Many people are so accustomed to the same old parsley or watercress garnish. It’s easy to create special touches can you use for the holidays. The majority can be used with either drinks or dishes of food, savory or sweet.

We like festive red and green garnishes and star shapes. Consider:

 
For Desserts

 
Other ideas? Please share!

TOP PHOTO: The National Pork Board recommends these sliders with your lager. BOTTOM PHOTO: Samuel Adams Winter Lager, in bottles, cans and on tap.

December 10th is National Lager Day; the entire second week in December is Lager Beer Week. Here’s a special slider recipe from the National Pork Boardto go with your lager.

The recipe combines the retro appeal of deviled eggs with the modern fondness for sliders, although the recipe makes an egg salad instead of a filling for hard-boiled egg white halves.

You can make the sliders for brunch, lunch or game day snacking.

Don’t like sausage patties? Substitute bacon, Canadian bacon or thick-sliced ham for the sausage. Don’t like cilantro? Use baby arugula or watercress.

Prep time is 20 minutes, cook time is 20 minutes.

RECIPE: SAUSAGE & DEVILED EGG SALAD SLIDERS

Ingredients For 8 Servings

 
*If you can’t find ready-made patties, shape 12 ounces of loose breakfast sausage into eight 3-inch patties. Or substitute bacon, Canadian bacon or thick-sliced ham.

1. PLACE the eggs in a medium saucepan and add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from the heat, and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile…

2. COOK the sausage patties in a large skillet over medium heat, until browned and cooked through (2 to 3 minutes per side). Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and cover loosely to keep warm.

3. DRAIN the eggs and transfer to a bowl of ice water. When cool enough to handle, peel and coarsely chop the eggs. In a large bowl, combine the chopped eggs, mayonnaise, chives, mustard and sriracha. Season with salt, taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Set aside.

4. ARRANGE the cilantro sprigs on the bottom halves of the rolls. Top with the sausage patties, egg salad and top halves of rolls. Add the optional olive or gherkin and serve.

NOW FOR THE LAGER

We’ll publish an article on winter beers on the first day of winter, but here’s an advance preview of winter lager. Numerous craft breweries make them.

The easiest one to find is Samuel Adams Winter Lager; but also look for Mustang, Wolverine, Stark and possibilities from y your local breweries.

You’ll also find “Christmas ale” or seasonal beers and ales from other brewers that are similar: brewed with winter spices (cinnamon, orange peel, maple syrup, nutmeg or whatever the brewer favors). A quick search turned up beers from Blue Moon, Brooklyn Brewery and Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Other beer types are also “wintrified,” including the fancifully named Abominable Ale from Hopworks, Old Man Winter White Ale from Southern Tier Brewing, Brrrr Red Ale from Widmer Brothers and Siberian Night Imperial Stout from Thirsty Dog.

But it’s National Lager Day. We raise a glass to the German and Bohemian immigrants who brought lagering to the U.S.A., which previously had only ale†. The first lager brewmaster appears to have been one John Wagner from Bavaria, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1840, carrying with him a supply of lager yeast. The rest is history.

†Yeast that enables lagering was not discovered until the 1700s, believed to have been unwittingly transported on a ship from South America. The written record on ale dates to ancient Mesopotamia.
 
  

This is a recipe for people who want to hone their decorating techniques. Marian, cookie decorating expert and author of the blog Sweetopia, has created a tutorial to guide you. Follow her easy steps and master the art of marbling (also called feathering or swirling).

To marble, you simply add one or more colors of icing to a base coat and then drag a toothpick through the icing to create a marbled effect. Check out the step-by-step decorating instructions

If you’ve made cookies like these before you, you know that all you need are time and patience. It gets easier with every batch.

Bonus: You can use the marbling technique on cakes, cocktails with foam top layer, and of course, cappuccino and latte.

These are gingerbread cookies, but if you prefer, you can make shortbread or chocolate shortbread cookies. Prep time is 25 minutes, and cook time is 15 minutes. Determine in advance how many colors of icing you want to use.
 
 
RECIPE: MARBLED ORNAMENT GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Hang these ornament cookies on the tree, and eat them when the tree comes down (in theory). Photo courtesy GoBoldWithButter.com.

For The Cookies

 
For The Royal Icing

 
For Decorating

 
*Omit the baking powder if you do not want cookies to spread/rise.

†Clear vanilla extract is a flavoring used when you don’t want vanilla to discolor a light icing. It is not “real” vanilla extract. Rather, it is flavored with vanillin, which is used to make artificial vanilla extract.

The three steps to decorating ornament
cookies. In the third photo, a toothpick is
used to drag the icing up and down, as
shown by the arrows. Photos courtesy Go
Bold With Butter.

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed, until fluffy. Mix in the spices, then the eggs and molasses. Reduce the speed to low.

2. WHISK together in a separate bowl the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to butter mixture, and mix until just combined.

3. FORM the dough into a disk shape and wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

4. ROLL the out dough on a lightly floured work surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out the shapes with cookie cutters and cut a small hole in the top of each cookie for the ribbon.

5. PLACE the cookies approximately 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

6. BAKE the cookies until lightly golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let them cool on the sheets on wire racks.

7. MAKE the royal icing. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the warm water and meringue powder (and the clear vanilla extract if necessary). Whisk by hand until frothy and thickened, about 30 seconds. Add the cream of tartar and whisk by hand for 30 seconds more.

8. ADD all the powdered sugar at once. Using the lowest speed, mix slowly with the paddle for 10 minutes. The icing will become thick and creamy.

9. DIVIDE into portions to tint with food colorings. As necessary, thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency.
 
DECORATING WITH ROYAL ICING

1. BEGIN by piping an icing outline around each cookie. Use a piping bag fitted with a coupler and #2 tip.

2. LET the outline dry for a few minutes to create a solid border. You’ll be able to see the border somewhat when the icing dries, so alternately you could fill or flood your cookie in right after piping the outline. Once you’ve filled the whole cookie…

3. SHAKE it gently left to right on your work surface, to help smooth the icing out.

5. TAKE a toothpick and drag it through the icing, drawing S-like shapes. Each combination of colors creates another look. Just by changing the way you set up your lines and drag the toothpick, completely different designs emerge.

6. DO as much decorating as you like. Once the marbled icing has set (at least 15 minutes), pipe the icing at the top (crown) of the ornament, representing (use grey or gold). Let that set and pipe a few line details as desired.
 
IMPORTANT NOTE

Don’t be intimidated by the piping. You don’t have to make perfectly marbled cookies like an expert baker. You can make abstract swirls, polka dots or whatever you like.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Gingerbread is a long-standing holiday tradition, the seeds of which are with the 11th-century crusaders returning from the Holy Land with ginger and other spices. The history is below. Beyond those first gingerbread cakes and cookies, ginger has found its way into present-day mousse, waffles,
 
 
RECIPE: EASY GINGERBREAD CAKE

Ingredients

 
______________

*Instead of vanilla-flavored whip cream, consider bourbon whipped cream.
 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda in a large bowl until combined; set aside.

2. PLACE the milk in a microwave-safe bowl and cook in the microwave on high for 90 seconds. Whisk the butter into the bowl with the hot milk until it has melted. Add the brown sugar and molasses and mix. Stir in the egg.

3. ADD the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and mix until they are completely combined. Pour the batter into an 8″x8″ pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until it the cake is firm in the center. Cool the cake completely. Serve with whipped cream.
 
 
MORE WAYS TO ENJOY GINGERBREAD

[2] How about a gingerbread cheesecake? Here’s the recipe from Baked By Rachel (photo © Baked By Rachel).

[3] First, fresh ginger root (in photo) is dried. Then, it is ground into powdered ginger, the spice (photo © Jan Schone | Stock xChange).

Even More Ways To Enjoy Gingerbread
Make a gingerbread sundae with cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla ice creams. Add cubes of fresh-baked gingerbread bars or cake, topped with whipped cream, candied ginger and chunks of Chuao Chocolate’s gingerbread chocolate bar. The truly indulgent can add caramel sauce.

Don’t want to make anything at all? Check out the gingerbread cottages, trains, wreaths and cake pops at MackenzieLtd.com.

Check your supermarket, frozen yogurt, or gelato/ice shop for a seasonal gingerbread flavor.

Look for Nonni’s Nonni’s Gingerbread Biscotti. We’re big fans.

[3] Equal opportunity: Bake gingerbread men and women (photo © Wisconsin Dairy).

[4] Make these gingerbread cupcakes from Pillsbury. Here’s the recipe (photo © Pillsbury).

At the end of the 11th century, the Crusaders returned to Europe from the Middle East with ginger and other spices. Prior to the 15th century, “gingerbread” referred to preserved ginger. It began to be used to flavor cakes and cookies. Monks baked the first gingerbread cookies for holidays and festivals, which are called Lebkuchen in German. Then, the German Lebkuchen Guild† took over.

The spice ginger, which is zingebar in Latin, became gingerbras in Old French, gingerbread in Medieval English and Ingwer in German.

Why is it called ginger “bread” in English?

The meaning of gingerbread has evolved over time. Originally, the term gingerbread (from Latin zingiber via Old French gingebras) referred to preserved ginger. It then referred to a confection made with honey and spices.

For centuries, the word was used to describe a traditional European pastry, closer to a cookie [source].

Gingerbread cookies were made year-round in a proliferation of shapes—flowers, hearts, trees, and so forth in different sizes. The medieval German Lebkuchen Guild transformed gingerbread into a highly-decorated art, crafting the fancy shapes and decorating them with sugar and gold.

But gingerbread men originated elsewhere. The credit goes to Queen Elizabeth I—or more precisely, an unnamed palace baker who toiled during her reign (1558 to 1603). Her Majesty bestowed “portrait” gingerbread cookies upon important court visitors, decorated in their likenesses.
 
Who Invented Gingerbread Houses?

According to a reference in FoodTimeline.org, the tradition of baking gingerbread houses began in Germany after the Brothers Grimm published their collection of fairy tales in 1812.

Life imitates art: Inspired by the story of Hansel and Gretel, who nibbled at the witch’s candy-covered gingerbread house (and inspired our name, The Nibble), German bakers created miniature houses from the already popular lebkuchen (gingerbread). Artists were employed to decorate the houses, which became particularly popular during Christmas.

“Hansel and Gretel” vastly increased the popularity of gingerbread cookies and other treats. Gingerbread men and animals became popular Christmas tree ornaments.

A ginger cookie is a soft, molasses-type cookie that is flavored with ginger and other spices. It is larger than, and otherwise differs from, a gingersnap.

Unlike the fancier gingerbread, a gingersnap is a small, thin, plain round cookie with a hard, smooth texture like a gingerbread cookie. It is a smaller version of the traditional German Christmas cookie known as Lebkuchen. Like a gingerbread cookie, ginger snaps break with a “snap.”

Gingersnaps contain a larger amount of ginger, and thus are spicier, than the chewier ginger cookies.
 
_____________

†Only Lebkuchen Guild members could bake gingerbread, except during Christmas, when anyone could bake it.
 
 

Cabot Cheese commemorates the Christmas Star (Star of Bethlehem) using a different flavor of their excellent cheddars for each point on the star.

In addition to regular cheddars in different stages of sharpness, there are delicious flavored cheddars: Chipotle, Everything Bagel, Garlic & Herb, Horseradish, Hot Buffalo Wing, Smoky Bacon and Tomato Basil. The company also makes Muenster, Pepper Jack and other popular cheese styles.

For variety, use other semi-hard cheeses. Look for young Asiago, Colby, Edam, Fontinella, aged Gouda, Jack, Manchego, Provolone and Queso Blanco—for starters.
 
RECIPE: CHEESE STAR

You can make the star with one kind of cheese or use a different flavor for each star point—any cheese firm enough to cut into cubes. You can make a larger star for a larger crowd.

Ingredients For A 13-Inch Diameter Star

 
Ingredients

1. PLACE a small shallow bowl or saucer in the center of a large platter or cheese plate. Cut the cheese bars into 3/4-inch cubes, about 30 cubes for each flavor.

2. BUILD the star around the bowl. Each of the five star points will be 5 cubes long and from 1 to 5 cubes wide. (If your bowl is too big, you will need more cubes to evenly the space five star points.)

3. PLACE 4 or 5 cubes against the bowl to form each star point, for a total of 5 star points. Build out the points by placing more cubes as shown in the photo. In our star, we had a base row of 3 or 4 cubes, followed by one row of 3 cubes, 2 rows of 2 cubes and one row of 1 cube for the tip of each star point.

4. BUILD up the star by topping the first layer with a second layer of cubes.

5. TUCK sage leaves into the star as shown. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Fill the bowl in the center with nuts, olives or tomatoes.
 
HOW ABOUT A CHEESE CHRISTMAS TREE?

Here’s the recipe to stack cubes of cheese into a Christmas tree cheese board.