[1] All chocolate pudding parfait (photo © Elegant Affairs Caterers.)

[2] Mixed flavors and garnishes (photo © Yotel |NYC).

[3] Tiramisu pudding parfait (photo courtesy The Vegan Cookie Fairy).

[ ] [4] Butterscotch and vanilla pudding parfait (photo courtesy Gather By D’Amico).

It’s the annual crazy-busy holiday season. In the midst of gift shopping, holiday cooking and sending cards (or e-letters or whatever), there’s a stream of adult friends and kids’ friends dropping by, planned get-togethers and other celebrations. When you don’t have time to bake a cake (and don’t want to pay $$$ for them), the solution is pudding parfaits.

Instant pudding, cookie crumbs and a garnish make a pudding parfait with little work, but everyone will be delighted. In our home, there are always boxes of Jell-O pudding (regular and sugarless), cookies and some type of chocolate or candy.

With just 15 minutes advance notice—or while the coffee brews—you can make a pudding parfait.
Combinations:

 
NO COOKIES?

Substitute:

 
FOR ADULTS: LIQUEUR

Add a hint of liqueur to:

 
GARNISHES

See what you have on hand:

[1] All Chocolate Parfait: chocolate cookie crumbs, chocolate pudding, chocolate mini chips.

[2] Assorted Flavors: chocolate layered, vanilla, vanilla/chocolate layered, variously topped with candied orange peel, chopped nuts, cookie crumbs, mini meringue, strawberry, raspberry.

[3] Tiramisu Parfait: chocolate cookie crumbs flavored with coffee liqueur, vanilla pudding flavored with coffee liqueur and instant coffee, topped with whipped cream and a chocolate wafer.

[4] Double Pudding Parfait: chocolate and vanilla pudding layers, topped with whipped cream and a chocolate “cigarette.”
 
  

SAVANNAH BEE COMPANY ARTISAN HONEYS

Anything from this wonderful company makes a great gift, including the honey beauty products. Since 2002, we’ve been avid customers.

The company gathers varietal honeys:

 
They’re sold in different sizes, with prices varying slightly by varietal. These prices are for the tupelo honey:

 
You can’t go wrong with anything, but if you need a recommendation:
 
FOR ANYBODY: WHIPPED HONEY

 
FOR THE CONNOISSEUR: TUPELO HONEY

[1] Whipped honey: spreadable in four luscious flavors. [2] Tupelo honey: 12-ounce jar, 20-ounce flute, 3-ounce jar (photos courtesy Savannah Bee).

For two weeks each spring, white tupelo trees in the Southeastern swamps bloom with flowers that glisten with nectar. The bees flock to the blossoms. The result: tupelo honey with its buttery undertones and mellow, clean sweetness.

Tupelo honey complements numerous foods, and it’s definitely another one of those “eat from the spoon” delights.

The entire line is certified kosher by KSA. Just try some on those latkes!

NOTE: The honeys recommended here have nothing to do with “supermarket honey,” which is gathered overseas from many sources and blended to create a profile that will appeal to the lowest common denominator (with all due respect).
 
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HONEY

THE HISTORY OF HONEY

Oh honey: The spicy honey is one of our favorite new [to us] products of the year (photos courtesy Bushwick Kitchen).

Sugar with spice is certainly nice. We love the palate buzz that comes with the chile-infused honey from Bushwick Kitchen.

Wildflower honey from New York State’s Hudson Valley is infused with fresh chiles in Brooklyn, delivering a New York state of mind that we love.

The artisans also produce Meyer Lemon Honey and Salted Honey, flavored maple syrups and other products that we hope to try soon. Take a look at Bushwick Kitchen.

The honey we’ve had several times (and loved so much we didn’t sufficiently pay attention to the other flavors) is the Bee’s Knees Spicy Honey. The honey is first infused, and for a finishing touch a single red chile is suspended in the bottle.

This charmer of a hot honey condiment goes well with…

 
A 13½-ounce squeeze bottle is $15.95 at King Arthur Flour.

But we bet your bottle won’t last the week. So…

A gift set of all three bottles is $44.99 at Bushwick Kitchen.

Honey Trivia: Honey is the oldest edible food, found in the tomb of a pharaoh. It doesn’t decay because it has virtually no moisture. That’s also why it was used to dress wounds in ancient times: No bacteria could survive to infect the injury.

MORE HONEY TRIVIA

In the winter of 1919, Congress passed the 18th Amendment, outlawing the production and consumption of alcohol in the United States.

The original intent was to put an end to social misconduct, crime, and family crisis—since on payday, too many breadwinners would squander much of their paychecks at the saloon, leading to brawling, inability to pay for rent and food, aggression at home, etc.

Alas, instead of creating a better society, the law engendered the growth of organized crime, which was happy to bootleg, provide protection to speakeasies, and so on.

Those who wanted to party at home found a way with bootlegged spirits, bathtub gin (which could cause blindness), and other horrors.

After thirteen years of living with Prohibition, the 18th Amendment was repealed on December 5th, 1933 under the leadership of President Franklin D. Roosevelt*. The date has been referred to as “Repeal Day.”

So celebrate your freedom from bathtub gin with one of the…

TOP 12 GIN COCKTAILS

 
BATHTUB GIN: WHAT WAS IT?

Gin was the predominant spirit in the 1920s. After the Volstead Act (which led to the 18th Amendment), bathtub gin was “of necessity” created in actual bathtubs or other large containers.

The alcohol to make it was either purchased from bootleggers or from legitimate medical suppliers, which sold denatured or wood alcohol.

[1] The Gin & Tonic (photo © Drizzle And Drip, plus the recipe).

[2] The Martini vies with the Gin & Tonic to be the most popular gin drink in America. We’re wild about Petrossian’s Caviartini® garnish, caviar cubes made exclusively by the company (photo © Petrossian).

Many gin cocktails were created to cover up the less-than-ideal flavor of bathtub gin.

Actual distillation requires a closed distillation apparatus; it can’t be done in an open container like a bathtub.

The process of converting wood alcohol into a drinkable form was not always reliable, resulting in batches that were poisonous, often leading to blindness and even death: About 10,000 people died from drinking bad alcohol during Prohibition.

________________

*Not everything was rosy after the 19th Amendment was passed, repealing Prohibition. Prohibition gave way to the start of the Great Depression in the early 1930s. Constitution trivia: The 18th Amendment is the only one to be repealed; a total of 27 have been ratified. The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known as The Bill Of Rights, were ratified together in 1791.
 
 

[1] Nonna Menna’s buttered bread with anchovies (photo courtesy Giulia Scarpaleggia). [2] We substitute pimiento for the capers (photo courtesy La Tienda). [3] You can use anchovy filets in olive oil or boquerones, marinated filets turned white by the vinegar (photo courtesy La Tienda). [4] Stirato is the closed Italian bread to the French baguette (photo courtesy Them Apples).

We do it every year as a co-op event: Seven of us prepare the seven fish/seafood dishes, and the eighth makes dessert. (Note: With seven courses, the portions are smaller.)

If you’re having a “regular” Christmas Eve party, set out the Feast Of The Seven Fishes as a buffet.

We live near a good Italian bakery and can pick up stirato, the Italian bread closest to a baguette; but you can bake it yourself.

Or buy baguettes!

It’s a splendid feast, with opera playing in the background (or Christmas carols or Il Volo, if you prefer).

For menu suggestions and a backgrounder on the holiday, check out our:

 
RECIPE #1: OUR 2016 APPETIZER

As we sit around the sofa with bottles of wine, warming up for the main meal, we’re having a bread and butter with anchovies, inspired by the Tuscan grandmother of food writer Giulia Scarpaleggia. Nonna Menna added capers as well.

“Just use quality ingredients,” says Giulia, “because there are no tricks nor deceits!” You can even…
 
HAVE A TASTING, COMPARING THE DIFFERENT BRANDS

Butter. Our go-to butters are from Cabot’s and Vermont Creamery, but we’ll add Kerrygold, Organic Valley and Plugrá. If we had more capacity, we’d test Breakstone and Land o’ Lakes as well.

Anchovies. We are happy with Cento, an inexpensive brand available at supermarkets, Trader Joe’s and elsewhere. We can also find Ortiz and Roland in our neighborhood, and are ordering some fancy brands online. (There are no fresh anchovies in our markets now.)

Capers. Instead of Nonna’s capers, we’re using pimiento, a wonderful pairing with anchovies, with a garnish of chopped parsley. If we have time, we’ll add some lemon zest and garlic, or gremolata.
 
PUTTING IT TOGETHER

The recipe is a no-brainer, but here’s how we’re serving it:

Place all the ingredients on the table and let people butter and top their own.
 
Ingredients & Preparation

 
Variations

RECIPE #2: FRUTTI DI MARE FIRST COURSE
 
Frutti di mare, “fruits of the sea” in Italian, is the name of a dish made of different seafood on the coasts of Italy.

Frutti di mare literally means “fruits of the sea” and can include all types of seafood, including mussels, clams, prawns and other shellfish.

It can be served in different ways: crudo (raw), fried and sautéed, for example.

Sautéed, it is often used to top bucatini, linguine or spaghetti.

For a first course, gather your favorite seafood and:

Frutti di mare, mixed seafood, can be served in many ways. [1] Marinated, at All’ Onda | NYC). [2] With pasta; here’s the recipe from InPerugia.com.

[1] Gingerbread cookies with two hits of chocolate: cocoa powder and chocolate chips. [2] Swedish pearl sugar, not to be confused with Belgian pearl sugar, which is much larger. [3] Don’t forget the mini chips! (Photos courtesy King Arthur Flour.)