We enjoy these two contenders at home, and also give them as small gifts.

1. AL CHIPINO FLAVORED TORTILLA CHIPS

For a tortilla chip lover, AL Chipino’s creative flavors are fun food.

AL Chipino is a tortilla chip brand seasoned with global flavors. THey’re fun for entertaining or gifting to a tortilla chip lover.

AL Chipino is currently made in 6 bold flavors and available in 2 sizes (5.5oz and 1.75 oz)

Current flavors include:

 
You can also get creative with dipping, for example:

 
You can serve then on a chip-and-dip party bar. You can make nachos or Chex mix with them. You can have a good time.

DISCOVER MORE AT ALCHIPINO.COM. You’ll also find creative recipes that put the flavored chips to good use.
 
By the way, when we asked why the brand was called AL Chipino, we were told that it was a riff on Al Pacino. We’re not sure of the relation between Pacino and tortilla chips; but when we asked why AL is spelled in all caps: It’s “something different.”
 
 
2. LEANER CREAMER: LACTOSE FREE

Leaner Creamer says it’s the world’s first natural powdered creamer. But that’s not why it’s different.

The company claims weight-loss benefits (see *below). We’re not qualified to judge those claims, but we are qualified to say that these are lactose-free powdered creamers worth looking at.

We, for one, are happy to use them.

Further, it increases the body’s metabolic rate by removing stress on the pancreas, thereby burning more energy and helping weight loss goals.

Made from natural coconut oil, it is cholesterol-free, dairy-free, gluten free, lactose free and sugar free. There are no HFCS, hydrogenated soybean ols, artificial colors or flavors.

The flavors include Original, plus:

 
There are two formats: a retro bottle (photo #3) and a refill pack. If you don’t want the bottle, just order the refill.

The line is certified kosher by OU.
 
 
GET YOURS AT LEANERCREAMER.COM.

[2] Greek nachos with Salt & Pepper flavor. Here’s the recipe (photos #1 and #2 courtesy AL Chipino).

[3] Two of Leaner Creamer’s seven flavors (photo courtesy Leaner Creamer).

Carry some with you so you can always have lactose-free creamer for your coffee or tea (photo courtesy Sxphz | CSP).

According to the company, the product is made from ingredients that are said to help in weight loss. THE NIBBLE makes no claims to understanding these ingredients, and suggests that you do your own research.

The principle ingredient is coconut oil, which contains short and medium-chain fatty acids that help in taking off excessive weight. It is also easy to digest and it helps in the healthy functioning of the thyroid and endocrine system.

Citrus aurantium extract is extensively used in weight management products and as thermogenic agents. It is also used in sports performance products to enhance stamina and an increase in basal metabolic rate and lipolysis as well as mild appetite suppression.

Hoodia is a succulent, fleshy cactus-like plant of the Asclepiad family. Among its many varieties, Hoodia gordonii is the most popular because its extracts suppress hunger and effectively helps reduce weight and fat percentage.

Green tea extract is a product made from the Camellia sinensis plant. It is used for weight loss and to treat stomach disorders.

Parsnip soup with bacon, chive and blue cheese garnish (photo courtesy Castello Cheese).

Squash soup with drizzled sour cream garnish. Here’s how to drizzle creamy or flavored oil garnishes (photo courtesy Between The Bread | Facebook).

Cheddar cheese soup with jalapeño, microgreens and red onion garnish (photo courtesy Doa Restaurant).

When the weather gets cold, soup becomes a comfort food. While there are soups for all seasons, “hearty” is the word for winter recipes.

A hearty soup, which can serve as a main meal, is also budget-friendly.

It’s a time-saver, too: You can make a pot large enough to freeze for additional meals.

Here are some tips from Flavor & The Menu:
 
1. THE STOCK

While beef and chicken stocks are more hearty, more and more people seek vegetarian options.

In addition to conventional vegetable stock, consider roasted or smoked vegetable stocks—much heartier in flavor.
 
2. THE MOST INEXPENSIVE PROTEIN: BEANS

Cuisines all over the world have long used beans in soup. In addition to beans as a main ingredient, you can also purée them as a thickener (especially try chickpeas for this).

Bean soups are adaptable to big, global flavors like curry, harissa or guajillo and other chiles.
 
3. CONSIDER FLAVOR PROFILES

How can some of your favorite flavors be adapted to soup?

Rice and beans with chorizo and cheeseburger soup are two examples, but how about eggplant parmesan?

Decide what you want to create and look up how to do it.
 
4. CREAMY, NON-DAIRY SOUPS

If you’re lactose-intolerant, kosher, or green (helping to save the planet by cutting back on animal products), take a tip from vegan cuisine and use nut milks for creaminess.

Almond, cashew, coconut, hazelnut and macadamia milks, for example, add their own special flavors to chicken, fish and vegetable soups.
 
5. CREATIVE GARNISHING

Add a finishing touch with an easy garnish. Switching garnishes makes the soup different every time.

Garnish options include:

 
Think outside the box. Dried apple chips on a sweet vegetable soup, such as tomato, root vegetable or squash, is an exciting choice.

Get more punch by layering your garnishes. In addition to the apple chips, for example, add a dollop of plain yogurt and snipped fresh chives, dill or parsley.
 
More Garnishing

A lobster roll is a sandwich native to New England, where lobstermen and women have gathered crustaceans from the Atlantic Ocean for centuries.

Chunks of lobster meat are served on a grilled New England-style hot dog-style bun with with squared edges, the roll opening on the top rather than the side like conventional, rounded hot dog rolls.

Some lobster rolls are simply lobster on a buttered, toasted roll. Sometimes, the lobster is mixed with different ingredients: mayonnaise, melted butter, diced celery, chopped scallions or onion and/or lemon juice, seasoned with salt and pepper.

Potato chips or french fries are the typical sides—and of course, a beer

Luke’s lobster roll is the first style: lots of lobster in a great toasted, buttered roll for $16.

Luke’s Lobster is nationwide upscale chain of lobster shacks and trucks that has brought delicious lobster rolls, shrimp rolls and crab rolls and other goodies (lobster grilled cheese, lobster mac ‘n’ cheese and more) to crustacean lovers at 28 locations nationwide (and more overseas).
 
 
HOW TO IMPROVE ON THE LOBSTER ROLL: ADD CAVIAR

For the holiday season, now through January, the already luxurious Luke’s lobster roll has gotten a royal garnish: fine sturgeon caviar from Petrossian.

You can order the lobster roll with a 20-gram tin of of Petrossian’s Baika caviar (Acipenser Baerii—photo #2) from Lake Baikal in Siberia. The caviar retails at Petrossian, $65 for 30 grams. For $45-$50, depending on location, you get the $16 lobster roll plus the 20g tin of caviar.

The caviar is enough to top the roll; some people may be tempted to dip the side of Cape Cod Potato Chips into it.

Alas, it’s only available at some Luke’s locations. Check for the one nearest you.

You can give a gift card from Luke’s Lobster, and order caviar and other delicacies at Petrossian.

[2] Baika sturgeon caviar from Petrossian (photo courtesy Petrossian).

According to the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, the lobster roll originated in 1929 at Perry’s restaurant in Milford, Connecticut. It was initially served hot.

Its popularity then spread along the Connecticut coast, with the warm sandwich called a lobster roll and the cold version a lobster salad roll.

When did the butter come in? As far back as 1970, chopped lobster meat heated in drawn butter was served on a hot dog roll at roadside stands in Maine [source].

In our opinion, simplest is best. The mayo, celery, etc. are only needed when the lobster isn’t fresh and naturally sweet. Which it always is at Luke’s Lobster.

In North America, the lobster was not eaten by genteel people until the mid-19th century, when New Yorkers and Bostonians developed a taste for it [source].
 

There were so many lobsters in the waters of New England that they just washed up on shore, and were looked at as if they were refuse. They became food for the poor, the way for the hungry to get their protein.

Lobsters were collected and fed to prisoners, as well. Here’s more about it.