Not a peppermint lover? Here’s a recipe for equally festive Cinnamon Chocolate Popcorn from the National Popcorn Board, Popcorn.org.

You can buy the popcorn or make it from scratch.
 
RECIPE: CINNAMON CHOCOLATE POPCORN

Ingredients For 3 quarts

1. PLACE the popcorn in a large bowl and lightly spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle cocoa mix and cinnamon on popcorn.

2. TOSS to coat evenly. Spray and toss again until mixture is well coated. Serve immediately.

We’ve got the two best ways to go from
freezer to plate. Photo courtesy
Mart2Go.com.

Many of us keep meat in the freezer and thaw it overnight in the fridge when we’re ready to use it.

But how long can you keep that thawed meat before cooking it?

Here’s the scoop from AG Local, which sells pasture-raised animals from family farms.

The best way to thaw meat is overnight in the fridge. Slow thawing retains the flavor and texture and keeps bacteria from growing quickly. Bacteria grows above 40°F, which is why thawing it on the kitchen counter isn’t a good idea.

But when you don’t have that much time, here’s the tip we learned from one of THE NIBBLE’s resident chefs, who in turn learned it in school in his food safety class:

Fill a bowl with tepid water and add the unwrapped, frozen meat. Place the bowl in the sink and let slightly cool water from the faucet drip over it. The dripping water keeps the water in the bowl at a constant temperature, which speeds up thawing; and the moving water helps to deter bacteria growth on the surface of the meat.

Leave the meat under the dripping water until it is completely thawed. Approximate thawing time with this method:

You need to keep watch, though, and be sure not to leave the meat out for more than four hours to prevent bacteria growth.

After the meat is thawed, be sure to scrub the bowl and the sink to avoid any contamination from the raw meat.
 
HOW LONG YOU CAN KEEP THAWED FOOD BEFORE COOKING
 

 
A FOOD-THAWING GADGET

Recently, we received information about a gadget called the Vortex that helps with thawing foods.

You measure the food thickness, enter the corresponding number, submerge the frozen food in a bowl of water and click “start.” The Vortex accurately predicts when the food will be thawed and alerts you when done.

It does this via thermodynamics, circulating the cold water, which thaws the foods more quickly. We haven’t tried it, but you can check it out on Kickstarter.

Brownie Points makes popcorn and brownies in numerous flavors, but at this time of year, the Candy Cane Crunch Popcorn calls out to us.

Delicious as a stand-alone snack, accompaniment to a hot beverage or a dessert garnish.

The popcorn is packaged in a clear 20-ounce canister tied with a polka dot ribbon, $20.00.

There’s also a holiday Brownie and Popcorn Sampler.

Year-round flavors include:

You can make your home-brewed coffee as special as going out for holiday coffee flavors. Just stir in some Baileys coffee creamers in holiday flavors.

This year’s seasonal flavors are:

 
They join the other flavors, including year-round classics and seasonal specialties: Brown Butter Pecan, Caramel, Chocolatini, Cinnamon Dolce, Crème Brûlée, French Vanilla, Hazelnut, Mudslide, The Original Irish Cream, Toffee Almond Cream, Triple Sweet Cream, Sweet Italian Biscotti and Vanilla Brown Sugar.

Bet you didn’t know there were that many different Baileys creamers! The next time you have people over for coffee, you can set out an entire flavored creamer tasting bar.

Different brands now have their limited-edition candy cane/peppermint stick pints and quarts in stores. There’s also peppermint bark ice cream, which includes bits of chocolate studded with peppermint.

If you want the fun of making your own at home, we’ve got some recipe options below.

The ice cream can be drizzled with hot fudge, packed into chocolate cookie pie crust, made into a trifle, added to hot chocolate or turned into a candy cane dessert cocktail.

This recipe produces white ice cream. If you want pink ice cream, add a few drops of red food color until the desired color is reached.

This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma, from their book Ice Creams & Sorbets.

Prep time is 20 minutes plus chilling and freezing.

RECIPE: CANDY CANE ICE CREAM

Ingredients For 1 Quart

1. WARM 2 cups of the half-and-half and the corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat, until steam begins to rise from the surface (3 to 4 minutes). Remove from the heat.

2. WHISK together the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a heatproof mixing bowl, until blended. Form a kitchen towel into a ring and place the bowl on top to prevent it from moving. Gradually add the hot half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly until fully incorporated.

3. RETURN the mixture to the saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring slowly and continuously with a wooden spoon or spatula, until the custard thickens and a finger drawn across the back of the spoon leaves a path, 8 to 10 minutes. Do not allow the custard to boil!

4. POUR the custard through a fine-mesh sieve set over a clean bowl. Stir in the peppermint extract. Add the remaining 1 cup half-and-half and stir to combine.

6. TRANSFER the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. At the end of the freezing stage, add the peppermint candies and continue processing just until they are blended into the ice cream. Transfer the ice cream to a chilled container, cover and freeze until firm, 3 to 4 hours.
 
MAKING AN ICE CREAM TRIFLE

Pair the candy cane ice cream with chocolate cake and whipped cream. The trifle can be made up to 1 week in advance.

Ingredients

 
For 2 Cups Whipped Cream

 
Preparation

1. CHILL the bowl, beaters and cream for the whipped cream.

2. PLACE a layer of cake cubes in the bottom of a straight-side glass bowl. Trim the cake as necessary to create an even layer.

3. SPREAD 3 cups of vanilla ice cream on top of the cake layer. Repeat process and top with a layer of cake cubes or crushed Oreo cookies. Top with candy cane ice cream.

4. COVER with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. Freeze for at least 1 hour, until the ice cream is re-frozen.

5. MAKE the whipped cream: Beat the cream, sugar, vanilla and salt to soft peaks with an electric mixer.

6. TO SERVE: Remove the trifle from the freezer 10 minutes in advance of serving. Drizzle with fudge sauce. Top with whipped cream before bringing to the table and add optional garnish.