This recipe from Driscoll’s Berries tastes best when using slightly stale bread and soaking it overnight in the eggnog mixture. You can, however, make it at the last minute without the advance prep work.

For Christmas breakfast, most of the prep can be done the night before. In the morning, just brown the toast and trim to assemble your tree. Place it on the dining table and watch the tree disappear quickly!

You’ll have more berries than you need to decorate the Christmas tree, so serve them in a bowl on the side. Find more berry-laden recipes at Driscolls.com.

RECIPE: CHRISTMAS TREE EGGNOG FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
*If the bread is fresh, let the slices sit uncovered for a few hours to dry out.

Turn French Toast into a Christmas tree. Photo courtesy Driscoll’s.

1. LINE a large, shallow baking pan with bread slices. Mix the eggnog with the eggs, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Pour the eggnog mixture over the bread, turning the slices once to coat both sides. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate overnight.

2. HEAT a greased griddle over medium heat. Cook the bread slices about 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from pan then cut the 2 bottom corners off at an angle leaving the top crust intact. Bottom of the slice should now be in a V pattern.

3. PLACE the slices on a platter and create a berry Christmas tree by layering berry slices V side up to form a pyramid shape. Arrange a single blackberry as a stump, sliced strawberries for the tree skirt and 6 raspberries as a tree topper. Then create a garland of small blueberries. Top with dusting of nutmeg and powdered sugar for snow. Serve with an optional side of maple syrup, and a bowl of the extra berries.

All over Europe, red cabbage is a delicious pairing with duck, goose, ham and pork roast. This recipe has Spanish touches of chorizo, Spanish olive oil and sherry vinegar.

Daisy Martinez, who cooks Puerto Rican style, makes a Lombarda navideña with more layers of flavor, including brandy, lemon, pears and raisins, plus bay leaf and thyme. Here’s her recipe. We adapted the recipe below to include the thyme.

Foods and wines From Spain recommends enjoying it with a dry Cava, Spain’s famed sparkling wine. It’s one of the few wines that can be matched with red cabbage, they say.

RECIPE: RED CABBAGE WITH CHORIZO & BACON

Ingredients

1. FINELY CHOP the cabbage and wash it thoroughly. Add it to a pan full of boiling water and cook until it becomes soft. Drain the cabbage and place it in a saucepan.

2. HEAT the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the garlic briefly. Add this mixture to the red cabbage followed, by the chorizo and the bacon. Cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.

3. ADD the vinegar and thyme, plus salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook for a further 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning as necessary before serving.
 
This recipe was adapted from the original by Sonia Fuentes/©ICEX. Find more delicious recipes at FoodsWinesFromSpain.com.
  

Pulled pork is a method of cooking where a tough cut of meat is cooked slowly at low temperatures, allowing the meat to become tender enough so that it can be “pulled,” or easily broken into tender pieces.

This recipe uses a slow cooker, which in turn can be placed on a table for guests to help themselves. We made it over Labor Day Weekend (check out these pulled pork sliders, which also have a recipe for the cabbage slaw that goes so well with the pork) and are making it again this weekend, for holiday party fare.

You can provide burger buns or mini buns for those who want to fix themselves a sandwich; the cabbage slaw; and a big, green salad to counter the richness of the pork. We’re also making a whole-grain “dirty brown rice” with black beans and a garnish of green onions.

Thanks to Ryan Hughes and Zabars.com for this tasty recipe.

October 12th is National Pulled Pork Day.
 
 
RECIPE: SLOW COOKER PULLED PORK

Ingredients For 6-8 Servings

For the BBQ Pork Shoulder

 
For Serving

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE the dry rub: Combine kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and cayenne pepper. Coat the entire meat with this rub (you can’t over-coat the meat at this point). Set the meat aside.

2. PLACE the quartered onions and crushed garlic into the slow cooker. Add the meat. Slowly pour in the water until the meat is about 2/3 covered, avoid pouring it over the meat so you don’t remove the rub. Add the liquid smoke.

3. COOK on low for 9-10 hours.

4. REMOVE the meat from the slow cooker. It’s going to be falling-apart delicious. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out any meat that may have fallen off. If you’ve used a piece of meat with the bone in, remove the bone; it should just slip right out. Pull apart (or shred) the meat with two forks. This will also be very easy and the meat will be very tender.

5. ADD the barbecue sauce to the meat now or serve it on the side, allowing each person add sauce to his or her sauce as desired.

6. TO SERVE: If you’re serving from the clock, first clean the slow cooker, discarding the liquid and onions. Return the meat to the slow cooker, set to keep warm. It’s best to add some barbecue sauce if you’re serving it this way, to help keep the meat from drying out.

Alternatively, you can place the shredded meat on the hamburger buns and serve them on a platter, with the barbecue sauce and slaw on the side.

Baked beans and fries are other popular sides.
 
 
MORE WAYS TO USE PULLED PORK

Check out all of these recipes.
 

THE HISTORY OF PULLED PORK

Pulled pork is a type of barbecue made from a pork shoulder, that is slowly smoked to retain moisture and deliver delicious tenderness.

The idea of smoking pork came from Native Americans.

The process of smoking pork developed in America, when Spanish settlers observed Native Americans smoking their game over a wood fire—the earliest American version of barbecue.

In fact, our word “barbecue” comes from barbacoa, the Spanish adaptation of the word barabicu, from the Taino people of Guyana.

It means “framework of sticks,” and refers to a raised wooden structure used to either sleep on or cure meat.

(The Spanish learned the words when they landed in the Caribbean.)

Barbacoa referred to a rack made of wood on which meat is roasted over flames from wood or charcoal. While drying meat is the oldest method of preserving it (e.g., jerky), a smoky fire kept the insects at bay, which further helped in the preservation of the meat.

With the migration of enslaved Africans and Europeans to the American South, cooking pigs in this way became increasingly popular.

It was low-cost and easy to do.

Here’s one source on the origin of the term, “pulled pork.”

Prior to the Civil War, plantation owners would host large barbecues. The cheap, tough cuts would be given away to their slaves, who learned to slow cook these cuts slowly over coals.

By the time the slow cooking was finished, the slaves were typically so hungry that they would pull the pork off when the meat was done and could easily be pulled off of the roast [source].

Barbecue and pulled pork, slow-smoked over wood, became traditions in the American South. A dry rub is first added to the pork.

The process can take more than 12 hours, although indoor cooking with a pressure cookers can be just 60 to 90 minutes.

With pulled pork, the pork shoulder is typically used. It’s an inexpensive cut, and the pork can be easily shredded manually with a fork. Conventional barbecue sauce is typically served pulled pork.

While pulled pork sandwiches are the most popular preparation, pulled pork has found its way into burritos and tacos, on top of green salads and pizza, and much more.

[1] Pulled pork on a bun, topped with coleslaw (photo © Zabar’s).

[2] Pulled pork deluxe, topped with coleslaw and onion rings, with sides of baked beans and fries (photo © Hard Rock Cafe).

[3] Top a salad with pulled pork. Here’s the recipe from Fresh Menu Planner (photo © Fresh Menu Planner).

[4] Top a pizza with pulled pork. Here’s the recipe (photo © House Of Yumm).

[4] Pulled pork nachos at Smokey Bones (photo © Smokey Bones).

[5] Pulled pork tostada (photo © Melissa’s Produce).

[6] Pork shoulder, an inexpensive cut that’s tenderized via slow cooking (photo © Food Nutrition Table).

We’re coming up on the last shopping weekend before Christmas. Instead of braving the stores, how about heading to your nearest farmers market?

Top e-tailers like Harry & David will send a basket or box of assorted apples, but you can put your own together and provide even more fun through a greater assortment.

Apples are affordable, delicious, universally loved and always available. Present them in beautiful “keeper” basket for a healthy holiday gift—great for calorie counters, dieters and fitness fans.

Here are five simple steps for a do-it-yourself apple gift basket from the U.S. Apple Association.

1. FIND a basket or other container—you may already have some on hand from prior gifts you’ve received. You can buy baskets at craft store, big box retailers and even your grocery store.

3. ADD a few colorful accents, like clementine oranges, a jar of caramel sauce or honey for dipping, or a small holiday candle.

4. PERSONALIZE with foods or trinkets the recipient will enjoy—simple stocking stuffers will do—an apple slicer, or a cheese; for a gym person, a stretch band. If you don’t want to add a cheese, which typically requires refrigeration, include a gift card to a store where it can be purchased.

5. ACCENT with a ribbons and a card or note that wishes the recipient a healthy New Year.

Primizie snack crackers—called crispbread snacks by the manufacturer—were developed by a restauranteur/caterer couple who were looking for something better than what they were able to purchase.

The thick, crunchy triangles were inspired on a culinary tour in Italy, originally as a dough for pizzas and paninis. In the process, the chef discovered that when the bread was “crisped,” it made a terrific cracker—for snacking, dipping and pairing with cheeses, salads and soups.

Thick and flavorful, they stand on their own but pair beautifully with dips and spreads. When you’re pulling out all the stops for the holidays—or simply want something new and different—we heartily recommend them.

The all natural snack crackers are made with high quality, pure ingredients with no preservatives, trans fat or cholesterol, non-GMO and rBST-free.

Three flavors are vegan; Cheese is vegetarian.

There’s a store locator on the website; the products are available online at Amazon and elsewhere.

A 6.5-ounce bag has a suggested retail price of $3.99*, and is a nice contribution to a party or other get-together.

Discover more at PrimizieSnacks.com.

—Steven Gans
 
*The products are pricier on Amazon, because Amazon takes a 30% cut of each purchase.