[1] Feeding America provides bags of nutritious groceries to hungry families (photo courtesy Feeding America).

[2] Food Forward distributes produce that would be left on the ground to rot, to needy communities (photo FoodForward.org).

Before the year ends, you can share the spirit of the holidays by helping the hungry. Make a donation to a charity that feeds them.

You don’t have to make a big donation: Just $10 makes a difference.

We recently wrote about Heifer International and World Vision, which provide livestock, wells and other life-saving items to impoverished Third World peoples.

We donate livestock as holiday gifts to friends and family who don’t need anything for themselves. The gift to them, in turn gives needy families food and other items (eggs, milk, wool) to the families and provides extra to sell for income.
 
 
TOP U.S. FOOD CHARITIES

In the U.S., many organizations fight to feed the hungry. Forty million Americans struggle with hunger, including more than 12 million children. Here are a few nationally recognized organizations that work to minimize hunger.

FEEDING AMERICA. Feeding America (photo #1) provides bags of groceries to the hungry. It’s the nation’s leading domestic hunger relief charity. It operates through a nationwide network of member food banks in needy communities. FeedingAmerica.org.

FOOD FORWARD. Food Forward (photo #2) fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce that we would consider “ugly,” too small, misshapen and otherwise unsaleable, connecting this perfectly good food with people in need. Each year, some six billion pounds of produce that go largely unharvested to rot in the fields. Retailers won’t accept “scarred” fruits and vegetables because consumers won’t buy them [source]. FoodForward.org

NO KID HUNGRY. No Kid Hungry helps provide in-school meals and has programs that teach families to shop smarter and cook healthier. NoKidHungry.org

On a local level, contribute to your local food kitchen or food bank. Just check on line for the organizations near you.

In New York City, for example, Citymeals-On-Wheels brings meals to homebound elderly.
 
 
JOIN THE CROWD

By the way, December 31st is the biggest “giving” day of the year for Americans, because it’s the last day to make a tax-deductible charitable contribution.

According to The New York Times, charities raised 22.5 times more money on December 31st than any other average day last year. The entire last week of the year is a great week for giving, with the average gift size being 57% larger than the weekly average during the prior 51 weeks.*

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*New York Times, December 17, 2009. Here are 2018 charitable giving statistics.

Some dishes have been around for a hundred years or more, in pretty much their original version.

Baked Alaska is one of these. Invented at the beginning of the 19th century (here’s the Baked Alaska history), it has pretty much been the same dessert, but for flavor variations in:

 
Whatever the shape, it is then coated with meringue, which acts as an insulator so the ice cream can be baked without melting. These days, the meringue is torched to brown it.

It is often plated with a fruit coulis: passionfruit, raspberry, strawberry.

Sometimes, especially at trendier restaurants, favors have been updated, such as:

 
But those are just modernized flavors. The expansion of the original concept is more in shape: Baked Alaska cupcakes, Baked Alaska layer cakes, Baked Alaska nestled in empty orange or grapefruit halves or shaped into a shih-tzu or a sofa.

[1] Komodo’s deconstructed Baked Alaska (photo courtesy Komodo Restaurant | Miami).

[2] Classic Baked Alaska at The Oceanaire in Dallas.

Komodo restaurant in Miami has deconstructed Baked Alaska, assembled in individual portions (not a cake): photo #1.

It’s easy to create your own deconstructed Baked Alaska, a.k.a. ice cream on a slice of cake with a meringue topping.

Just pick your cake and ice cream flavors. Garnishes can be as simple as a fruit purée or coulis (coulis [COO-lee) is a strained purée), or some chocolate shavings.

The Komodo recipe—seemingly targeted to the youth palate—includes:

 
However, you can use more sophisticated ingredients for adults, from brandy-marinated fruits to curls of fine chocolate.

Instead of cereal, add crunch with caramelized or toasted pecans, toffee bits, or crushed cookies: biscotti, cannoli shells, pizzelles, or shortbread.

The Baked Alaska is ignited at tableside, drawing oohs and ahhs (or perhaps, “Epic!”).

We combined a slice of carrot cake loaf with salted caramel ice cream, homemade meringue (although we suppose you could substitute meringue cookies), and raisins marinated in Grand Marnier as the sauce.

The important thing: Have fun with it.

[1] Coquito in a shot glass (photos #1, #2, #3, and #4 © Don Q Rum).

[2] Unlike eggnog, Coquito has no eggs.

[3] Not just any spiced rum: Don Q is barrel-aged for three years.

[4] Reserva 7 is one of Don Q’s dark rums, aged a minimum of seven years in American white oak barrels. Aging in oak generates notes of oak, dark caramel, and spices.

[5] Garnish with a grind of nutmeg or a shake of pumpkin pie spice (photos #4 and #5 © C&H Sugar).

December 21st marks the first year of National Coquito Day. (Check out all of the coconut holidays, below).

The day was established by Don Q Rum.

It’s also the first day of winter: You owe yourself a wintery drink.

Coquito, “little coconut” in Spanish, is Puerto Rico’s version of eggnog, a Christmas and New Year’s Eve drink. But it can be served any time of the year.

Lighter than eggnog but still very creamy, with coconut flavor, Coquito is made with coconut cream, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk and rum, and seasoned with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg.

Unlike traditional American eggnog, an authentic Coquito typically does not contain eggs, though some variations exist that do.

Coquito is often served in shot glasses as an after dinner drink; or fill the pitcher or punch bowl for a party.

Think of it as Tres Leches Cake in a glass; and if you’ve got a sweet tooth, serve it with Tres Leches Cake.

This recipe, from Supercall, makes a pitcherful for a party.

The recipe follows, along with the history of the Coquito.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of rum.

> The different types of rum.

> The year’s 15 rum holidays.

> The year’s 100+ cocktail and spirit holidays.

> The year’s 11 coconut holidays are below.

> The history of evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk.

> The history of coconuts.

> The history of Coco Lopez.
 
 
RECIPE: COQUITOS FOR CHRISTMAS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all ingredients except the garnish spices in a blender. Blend on high until the mixture is well combined, about one or two minutes.

2. POUR the Coquito into a pitcher and refrigerate to chill. Before serving…

3. STIR well to combine. Pour into punch cups or small wine glasses and garnish with fresh ground cinnamon and/or nutmeg.
 
 
COQUITO VARIATIONS

 
 
THE HISTORY OF COQUITO

No one knows the origin of Coquito, but one intrepid writer, Suset Laboy, decided to do some sleuthing.

The following is extracted from a much longer article at Centroweb Hunter College:

The two common suggestions are that Coquito was a derivation of Ponche Navideño, a Spanish Christmas punch, or American eggnog.

The actuality may be more native-to-Puerto-Rico than that. Laboy set out to trace its history, starting with Coquito’s main ingredients: sugar, coconut milk and rum, all plentiful in Puerto Rico.

 
While other islands made rum as well, Puerto Rico’s rum industry did not fully emerge until the 19th century, when sugarcane production began on a large scale. So our baseline is the 19th century.

Until someone finds a smoking gun (a dated old family recipe), that’s what we know!
 
 
THE YEAR’S 11 COCONUT HOLIDAYS

 
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*Lamington is one of Australia’s favorite desserts, also enjoyed at breakfast. Sponge cake is covered with chocolate sauce and coconut shavings or desiccated coconut. It can be prepared as a single layer cut into squares, or as a layer cake filled with jam or whipped cream. Here’s a recipe.

†Ambrosia is a retro fruit salad that can be served as a side dish or a dessert. Recipes vary widely, but often include bananas, coconut, mandarin orange segments, maraschino cherries, nuts, and pineapple, bound with whipped cream (or Cool Whip, sour cream, or yogurt). Mini marshmallows are often added for the kids. Here’s a recipe.
 

[5] Mix up a batch and bring some to a gathering.
 
 

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