With best Thanksgiving wishes for a joyous holiday from all of us at THE NIBBLE.

A THANKSGIVING DINNER
by Maude M. Grant

Take a turkey, stuff it fat,
Some of this and some of that.
Get some turnips, peel them well.
Cook a big squash in its shell.
Now potatoes, big and white,
Mash till they are soft and light.
Cranberries, so tart and sweet,
With the turkey we must eat.
Pickles-yes-and then, oh my!
For a dessert a pumpkin pie,
Golden brown and spicy sweet.
What a fine Thanksgiving treat!
  
  
Maude M. Grant was born in Polk, Missouri in 1880 an spent her entire life there.

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.

The first official Thanksgiving holiday was November 26, 1863.

[1] Baron Chocolate Bars are made in two sizes and 10 flavors. [2] Everyone’s favorite: chocolate truffles with plain or flavored chocolate centers. [3] Our favorite treat: chocolate-covered gummi bears and [4] worms (all photos courtesy Baron Chocolatier).

After selling chocolate in Europe for 30 years, The Millano Group decided to establish a North American subsidiary—the U.S. is the world’s single largest chocolate market.

Selling private label* chocolates in the U.S. beginning in 2009, it more recently launched its own brand, Baron .

The brand is probably the best quality chocolate we’ve had at such low price points. For consumers looking for the most affordable premium chocolates, take a look at Baron.

All chocolates are made with natural ingredients, GMO-free and certified kosher by Triangle K.

The company makes a larger variety of products than these, but for starters, here’s what most people would like to find under the tree (or on the table or anywhere else).
 
PREMIUM CHOCOLATE BARS

Plain or fancy, there are small bars (1.76 ounces, 50g) and large bars (3.5 ounces, 100g). In addition to plain milk and dark chocolate, there are 8 specialty flavors:

 
PREMIUM CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

The truffles are round balls filled with ganache, plain and flavored, in 5.25-ounce boxes (148 g).
The are made in six flavors:

 
There are also seasonal limited-edition flavors.

CHOCOLATE GUMMIES

As gummi enthusiasts, our personal greatest delight are the milk chocolate-covered gummi bears and gummi worms.

They’re so inexpensive, we bought stocking stuffers for everyone!

Warning: addictive!

Baron is sold at some 80,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, and is also available online at Amazon and other e-tailers.

Examples of pricing from Amazon:

 
For chocolate gifting, these prices can’t be beat!

 
________________
*Private label goods are those made by a manufacturer for a client’s brand name. For example, the foods sold under the Williams-Sonoma brand are manufactured for them by other companies.
 
  

Whether for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Eve, Champagne is a tradition in holiday homes; that is, holiday homes with means.

Champagne, by far the most famous sparkling wine in the world, is in the highest demand. But can only be produced on limited acreage, the region of Champagne, in northeast France.

The worldwide demand for Champagne has been increasing since the 1990s, as affluent consumers in Asia, Russia and elsewhere joined the demands in Europe and North America. Last year, about 312 million bottles were sold.

While that may seem a lot, worldwide, 3.2 billion cases of wine were produced (2013 figures). That’s 38.4 billion bottles (54%, red wine, 37% white, 9% rosé). The number one country for volume of wine purchased is the U.S. See more wine statistics below.

The demand for Champagne and the limited ability to produce more of it has upped the prices. The most affordable bottles are non-vintage Champagnes (blends of juice from multiple grape harvests), which make up the bulk of the market. It isn’t less good than a vintage Champagne; in fact, it best shows off the house style, since vintage Champagne by law can only include grapes from that vintage.

Not all years produce great grapes (not sweet enough, too sweet, etc.), so instead of creating a vintage Champagne, vintners reserve those wines and blend them them to create the precise flavor they seek.

You can buy good nonvintage Champagnes for $35 to $45.00. Our favorites are Louis Roederer’s NV Brut Premier and Champagne Pol Roger Brut Reserve.

Only Champagne connoisseurs—those who drink a lot of it and have the expertise to analyze what they’re drinking—can tell you if a glass of Champagne served blind holds a vintage or a nonvintage.
 
 
HOW ABOUT BUBBLY THAT ISN’T CHAMPAGNE?

By law, only sparkling wines made in the Champagne region can be called Champagne. This AOC designation ensures consumers that the food has been made in its original region, with specified ingredients and traditional techniques. It delivers a taste consistently and true to its nature.

Every other wine that bubbles is called “sparkling wine.”

These other wines offer bubbles at lower prices; and every non-expert wine drinker will be thrilled that its bubbly, from wherever. (Experts also enjoy these other sparklers.)

Head to your nearest wine store and check the prices. Don’t hesitate to ask the clerks for their favorites. Consider:

 
Sweet Sparkling Wines

For dessert, go for a sweeter sparkling wine, such as:

[1] Sparkling wines are made all over the world (photo courtesy Grey Goose). [2] Check out the rosé and red wine bubblies (photo courtesy Ocean Spray). [3] freixenet-cordon-negro (photo courtesy Freixenet). [4] Cava, from Spain, is a popular, affordable sparkler (photo courtesy Food & Wines From Spain).

 
WHO DRINKS ALL THE WINE?

According to International Wine & Spirit Research, Europe and the U.S. consume the most volume, with 2013 statistics showing the big drinkers by volume to be:

 
Per capita wine consumption shows the really big drinkers. In order, they are Italy, France, Switzerrland, Portugal and Austria.

The biggest sparkling wine drinkers are the Germans, who drank 46 million cases of fizz in 2014. France came in second, at 30 million cases; and Russia, traditionally a large market for Champagne since the wine was created†, consumed 26 million cases. The U.S. was fourth, with 18 million cases, and the U.K. fifth, consuming 11 million cases—incredible given the difference in population of the two countries.
 
 
HISTORICAL NOTES ABOUT CHAMPAGNE

The region now called Champagne was settled by the Gauls around 500 B.C.E. When the Roman legions conquered the area in 56 B.C.E., they bestowed upon the land the name Campania (Champagne) because of the similarity between the rolling hills of that area with the Roman (now Italian) province of Campania (the word campania itself means “open country”).

In the Middle Ages Champagne was a duchy, then a country. In 1284, Champagne was brought under French rule when Jeanne, Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne, Brie and Bigorre married the future King Philippe IV (she was 11 years old). When Philippe’s father died the following year, Jeanne became Queen of France at age 12.

The wine grapes grown since Roman times were made into still wine†. In the 17th century, the process for making champagne was discovered and the vintners have been making bubbly since then.

The best grapes are grown where a Tertiary period chalk plain overlaps a vast Cretaceous chalk plain that lies underneath the soil layer (it’s the same huge basin that creates the White Cliffs of Dover in England). The chalk provides good drainage and reflects the heat from the sun. The unique terroir creates the unique creamy, toasty flavor of Champagne wines.
 
________________
†The original wines of Champagne, made since Roman times, were still wines. The first sparkling Champagne was created accidentally, when pressure in the bottles caused the corks to pop and sometimes, the bottles to explode. It was first called “the devil’s wine,” le vin du diable). The technique to master modern Champagne began in the 17th century, with Le Veuve Cliquot, the woman who did it. It was pricey, and became popular with royalty and nobility. The emerging middle class wanted their share, too.

[2] A version with less streusel: hmmm (photo ©y MyRecipes.com).

[3] Fortunately, the recipe makes two of these (photo © Kosher Gourmet Cuisine).

[4] Sour cream makes a big difference (photo © Wisconsin Cheese).

[5] The latest cookbook from Esther Deutsch is a gourmet kosher cookbook (photo © by Feldheim Publishers).

Not your basic apple pie, the bakery’s signature pie is made with Granny Smith apples, fresh sour cream and topped with brown sugar, cinnamon and walnut streusel. The sour cream creates a slightly piquant counterpoint to the sweetness of the pie.

The Little Pie Company recipe is a closely held secret, but some intrepid bakers have done their best to emulate it.

This version was adapted from a recipe created by Esther Deutsch, a New York–based food stylist, columnist, recipe developer and cookbook author.

Don’t halve the recipe and make only one pie. Trust us, the first one will disappear and you’ll pine for another.

You can order them from the Little Pie Company, or visit the stores in the theater district. You can buy small, medium, and large pies to go; or sit down with a slice and a beverage of choice.

> The history of pie.

> The history of apples.
 
 
RECIPE: SOUR CREAM APPLE WALNUT PIE

In her recipe, Esther:

 
Ingredients For 2 Pies
 
For The Crust:

 
For The Filling

 
For The Streusel

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F.

2. MAKE the filling: In a large bowl, whisk the sour cream, sugar, flour, salt, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the sliced apples. Pour the filling into the two frozen pastry shells and bake for 55 minutes.

3. PREPARE the walnut streusel topping: In a bowl, combine the walnuts, flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the softened butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the two pies and bake until golden, 30 minutes longer. If the crust gets golden brown before the time is up, tent it with foil.

4. COOL at room temperature for several hours before serving. If the pie has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before serving.
 
 

Usually THE NIBBLE doesn’t review spices, salad dressings and other categories where it’s difficult to describe the differences or superiority of one brand over another.

After all, if you tried garlic powder from three different producers, what would you say? Once the garlic is cooked in the recipe, any brand will taste good.

But when we met up with Just Spices, and the contents were so fresh, beautiful and aromatic (see photo #1) that we couldn’t resist them, both for our own kitchen and as stocking stuffers.

There’s something for everyone on our list—not just spices, but herbs, too:

[1] Savory Eggs Blend, a beautiful selection of aromas, flavors and colors. [2] There are two popcorn seasoning blends: BBQ and Spicy. [3] Give individual spices or a box of six Kitchen Essentials (all photos courtesy Just Spices).

A Kitchen Essentials gift box of six spices is $34.49, and includes BBQ Seasoning, Flavors of Italy, Murray River Salt, Spicy Garlic Seasoning, Tellicherry Pepper and Vegetable Broth Seasoning.
 
WHAT TO GIVE

We’re giving Oatmeal Spice Blend to our oatmeal-eating friends, BBQ and Spicy Popcorn Seasonings to our popcorn-popping friends, Spicy Garlic Blend to our garlic-loving friends, and so on.

Just scan the list above to pick what will be loved by your family, friends and colleagues (and don’t forget to buy your own).

The bright, hip packaging is terrific: “a gift waiting to happen” we thought, the first time we saw them. The color and aroma of the contents are unmatched by other brands we’ve purchased.

In fact, the brand was started by three college friends who couldn’t find what they wanted at the supermarket.

Take advantage of their inspiration and travels around the world to buy from the best small growers. Because they buy and produce in small batches, the spices are so vibrant and fragrant, we spent quite some time inhaling each one.
 
Order yours at JustSpices.com.