[2] Create a Caprese wreath on a platter. Here’s the recipe from the Daily Mail.

[3] This Caprese wreath uses the smallest mozzarella balls, called perlini (photo courtesy Country Living).

Is there anything blander than out-of-season tomatoes? The good news is that you can improve tomato flavor. Or, don’t by out-of-season tomatoes in the first place.

If you need bright red color in the off-season, use these alternatives:

 
 
HOW TO MAKE BLAND TOMATOES TASTE BETTER

If you truly must have slices of tomato, here are three tricks to make them better.

 
 
HOW TO MAKE A TASTY CAPRESE SALAD

With its red and green colors, Caprese salad is a natural during the holiday season.

If the Caprese salad in photo #1 makes you want to dig right in, here’s the recipe.

This recipe substitutes basil pesto and fresh parsley for the traditional fresh basil. We’re fine with pesto as an extra condiment, but if there isn’t fresh basil, it isn’t a Caprese. The mozzarella and tomatoes demand it!

In other words, substitute the parsley in the photo with basil.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the mozzarella slices atop the tomato slices and arrange them on the plate as desired. drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar.

2. DECORATE the plate with stripes of balsamic glaze and pesto.

3. GARNISH with the julienned sundried tomatoes, shredded basil, and olives.

________________

*Pimiento (pim-YEN-toe) is the Spanish word for a particular sweet chile pepper similar to a red bell pepper. It’s heart-shaped, about 3 to 4 inches long by 2 to 3 inches wide. In the U.S., it is largely spelled pimento. Here’s more about pimento.

†Balsamic glaze is balsamic vinegar that has been reduced into a syrup. The benefit here is that it will hold a straight line; i.e., it isn’t runny like vinegar. You can buy it or make it. Here’s more about balsamic glaze.
 
 

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What are those jumbo grapes you occasionally find in the market?

They’re muscadine grapes, Vitis rotundifolia, a species native to the warm, humid climate of the southeastern and south-central United States.

The vines are well adapted to their native warm and humid climate. The grape has been extensively cultivated since the 16th century.

Today there are more than 300 muscadine cultivars grown in the U.S. When ripe, the different varieties are green, bronze, red or black.

Today’s crops include common (natural) grapes and patented grapes, which are hybrids bred (and patented) to enhance qualities.

Like other grapes, muscadines are a rich source of polyphenols, powerful antioxidants.

Muscadines naturally have thicker skin, so the fruit was not popular as a table grape. Instead, the variety was, and is, typically used in making jelly, juice and wine.

Modern breeding of patent grapes has made the skin readily palatable, and it is these grapes that have sprung up in food markets in the last few years.

Food Trivia: Fans of older novels may have come across characters drinking scuppernong wine. It is a dry red table wine made from the bronze variety of muscadine. In the South, bronze muscadine grapes are called scuppernong, after the Scuppernong River in North Carolina, where they were originally bred. The other colors are called muscadine.
 
 
WAYS TO USE MUSCADINE GRAPES

You can use muscadines anywhere you use other grapes, although in situations requiring a fork, you may need to cut them in half to spear them.

 
 
COMMON AMERICAN GRAPES

While immigrants brought their own varieties from Europe (known as Old World grapes), America had a ready supply of indigenous grapes.
 
Concord Grapes

Native to eastern North America, the wild vines of Vitis labrusca were first cultivated in the mid-19th century in Concord, Massachusetts, by crossbreeding them with the common European wine grape Vitis vinifera.

Concord grapes have a sweet, candy-like flavor and a “foxy” aroma. They’re the flavor Americans think of as “grapey”.

What’s “foxy?” The term refers to a distinctive note found in some wines: a sort of wild, musky, animal aroma. The grapes are often called “fox grapes.”

The aroma is unusual, but not unpleasant. One wine writer commented that it reminds him of the scent of a fur coat.

The quality is often found in American grape varieties like Concord or Catawba, and the aroma of the wine is usually accompanied by a grapey flavor.

Concord grapes are known to most Americans as the grape used to make grape jelly and purple grape juice. They are the most common source of the grape flavoring in candies and sodas.

Concord grapes are also used to make sweet wines. Their deep purple color makes them a popular choice for sacramental wines and Kosher wines.

[2] On the vine (photo courtesy Stark Bros).

[3] Add them to the roasting pan with any protein (here’s the recipe from Steelehouse Kitchen).

[4] You can freeze the grapes as a snack, and/or frost them with sugar (here’s the recipe for sugar-frosted grapes; photo and more recipes from Spoongood.

Other cultivars of the species Vitis labrusca are used to make dry wines.

Before the Concord grape became prominent, Catawba was the most planted grape in early 19th-century America. It was and is used to make white and rosé sparkling wines, as well as juice, jams and jellies.
 
Isabella Grapes

Isabella is another cultivar derived from Vitis labrusca. It is used as a table grape, and to make juice and wine.

A dark grape originating in the southern United States, it has spread around the world.

It is widely planted in South America, and is one of the most popular grapes in the former USSR, grown in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova, used to make dry red wines.
 
 
To learn more about native American grapes, just Google. Here are two articles for starters:

Give your holiday pies some panache with these snowflake pie crust cutters from Williams-Sonoma.

For a special holiday-themed pie, try this one from the Williams-Sonoma Test Kitchen. Prep time is 60 minutes, cook time is 60 minutes.
 
 
RECIPE: CRANBERRY SNOWFLAKE PIE

This recipe makes a deep-dish pie. If you don’t have a deep-dish pie pan, bake the remaining filling in a separate dish, rolling out any dough scraps to make a top crust or decorative cutouts for the second pie. Or, turn the filling into a cranberry crumble or cobbler.

Ingredients For a 9-Inch Pie

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the cranberries, brown sugar, cornstarch, orange juice and zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Cook until the cranberries soften and release their juice, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and let cool to room temperature.

2. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F (190°C).

[1] A snowflake-crust pie, ready to adorn your table (both photos Williams-Sonoma).

[2] Pie crust cutters add instant panache to holiday pies.

4. CUT out the top crust, using a snowflake pie crust cutter according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the crust on top of the pie, and trim the edges flush with the rim. Crimp the edges to seal. Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.

5. PLACE the pie dish on a baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden and the filling has begun to bubble, about 1 hour. Check the pie after 30 minutes and cover the top and edges with foil if they become too dark.

6. TRANSFER the baked pie to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 2 hours before serving. A 9-inch pie should provide 10 slices.
  

In a cup of hot coffee, he’s not so frosty (photo courtesy Illy).

There may not be enough snow on the ground to build a snowman, but you can build one atop a cappuccino or latte, with this recipe from Illy.

This easy-to-make snowman is fun for adults, and can be adapted to hot chocolate for kids.

Depending on the age of the kids and your disposition to allow them coffee (the kids in our neighborhood seem to live on mocha lattes), a latte is only 1/6 coffee; a cappuccino, 1/3. See details below.
 
 
RECIPE: SNOWMAN LATTE OR CAPPUCCINO

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Equipment

Both drinks originated in Italian cafés, but are slightly different, based on the amount of milk.

 
 
THE HISTORY OF LATTE ART

Latte art was enabled by the development of microfoam, a very velvety foam enabled by the steam wand of a cappuccino machine. The wand foams the milk in a stainless-steel pitcher; the pitcher pours the foam onto the top of the coffee.

The combination of the natural crema atop the cup of espresso and velvety microfoam allows patterns to be made. (Note that other types of milk steamers/foamers do not create microfoam.)

Latte art in the United States developed in the Seattle coffee culture of the 1980s and 1990s. By 1989 the heart pattern was a signature at David Schomer’s Espresso Vivace and the rosette pattern followed, based on a photograph Schomer saw of latte art in an Italian café.

Here’s the history of espresso, which originated at the end of the 19th century.
 
 

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You can create special holiday cocktails with seasonal ingredients—cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, peppermint.

But you can add a touch of red and green to Martinis and Margaritas as well.

Here, some suggestions to get you thinking about holiday cocktail garnishes.
 
 
OPENING THOUGHTS

If you want a red and green motif, cruise the aisles of the produce section, or start with these lists.

We don’t like to use raw cranberries. They just become detritus in the glass: No one eats them. (Some people enjoy chewing on citrus peel and mint leaves and other herbs, so we give them a pass.)

It’s the same with cinnamon sticks: They make a great impression, but they’re expensive and just end up in the trash.

Instead, use the lists below to create pleasing combinations (see photo #5 for an easy favorite).
 
 
FRUIT GARNISHES:

RED FRUIT GARNISHES

Our favorites:

 
Starfruit, which is yellow and provides perfect star slices, is a natural holiday garnish (photo #4).

Other options, like red apples and pears, are more white than red; blood orange, unless you segment it, contributes its orange peel.

Watermelon, although it can be cut into stars, simply isn’t seasonal.

You can add dried cranberries to a clear drink.
Pick bite (a snack bite on a cocktail pick): alternating red and green grapes.
 
 
GREEN FRUIT GARNISHES

 
Not great: green apples (too much white), honeydew (too light, not seasonal).

 
 
VEGETABLE GARNISHES:

RED VEGETABLE GARNISHES

 
Now, on to the veggies.
 
 
GREEN VEGETABLE GARNISHES

Sure, you can use green olives; but how about a sugar snap pea in your Martini instead?

Savory cocktails can be dressed up with:

 
Too pale green: celery, cucumber, endive, zucchini.
 
Pick snack: For a fancy bite, make a pick of cherry tomatoes, ciliegine (bite-size mozzarella balls) and a bit of basil.
 
 
BEYOND FRUITS & VEGETABLES

Glass Rimmers

Check out, from yesterday’s tip: colored sugar and salt glass rimmers (photo #3).

Mini Candy Canes

If they work with the drink, mini candy canes are a fun touch.

Drinking Straws

Instead of a garnish, or in addition to it, consider red-and-white striped straws. They add a “candy cane” touch. You can alternate with green and white versions.
 
 
MORE IDEAS

Also see these articles on cocktail garnishes:

[2] Elegant garnishing for a Martini or other light-colored drink (photo courtesy Style Me Pretty).

[3] Another option for pomegranate arils: on the bottom of the glass (photo courtesy Trendhunter).

[4] The perfect holiday cocktail garnish: a slice of starfruit (carambola,
photo courtesy STKLA).

[5] Another elegant cocktail garnish: spear a raspberry with a sprig of rosemary or thyme (photo courtesy ).

[6] With the right flavor of cocktail, a mini candy cane is fun (here’s the recipe from Mantitlement).