution of Crystal Light powder, if we hadn’t discovered the sugar-free syrups of ChocZero, in:

[2] Why listen to ice cubes jangle when you can drink your sangria from a snow cone. Here’s the recipe from World Market Blog.

[3] Little Snowie: Ice cubes go in, shaved ice comes out.

[4] Then, just add the syrup or spirit of choice (photos #3 and #4 courtesy Snowie).

[5] Two of ChocZero’s )) varieties of sugar-free syrups (photo courtesy Bag Snob).

*Also check BuyBuyBaby.com, Costco.com, QVC and Sharper Image.
 

[2] Ready-to-eat Egg Bites from Les Trois Petites Cochons (photo courtesy 3Pigs.com).

[3] You can garnish Egg Bites any way you like, or enjoy them plain (photo courtesy 3Pigs.com).

[4] Two of Upton’s Naturals’ four Thai-inspired pastas (photo courtesy Live Kindly).

This week’s picks can be served to guests or relished on one’s own.

Nothing requires cooking; at best, two of the three are heat-and-eat. In alphabetical order, try:
 
 
1. CHEVOO: MARINATED GOAT CHEESE

Chevoo is a new, high-end marinated goat cheese treat from northern California.

Cubes of goat cheese are marinated in infused extra virgin olive oil: an “ultra-gourmet life hack for busy epicureans” says the brand, and we agree.

The olive oil marinades are infused with crushed botanicals: chiles, herbs, pollens and spices. Flavors include:

 
The flavor combinations are irresistable, and there’s a bonus: After you’ve consumed the cheese, use the delicious EVOO for salads, as a bread dipper, a pasta dressing or a finishing oil.

You can use the cubes in any traditional goat cheese fashion (eggs, salads, pizza, etc.), but at $6 for a jar of seven cubes, these are delicacies. We use them:

 
The company recommends adding to burgers, pasta, pizza, grilled vegetables. Each substantial rectangle of cheese can be sliced in half or thirds, or crumbled to make one jar go further.

We like giving two or three jars to fellow foodies when we’re invited to visit.

DISCOVER MORE AT CHEVOO.COM, which includes a store locator on the home page.
 
 
2. LES TROIS PETITS COCHONS: SOUS-VIDE EGG BITES

Les Trois Petits Cochons, long revered for its pates and charcuterie, has launched a new line of products: Sous-Vide Egg Bites (photos #2 and #3).

The sous-vide (soo-veed) method of cooking, which has become more prominent in the U.S. over the past 10 years, allows not just for foolproof cooking with no pots to scrub, but yields a tender texture and refined flavor elements.

The 2.5-ounce Bites, made with cage-free eggs are sold individually, ready to heat and eat (or, eat them chilled or at at room temperature). Each Bite has 10g protein, 1g total carbs, 0 sugar.

At just $1.99 each, the Bites are available in four varieties:

 
You can enjoy them for a quick, healthy, breakfast, lunch or snack; but we particularly enjoy them in gourmet mode:

 
DISCOVER MORE AT 3PIGS.COM. (That’s a lot shorter URL than TroisPetitsCochons.com, which means three little pigs in French.)
 
 
UPTON’S NATURALS: THAI-INSPIRED PASTAS

Upton’s Naturals focuses on meat alternatives made with real, recognizable ingredients. Their latest line of Meal Kits is our favorite: pasta-based mains with Thai-inspired flavors.

 
The products are not dehydrated, and are packaged in a retort pouch to maintain freshness (photo #4).

Upton’s Naturals’ Meal Kits are available at select Whole Foods Market locations, independent stores and natural food chains across the country for an SRP of $4.99 each.

DISCOVER MORE AT UPTONSNATURALS.COM.
  

Since the avocado toast craze began, fancy toast has become the new normal, a dish to eagerly anticipate. But how about more fancy toast toppings?

Toast toppings are now as diverse as the people making them: savory, spicy, sweet, and perhaps a mix of all three.

Our colleague Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet Blog, looked at the nut butters in her cupboard and made the following toasts with nothing more than other basic ingredients found in the same cupboard.

Some are obvious, some are a bit more avant-garde, but all are thoroughly delicious.

Hannah’s toasts are vegan, but you can substitute nut butter for cream cheese, dairy butter, hummus, ricotta or other spreadable, and add or exchange breakfast or other meats or seafood.

And don’t forget the base element: bread. Baguette, brioche, challah, ciabatta, English muffin, fruit bread, olive bread, nut bread, peasant bread, pita, pumpernickel, rye, soda bread, sourdough, whole grain, even white bread: The world is yours to toast.

As Hannah says, “This is just the beginning of an endless tale.”

> February 23rd is National Toast Day.

> The different types of bread.

> The history of bread.
 
 
 
20 WAYS TO TOP YOUR TOAST: SWEET & SAVORY

Get inspiration from the following, then design your own for breakfast or snacking.

[2] From top left: mashed avocado with radish and sweet chili drizzle, cream cheese with roasted squash and stir-fried sage, yellow bell pepper spread with kmarinated red peppers and grilled mushrooms, cream cheese with mandarin segments and chia, hummus with blackberries, chopped egg whites and beets with watercress.

 
 
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE WAYS TO TOAST?