If you’re not the type to sip seasonal cocktails with apple, cinnamon, cranberry or pumpkin flavors, here’s a tip to seasonalize that American classic, the Martini*.

Recently we read an interview with a fashionable mixologist. Asked, among other things, of his pet peeves, he said, “I sell cocktails, I don’t sell garnishes. Everyone who orders a Martini keeps asking for more olives. We should make ‘dish of olives’ an bar menu item.”

Voilà, our tip of the day: Serve Martinis with a side dish of olives—ideally, a vibrant mix of different colors and shapes.

We adapted Sable & Rosenfeld’s Blue Martini, garnished with its blue-cheese-stuffed olives (photo #1), with red or reddish† olives, for a red-and-green holiday theme.

There is one really red olive, and other options in the purplish range.

 
Other purplish varieties you may encounter are the Alfonso, Amfissa, Nyon. But essentially: Head to the nearest olive bar and buy the reddest olives.

COCKTAIL RECIPE: HOLIDAY MARTINI

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Plus

 
Preparation

1. PRE-CHILL the glass.

2. PREPARE the garnish. Strip the leaves from bottom 2 inches of the rosemary sprig and skewer three small olives onto it, or one large Red Cerignola olive.

TIP: Some kitchen scissors have a leaf stripper in the center for herbs. We use this one from Esschert.

2. FILL a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Add the alcohol and ice; shake and strain into the glass.

3. GARNISH and serve with a side of olives.
If your guests don’t polish off all the olives with their cocktails, you can toss them into the salad or serve them with the cheese plate!
 
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*Check out the history of the Martini.

†The color of an olive is an indication of its ripeness. Green olives ripen and become black olives in shades from black to purple-black and brown-black. As the olive ripens, it produces colors in-between: light brown, purple and reddish. In general, the darker the olive, the riper it was when picked. As they mature, some varieties may be red for a day or two. But what nature doesn’t provide, man will: Red Cerignola olives are actually dyed bright red with an FDA-approved colorant (red #3) and a patented process to provide festive color. La Bella di Cerignola is the formal name for the olives grown in the area of the town of Cerignola in Puglia, Italy.

Sable & Rosenfeld). [2] What Martini drinkers want: a side dish of olives (photo courtesy Pompeian | Facebook). [3] The reddest olive available is the jumbo Red Cerignola, shown with the Green Cerignola (photo courtesy DeLallo). [4] Strip leaves of of herb stems using the center part of this Esschert herb scissors.

[1] White Chocolate Cranberry Loaf and [2] Cranberry Walnut Loaf, delicious additions to the holiday table from La Brea Bakery.

LA BREA BAKERY: ARTISAN BREADS, READY TO EAT OR READY TO HEAT

La Brea Bakery, a brand of artisan breads available at select grocers nationwide and from Amazon Fresh, is an asset for home munching or serving guests. All are in the SRP range of $3.99-$4.99.

You can have seasonally flavored breads in different forms—some actually emerging warm from your oven.

With the Take & Bake options, the bread is partially baked when you purchase it, requiring just a few minutes in the oven to yield a warm and fragrant loaf.

We also had a bite of La Brea Bakery’s:

 
The only problem with these two loaves: They disappeared far too quickly.

For more information visit LaBreaBakery.com.
 
PUMPKIN TORTILLA CHIPS

Another treat we look forward to each fall are pumpkin tortilla chips.

There are many brands. bit we’ve grown to prefer Food Should Taste Good and Way Better Chips.

You can enjoy the chips with your favorite salsa, or get some of Mrs. Renfro’s Pumpkin Salsa or Frontera Chipotle Pumpkin Salsa, which is sold out on the Frontera website but available at retailers nationwide.

For $3.95 a jar (Frontera’s is $4.95), these delicious salsas can be given as Thanksgiving favors (so much better for guests than a chocolate turkey) or stocking stuffers.

The lucky giftees can wake up the day after Thanksgiving and have the pumpkin salsa with their breakfast eggs.
 
DON’T TARRY: THESE ARE ALL LIMITED EDITIONS…

…and they won’t be back again until next fall.

 
DID YOU KNOW…

YOU CAN BAKE OR FRY ACTUAL PUMPKIN FOR CHIPS!

Make your own chips from pumpkin slices with this recipe from Hojiblanca and this artsy-looking chip recipe from Savvy Naturalista.

Make them as a real surprise for your guests, or for your Thanksgiving hosts.

[3] Try pumpkin tortilla chips (photo courtesy Way Better Chips) with [4] a skillet fondue (photo courtesy La Brea). [5] You can also make solid pumpkin chips (photo courtesy Hojiblanca).

[1] You can buy dipping oil, or make your own for pennies! Nice bottles like this one from A&A Alta Cucina Italia are welcome foodie gifts (photo courtesy Local Market South). [2] Another American tradition: Add a splash of balsamic to the oil (here’s the recipe from Lemony Thyme). [3] Bagna cauda, a hot dipping oil for crudités, is a popular holiday dish in Italy (photo James Carrier | Sunset | All Recipes).

While not an authentic Italian practice, it was a revelation to non-Italian Americans, raised on butter.

Other restaurants followed, and the idea spread nationwide.

At the same time, news of the heart-healthy benefits of olive oil gained traction, and many Americans looked forward to EVOO with their bread basket.

Some continued the practice at home, especially for entertaining. A product known as “dipping oil” or “bread dippers” emerged, to be placed in a dish and served with crusty breads and crostini (small toasted slices) and crudités.

Bread dipping sets appeared, with seasonings plus shallow dishes for the olive oil. “Dipping dishes” could be shallow white saucer shapes, or elaborate designs with olive clusters.

The commercial dipping oils were typically seasoned with Italian herbs. Then, home cooks realized they could:

 
In addition to dipping bread, the seasoned oil can be used:

 
MAKE YOUR OWN DIPPING OIL

Use fresh or dried herbs. NOTE: Make only what you’re going to use at a given time (within a few days). When manufacturers add seasonings to oil, the product is pasteurized, stopping any growth of any bacteria from the add-ins.

So don’t make a whole jar of infused oil to give as gifts, or keep on the shelf. Keep the oil in the fridge; and if you aren’t using it fast enough as a dipper, use it to sauté, dress salads, etc.

 
Plus

 
Preparation

1. POUR the olive oil into a ramekin or shallow dish. Top with the desired amount of seasonings and stir lightly.

2. PLACE on a serving plate with the bread and/or crudités.

Bagna càuda, pronounced BON-ya COW-da, is a variation of the French concept of crudités with dip (photo #3). Bagna caôda is an alternative spelling.

The name means “hot bath”; the dip comprises olive oil and butter, seasoned with garlic and anchovies and served hot.

A specialty of Italy’s Piedmont region, bagna càuda is served during the autumn and winter months, often as part of the Christmas Eve Feast of The Seven Fishes or other Christmas Eve menu.

Want to make your own hot bath with garlic? Here’s a recipe.
 
  

We love cannoli; can’t get enough of them.

Although we’re rarely up for making the pastry tubes, we do relish a dish of “deconstructed cannoli”: the cream filling with a cookie on the side.

A bonus with cannoli cream is that you can substitute your sweetener of choice for the sugar. When we’re dieting, we treat ourselves to low-fat ricotta cannoli cream with Splenda (and of course, the mini chips).

We adapted this recipe from BelGioioso, a Wisconsin maker of classic Italian cheeses.

And buy the way, in addition to cookies, you can buy cannoli chips (photo #4).
 
 
RECIPE: DECONSTRUCTED CANNOLI

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Variation: Substitute chopped candied fruits for the chocolate chips.
 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ricotta and sugar until well blended. Stir in the chocolate.

2. COVER and refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes before serving.

3. SCOOP a ball of cannoli cream onto a dessert plate. Garnish with a cookie and a sprig of mint and/or raspberries.

 
WHAT IS RICOTTA

Ricotta is a fresh (unaged) cow’s milk cheese that’s used extensively in Italian cooking. It’s soft and spreadable like cottage cheese.

Technically, ricotta isn’t cheese at all, but a by-product of the cheese-making process. The name “ricotta” means “recooked” in Italian (from the Latin recoctus).

Ricotta is been made from the whey left over from making other cheeses. After the curds are coagulated from the milk with rennet, the whey is drained off and the curds are pressed into cheese.

What to do with all the leftover whey had long been a concern for cheese makers. Many simply fed it to their pigs, a practice that continues today. That’s right: The whey drained from making the “king of cheeses,” Parmigiano-Reggiano, is used to feed the pigs that become Parma ham (prosciutto).
 
 
MORE WAYS USE RICOTTA

[2] Cannoli cream is simply sweetened ricotta cheese.

[3] A classic cannoli with chocolate chips (photo © Gerardo’s Italian Bakery.

[4] Cannoli chips with cannoli filling as a dip (photo © Golden Cannoli).

[1] SuperSeedz is made in nine flavors, from sweet to savory to hot and spicy (photo SuperSeedz). [2] In addition to snacking, SuperSeedz make delicious garnishes and mix-ins; here, mixed into a vegetable garnish for polenta. Here’s the recipe for the polenta and the spaghetti from Taste With The Eyes. [3] Add some Tomato Italiano SuperSeedz—or Curious Curry or Somewhat Spicy—to your favorite pasta.

SuperSeedz, gourmet shelled pumpkin seeds that we first discovered in 2007, is one of those.

A better-for-you, nutritious, fiber-filled and very flavorful, crunchy snack, we also love it as a garnish.

At $4.99, the five-ounce bags make really nice Thanksgiving favors and stocking stuffers, and are great for everyday grab-and-go.

SuperSeedz are non-GMO verified, cholesterol- and trans-fat free, gluten-free, vegan and allergen friendly.

Each one-ounce serving has 7 grams of protein and a good hit of iron and zinc.

In nine flavors, sweet, savory and hot, there’s a choice for everything.

SAVORY SUPERSEEDZ

 
Beyond Snacking…

As A Garnish, Use Them On:

 
As A Mix-In To:

 
SWEET SUPERSEEDZ

As A Garnish On:

 
As A Mix-In To:

[4] Fill up a bowl for snacking. [5] Sprinkle Tomato Italiano on pasta, pizza or polenta. Or roll a log of goat cheese in it (photos courtesy SuperSeedz).