It’s easy to put together. The biggest challenge is how to keep the ice cream cold on a buffet table. We use a punch bowl filled with ice, and nestle pints into the ice.

Use a hot plate to keep caramel and chocolate sauces warm.

Then, make these decisions:

SELECT THE ICE CREAM

For a group of 8, we recommend four pints of ice cream and/or frozen yogurt. If your group includes people who avoid dairy, make one or two of them sorbet. Easy decisions:

Easy decisions:

 
For a more elaborate offering, consider brownie cubes, crushed almond nougat or peanut brittle, mini meringues and other favorites.

Consider if your guests are the types who’d want maraschino cherries as the crown on the sundae. We prefer these Bahlsen Waffeletten, rolled waffle cookies dipped in milk or dark chocolate.

Easy decisions:

 
SERVEWARE

You may need to borrow some extra ice cream scoops, or use serving spoons.

Use whatever dishes you have: bowls, mason jars, wine glasses or the easiest option, 9-ounce hard plastic party cups.

Check out these hinged-lid storage jars. A set of 12 is $48, which is a reasonable investment if you’re planning on summer entertaining.
 
Send us your ice cream party tips!

When you can’t be there to bake a cake, send a cake in a jar. Jar’d Cake from one of our favorite bakers, Cake Chicago, offers four delicious varieties to send as a Mother’s Day gift, or give as party favors.

Everything at Cake Chicago is made from scratch, including the raspberry conserve a nd salted caramel.

Choose from:

 
Tied with grossgrain ribbon, the jars are $7.00 each, with a 2 jar minimum.

Get yours at Cake-Chicago.com.
  

[2] Start with a can of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes (photo © Muir Glen).

[3] Tricolor tortilla chips add an extra layer of fun (photo © Abuelita Mexican Foods).

It’s easy to make the salsa, but if you’re pressed for time you can buy ready-made corn and bean salsa.

Check out the history of the parfait—for most of its existence, a frozen dessert.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

> More Cinco de Mayo recipes for every meal of the day.

> The history of Cinco de Mayo.
 
 
RECIPE: MEXICAN PARFAIT

Ingredients
 
For The Salsa

 
For The Parfait

 
Plus

 
Preparation

1. MIX the salsa ingredients in a medium bowl.

2. SPOON into each of the jars 1/4 cup salsa, then 1/4 cup yogurt. Repeat with two more layers. Top with a layer of salsa

3. GARNISH with a sprig of cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

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

(Check out the different sugar substitutes.)

A wholesome alternative to processed sugar and chemically-derived sweeteners, Stevia is becoming more and more popular among health-conscious individuals.

The plant Stevia rebaudiana has been used for more than 1,500 years by the Guaraní peoples of South America. For hundreds of years, it has been used in Brazil and Paraguay to sweeten teas and medicines, and to chew as a sweet treat.

It came of notice to Europeans in 1899, when Swiss botanist Moisés Santiago Bertoni, conducting research in Paraguay, first described the plant and the sweet taste in detail. He named the genus in honor of the Spanish botanist and physician Petrus Jacobus Stevus (Pedro Jaime Esteve, 1500–1556).

The sweet leaves of Stevia rebaudiana. Photo courtesy
Wikimedia.

Stevia is also known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf and sugarleaf. It is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), which includes:

Stevia is an easy care plant that grows well indoors in a sunny window (and in the garden, of course), yielding small white blossoms in summer.

You can dry and grind the leaves into a powdered sugar substitute. Or, do what the South Americans have been doing for generations: Pluck a leaf from the plant and drop it into your hot or cold beverage.

You can also use it like a bay leaf to sweeten dishes as they cook.

You can buy the seeds from Burpee.

The plant reaches maturity, 12-20 inches, in 40-60 days.

Or, you can buy plants that are already growing. Here’s one online source.

Most of the real vanilla extract* used in the U.S. is Bourbon† vanilla, also called Madagascar vanilla.

As a Mother’s Day gift for someone who loves to make desserts, how about one of the world’s finest vanillas?

Everyone knows about Bourbon vanilla. It’s become standard in the U.S., available in bulk as well as quality brands.

It comes from Madagascar and although vanilla extract contains some alcohol, Bourbon vanilla has nothing to do with the alcohol Bourbon.

Rather, it’s named after the Bourbon rulers of France.
 
 
*An astonishing 97% of all vanilla products are synthetic, made of paper by-products! Artificial vanilla has been around since the late 19th century. But, tempting as it is to save money, there’s nothing like the real thing
 
†The term Bourbon applies to beans Madagascar and the neighboring Comoro, Réunion and Seychelles. There is no connection with the liquor produced in Kentucky in the United States. It is called Bourbon after the French House of Bourbon that ruled France from 1272 to 1830, ending with the French Revolution. The island now known as Réunion was named Île Bourbon in 1649 and renamed Réunion in 1793.

The most trusted name in vanilla. Nielsen-Massey sells beans and produces extract for Bourbon/Madagascar, Mexican and Tahitian vanillas. Photo courtesy Nielsen-Massey.

Here are the differences from Nielsen-Massey, a family business that has been devoted to vanilla for three generations:

Bourbon Or Madagascar Vanilla

Character: sweet, creamy and mellow with velvety after-tones. The vanilla of choice with chocolate and cream.

Use in: anything requiring vanilla. It’s the benchmark.
 
Mexican Vanilla

Character: sweet and creamy with a deep, spicy character. Often selected by chefs for an added level of finesse to chili, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce, salsa and other spicy foods.

Use in: cakes, frozen desserts, ginger snaps and other spiced cookies, hot chocolate.
 
Tahitian Vanilla

Character: fruity, anise-like flavor with floral notes. Use in cold or quickly-heated dishes; Tahitian vanilla’s delicate flavors don’t hold up well under extensive heating like baking.

Vanilla beans are also grown in Guatemala, Hawaii and the West Indies. Vanilla is a tropical plant, and can only grow 10 to 20 degrees north and south of the equator.

Here’s everything you need to know about vanilla, including types of vanilla products, how to buy vanilla and the best vanilla extracts and beans.