Baking Christmas cookies is a tradition in many homes. While recipes abound, here’s a spin: cup cookies.

They’re notched to fit on a cup rim, an engaging way to serve a cookie with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or milk.

You can make your favorite recipe or use refrigerated cookie dough.

Treat the family, bring a batch to the workplace, give them as gifts: It adds fun to flavor.

 
Thanks to Pampered Chef for the inspiration!
 
 
RECIPE: CUP COOKIES

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MIX the sugar cookie dough with the flour in a medium bowl. Roll out the dough on a pastry mat to ¼” (6mm) thickness.

2. CUT out the stars, using a star-shaped cookie cutter, and transfer to a cookie sheet. Using the releasing end of a cake tester tool or a knife, create a notch halfway up the center of the star. (In the recent past, you could buy special cookie cutters that included the notch, but we haven’t been able to find them.)

[2] Peppermint hot chocolate with a sugar cookie star (photo © Pampered Chef).

[2] Stephen Twining, a 10th generation Twining, in front of the original London store, established in 1706.

[3] Twinings Buttermint Herbal Tea adds vanilla flavor to peppermint tea.

Twinings recently released three new herbal teas: Berry Fusion, Buttermint and Lemon Delight. The brand now sells 14 varieties of herbal tea in the U.S.

We received samples along with instructions for brewing herbal tea.

Herbal tea is not technically tea. The true teas are black, green and white teas, which are the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.

Rather, herbal tea is classified as a tisane (tee-ZAHN)*, a brew of herbs, flowers or fruits. There’s more about herbal tea below.

Here, from Stephen Twining, Director of Corporate Relations, “tea ambassador” and 10th generation family member, are tea-brewing tips.
 
 
10 TIPS FOR A PERFECTLY BREWED CUP OF TEA

The process for brewing all kinds of tea is the same. The difference is in the brewing times (see the chart below).

1. Warm the pot. Fill a clean pot or mug with hot water, then pour it out.

2. Boil fresh, cold water. Start with freshly-drawn cold water. Never reuse previously boiled water.

3. Don’t over-boil the water. As soon as the teapot comes to a boil, remove it from the heat. Over-boiling reduces the oxygen in the water and can make the tea taste flat.

4. Pour water over the tea bag. Place the tea bag in the mug first, then pour the boiling water over it.

5. Let the tea bag sit. Some people are accustomed to dunking or pressing the bag. It’s best to let the bag sit, to allow the full steeping process to occur.

6. Savor the herbal essence. The first thing you’ll notice is the scent of the tea. Take a moment to savor the aroma.

7. Never judge a tea by its color. First, each variety of tea has its own color. There is no single color for black, green or white teas. and the same is true for herbals. As the color is released, it is tempting to think the tea is ready. But wait a bit longer. Herbal tea should brew for four minutes. Check the times for other types of tea below.

8. Wait for the flavor to develop. Flavor is the component that takes the longest to develop, so let the tea steep to the full four minutes to fully extract the flavor.

9. Customize your cup. A cup of herbal tea requires no additions—and certainly not milk! But you can add honey, sugar or a squeeze of lemon. Without sweetener, it’s just 4 calories a cup.

10. Make iced tea. Some people like herbal tea even more when it’s iced. Brew some to keep in the fridge.
 
 
OPTIMAL TEA BREWING TIMES

Before they were refreshing drinks, herbal teas were a major medical treatment (part of what today is known as homeopathy).

Since before written time, medicine men and women used bark, flowers, leaves, roots and seeds, infused in hot water, to treat a variety of maladies.

Modern aspirin, for an example, was derived from the bark of the white willow tree, which has been used to treat pain for millennia. The bark contains salicin, a glucoside that has an anti-inflammatory effect. Here are many more examples.

A well-steeped herbal tea delivers a plant’s benefits in an easily ingestible form. A few of today’s popular homeopathic teas:

We’re having a spread cocktail party. It’s not a Christmas/holiday party: We’re deliberately doing something different.

There will be no cheese ball covered with bright red pomegranate arils, no eggnog scented with nutmeg, no holiday cookies. Just spreads.

In fact, we’re calling them cocktail spreads, since we’ll be serving them with wine and cocktails.

It’s not that we’re anti-Christmas; it’s just that we’ll be eating all the traditional seasonal party foods at everyone else’s parties.
 
 
WHAT’S A SPREAD?

A spread is a food that is literally spread, generally with a knife, onto bread, crackers or similar foods. The bread serves as a base to enjoy the flavorful spread.

Spreads are distinguished from dips, which are not spread onto a food but but have food dipped into them instead. Spreads are thicker, dips are tinner.

Spreads can be made from

 
 
SAVORY SPREADS

We we’ll be serving a dozen choices from this master list. Make a selection of different colors and intensities (mild to pungent).

 
 
HOW TO SERVE THE SPREADS

Set everything out buffet-style.

Fortunately, we’ve got lots of bowls, and baskets for the different breads, toasts and crackers (the most interesting ones we can find).

There will be gluten-free crackers and crudités for the carb-averse.

And for those who need something more “substantial,” there will be a honey baked ham with honey mustard, and a poached salmon with yet another spread: sour cream and dill.

Now for the tough work: cutting down the list of spreads to pick an interesting collection.

[1] Pimento cheese spread. Here’s the recipe from Wisconsin Cheese Talk.

[2] Spinach spread. Here’s the recipe from Calculus To Cupcakes. You can blend arugula, broccoli rabe, kale, watercress or other greens with the spinach.

[3] Tarama (caviar) spread, using the tiny orange or reddish roe of carp, cod or mullet. Here’s the recipe from David Lebovitz.

[4] White bean dip, from David Tanis Market Cooking.

Frozen chicken breasts (photo courtesy The Spruce).

[3] Frozen salmon (photo courtesy Frozen Tuna Fish).

Frozen shrimp (photo courtesy Chef Julie Yoon).

Going through a pile of articles we tore out to read “later,” we found one that was well worth sharing.

It’s about refreezing thawed foods. What other articles, and mom, told you about it may not be accurate.

Here’s what the Ask Well column in The New York Times has to say about it, starting with the “easily refreezable” foods.

Tina Hanes, a registered dietitian with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, confirms:

“You can refreeze anything as long as it’s been handled properly.” It is safe to thaw and then refreeze frozen breads, cakes, fruits, vegetables and processed foods.

Particularly with fruits and vegetables, however, re-freezing and then re-thawing may affect the texture, taste and color. But they’re still safe to eat.

Now for the main course:

REFREEZING THAWED PROTEINS

In general, says Ms. Hanes, the danger of refreezing thawed proteins (meat, poultry, fish, seafood) are myth, with a couple of caveats.

“It’s one of the most popular questions we get on our hotline,” said Ms. Haines. The scoop:

Any raw or cooked food that has been thawed can be refrozen as long as it was thawed properly—in the refrigerator, not on the counter—and hasn’t spoiled.

This includes raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood.

The way to best way defrost a frozen protein is in the fridge, overnight or a day in advance, as required. This is “safe defrosting,” and you can refreeze the protein if you decide not to use it—as long as it’s newly defrosted.

Don’t expect good results if the thawed food is in the fridge for 3 days, it may be spoiled. Spoiled food often smells bad or “off,” and may be sticky or slimy.

The U.S.D.A. food safety site, at FoodSafety.gov, has a chart with recommendations on how long specific foods can be kept in the fridge. For example:

 
Here are defrosting techniques to avoid.

Defrosting: What Not To Do

 
COOKING FROZEN MEAT & SEAFOOD

Certain cooking methods, such as braising, slow cooking, stewing and making soups can be done with frozen meat.

Here’s how to cook a frozen steak in less than 30 minutes.

Simply search online for how to cook other proteins in their frozen state.

Here’s our list of Thanksgiving leftovers:

 
We’ve been deluged with leftover recipes for pizza, pot pie, sliders, and other foods that are as heavy as yesterday’s meal. So our tip today is:

Give your stomach a break: Eat lighter.

To us, that means salad. Here are two suggestions:
 
 
RECIPE 1. LAYERED SALAD WITH TURKEY LEFTOVERS

It’s an easy recipe: Take whatever you have and make a layered salad. If you don’t have enough salad greens:

[1] Make a layered salad with Thanksgiving leftovers (photo courtesy Taste Of Home).

 
A simple vinaigrette keeps things light, but here’s the creamy dressing shown in the photo, from Taste Of Home:

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all ingredients. Let the flavors meld for 30 minutes before serving.

This recipe from Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group adapts a Szechuan classic, Bang-Bang Chicken (photo below).

[3] A version of the “original,” Bang-Bang Chicken. Here’s the recipe from Kitchen Nine.

RECIPE 2: BANG-BANG TURKEY SALAD

This recipe for Bang-Bang Turkey Salad was developed by the head chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen restaurant. Prep time is 15 minutes.
 
Ingredients For 2 Servings

For The Salad

 
For The Garnish

 
For The Sauce

1. WASH all the salad ingredients and finely slice the radishes, spring onions and daikon.

2. MAKE the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium. Add the onion, sriracha, red pepper flakes and garlic, and cook, stirring, until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to the onion mixture; cook and stir until smooth. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.

2. MIX the watercress, bean sprouts, radishes, daikon, ginger and chili and season with salt and olive oil. Place them in the serving bowl.

3. PLACE the turkey on top of the salad, then add the sauce. Garnish with the spring onions, coriander and radishes and place on top. Finish with the toasted peanuts and sesame seeds.
 
WHAT DOES BANG-BANG MEAN?

You may see dishes called Bang-Bang Chicken on Chinese and other restaurant menus (photo #3). Usually an appetizer in Chinese restaurants, it’s popular enough to be a main course salad at non-Asian restaurants such as Bonefish Grill and Cheesecake Factory.

According to CulinaryLore.com, Bang-Bang Chicken is a traditional Szechuan Chinese recipe of cold chicken drizzled with a spicy and nutty sauce (e.g. peanut sauce). It’s a street food, sold as a snack by street vendors in the Szechuan (Sichuan) province.

The dish can be found on menus as “shredded chicken with sesame sauce.” It is also called bon bon, pon pon, or pang bang chicken.

The chicken is tenderized and shredded by pounding with a heavy wooden stick. The word bàng in Mandarin means stick (and is pronounced somewhere between bong and pong).