[1] Topped with whipped cream that anchors a gingerbread man; photo courtesy The Hopeless Housewife. [2] A pile of mini marshmallow “snowballs” with a caramel drizzle; photo courtesy Damn Delicious. [3] Snowman marshmallows; photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

There are special ways to serve hot chocolate during the holiday season. Some of the ones we’ve enjoyed:

 
SOME EVEN MORE SPECIAL CHRISTMAS COCOA

 
Plus: Holiday Marshmallows

Take a look and you’ll find holiday marshmallows shaped as evergreen trees, snowflakes, gingerbread men and so forth; or decorated in red and green. At Williams-Sonoma alone, we found:

 
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COCOA & HOT CHOCOLATE

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCHNAPPS, EAU DE VIE, LIQUEUR & CORDIAL

NATURAL OR DUTCHED COCOA: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

CHOCOLATE TRIVIA

The words cacao and chocolate come from our ancient neighbors in Central America, who first sampled its joys. Cacao trees, which originated in the Amazon region, grew wild in the rainforests of ancient Mexico. They were cultivated by the native Olmecs and the Mayas who followed them.

While the sweet white fruit of the cacao pod was initially eaten, Amazonian natives ultimately found that grinding and mixing the seeds with water produced an even greater treat: the original cocoa beverage.

Chocolate has been a beverage for most of its history as a food. We know that more than 2500 years the Maya were making the cacao beverage; and perhaps as early as 1200 B.C.E. the Olmec were doing so.

Still, it was fatty and bitter; the foam was considered to be the best part. Christopher Columbus and his officers, offered the elixir as a great honor, found the bitter concoction unpalatable and couldn’t even choke it down. He had no idea the locals were offering him their most valuable goods for trade. Thinking the product abominable, he brought only a few beans back to Spain.

Seventeen years later, Hernan Cortés understood its value, and promoted plantations run by Europeans. Today’s descendants of the Maya and Aztec still prepare cacao and corn-based drinks that are similar to those enjoyed by their ancestors.

Here’s more on the history of chocolate.
 
  

[1] While chefs use the caviar to add glamour to a wide variety of dishes, for us the most glamorous is to eat the caviar from the tin, with a glass of Champagne. [2] Caviar must be refrigerated, but we love the idea of a gift bag full of tins. [3] Three expressions of Sturia caviar. [4] The special holiday edition (photos courtesy Sturia).

France is known for its haute cuisine and haute couture.

But in some circles, it’s also known for its caviar. Sturia combines the two: fine caviar in stylish packaging.

Sturia is the flagship brand of Sturgeon SCEA*, the leading French caviar producer. Established near Bordeaux 20 years ago, the company pioneered sturgeon farming in France. It sells its caviar all over the world.

Farmed caviar, you say?

THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE GREAT WILD STURGEON
For those who haven’t followed the tipping point of beluga caviar, here it is:

Overfishing, poaching, pollution, and damming of the rivers where the famed Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea sturgeon have bred for millions of years, drastically decreased the amount of caviar available, as world demand increased. Ninety percent of beluga sturgeons live in the Caspian Sea. In just 40 years, the beluga was at the brink of extinction.

The other two Caspian sturgeons, the osetra and the sevruga, were also on the Endangered Species List. The species dates back to the Triassic period, some 245 to 208 million years ago.

In January 2006, the countries that bordered these seas banded together to exclude exports (more).

CAVIAR TODAY

As a result, more than 20 years ago, caviar farms were set up to raise sturgeon in river environments all over the world, from Europe to South America to Asia.

The result: osestra and white sturgeon caviar, sustainably produced. At 3,300 pounds, the beluga is too huge to farm. The white sturgeon, which can reach 1,799 pounds, and the 440-pound osetra sturgeon, are best for farming (see the different types of caviar).

Sturgeon farming is a long, painstaking process.

 
The result: One of the most luxurious foods in the world.

BUYING STURIA CAVIAR

Depending on the level of sophistication of the recipient, Sturia guides you to which of their caviars you should consider.

What particularly tickles us about Sturia is the packaging, in tins screened with art that we would happily display after the caviar is gone. (Or, repurpose them to as packaging for jewelry and other small gifts.)
 
 
CAVIAR TRIVIA

 
BRUSH UP ON CAVIAR

Glossary of Caviar Terms

Caviar Q & A

†In fact, 85% of the 27 sturgeon species are at approaching extinction.
  

For your holiday celebrations, we propose a perfect Christmas cocktail:

 
A conventional Mimosa combines sparkling wine and orange juice (see the Mimosa history, below). Substitute cranberry juice and you’ve got the holiday version.

(For a Chanukah version, use sparkling wine and blue Curaçao, with blue sparkling sugar. Here’s the recipe; photo below.).

You need only two ingredients—wine and cranberry juice. But you can create a more complex flavor and glamorous look recipe by adding:

 
RECIPE #1: CRANBERRY MIMOSA

You can make the drink sweeter with a sweeter sparkling wine, by adding liqueur, and/or by increasing the percentage of cranberry juice (which also makes a less potent drink).

 
Preparation

1. CHILL the wine and juice in advance.

2. RIM the glasses in advance. Moisten the glass rims and twist them in a plate of sugar at the beginning of the event.

3. ADD the juice and optional liqueur to the glass. Stir briefly.

4. TOP off with the sparkling wine. Garnish as desired and serve.
 
Garnishes

 
RECIPE #2: MOCKTAIL VERSION

Ingredients

 
RECIPE #3: FROZEN GRAPE PICKS

Increase the ingredients as needed for the size of your gathering. You can mix the colors or use just one color of grapes.

 
Preparation

1. REMOVE from the stems and wash the grapes.

2. PLACE 3-4 grapes on each pick and roll in a plate of sugar. The coating does not need to be even or heavy; a smaller amount makes for better eating. If the grapes have dried, you can lightly spray them with water. Let them sit for 15 minutes for the sugar to adhere.

3. FREEZE the skewers until ready to use.
 
THE HISTORY OF THE MIMOSA COCKTAIL

[1] Cranberry Mimosa with a conventional garnish (photo courtesy Ocean Spray). [2] With an “evergreen” garnish: a rosemary sprig and red grapes (photo courtesy Delish). [3] Like a Santa hat with a rim of sparkling sugar (photo courtesy Stress Baking). [4] With frozen sugared grapes (photo courtesy The Cookie Rookie). [5] For a deeper red cocktail: Brachetto d’Aqui sparkling Italian wine (photo courtesy Banfi). [6] The Chanukah version. Here’s the recipe from Announcing It, plus more Chanukah cocktails.

Served in a Champagne flute, it is believed to be named after the the mimosa evergreen shrub (Acacia dealbata), which bears flowers of a similar light orange color as the drink.

Because of the juice component, the Mimosa is often served at brunch. A Grapefruit Mimosa is a popular variation.

A related drink, the Buck’s Fizz, has two parts Champagne to one part juice—and sometimes a splash of grenadine. Created at London’s Buck’s Club by bartender Pat McGarryhe, the Buck’s Fizz predates the Mimosa by about four years.
  

[1] Top a cocktail or mocktail with cotton candy (photo Jeff Green | Barbara Kraft | Arizona Biltmore). [2] Soft drinks, shakes, and so forth can get the cotton candy treatment (photo courtesy Aww Sam). [3] Spun sugar, the predecessor of cotton candy (photo courtesy Food Network).

December 7th is National Cotton Candy Day. In different parts of the world, it’s known as candy cobwebs, candy floss, fairy floss and spider webs, among other names.

THE HISTORY OF COTTON CANDY

The father of cotton candy was spun sugar. In the mid-18th century, master confectioners in Europe and America learned to hand-craft spun sugar nests as Easter decorations and elaborate dessert presentations.

According to The Dictionary of American Food and Drink, the debut of the product we know as cotton candy took place in 1897 in Nashville.

Candymakers William Morrison and John C. Wharton invented an electric machine that allowed crystallized sugar to be poured onto a heated spinning plate, pushed by centrifugal force through a series of tiny holes.

In 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Morrison and Wharton sold the product, then known as “fairy floss,” in cardboard boxes for 25 cents a serving. Though the price equaled half the admission to the Fair itself, they sold 68,655 boxes!

Here’s more cotton candy history.

COTTON CANDY AS A DRINK GARNISH

For those with a sweet tooth, cotton candy is a fun garnish for cocktails, mocktails and other non-alcoholic drinks.

Caterers love the idea, as do some mixologists. Some mixologists create “magic” at the bar or table, presenting a glass of cotton candy, then pouring the cocktail over it.

Check out this YouTube video and this fun recipe. The cotton candy disappears “like magic”.

 
THE COTTON CANDY COCKTAIL

Match the cotton candy color to the drink, or create contrast.

Here are some recipes to start you off:

Cotton Candy Daiquiri

Garnished Shots

Multicolor Cocktail With Multicolor Cotton Candy
 
 
For a drinkable dessert, garnish a glass of sweet wine.

You can find many more online, including a Pinterest page on cotton candy cocktails.

TIP: You don’t have to add an ice cream scoop-size ball of cotton candy. Sometimes, less is more.

If someone on your gift list is very serious about cheese (such a person is a turophile, Greek for cheese lover), consider the Cheese Grotto.

Think of it as a cheese humidor, to protect precious cheeses instead of cigars.

Everything old is new again. Cheese Grotto is based on a very old design, used to keep ripe cheeses in peak condition for generations. There’s nothing like it in the modern marketplace.

Designed by a cheesemonger, Cheese Grotto creates a perfect environment for wedges and uncut wheels to thrive. It keeps cheeses at their optimal stages of ripeness.

In other words, it keeps precious (costly!) cheeses in a state of stasis, maintaining their ideal ripeness for a longer period.

We’re not talking about supermarket swiss, mind you, or cheeses that you plan to consume the same day; but of artisan cheeses that sell for $25.00 a pound and up: cheeses you want to savor, a bit a day.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH PLASTIC WRAP?

Most cheese counters wrap your cheese in plastic wrap. That’s just to transport it home.

 
After you get home, cheese experts recommend re-wrapping the cheese in special cheese wrapping paper.

While cheese wrapping paper is an improvement over conventional kitchen wraps—and is certainly less expensive than the Cheese Grotto—it isn’t nearly as effective (which is why cheesemonger Jessica Sennett created Cheese Grotto in the first place).

Cheese Grotto solves the air flow and humidity problems with a humidor environment fostered by a clay brick that is briefly soaked in water. It releases moisture into the confined space of the Grotto.

 
Cheese Grotto has two adjustable shelves and holds 3-6 cheeses, depending on the size of the wheels or wedges.
 
WHERE DO YOU GET ONE?

The Cheese Grotto, handmade to order in Virginia, is $350. That includes optional engraved initials and shipping.

The materials are made from wood and other components that are natural and environmentally friendly.

Order yours at CheeseGrotto.com.

[1] and [2] For the true cheese connoisseur, the Cheese Grotto (photos courtesy JRennet). [3] What the professionals have (a cheese cave at Murray’s Cheese).